Christie Group still expects operating profit for 2016

AIM-listed business services and systems provider Christie Group said it continues to expect to report an operating profit for the year to the end of December, although some of the transactions it is providing advisory services for will carry over into next year.

The company said trading in the second half of the year following the Brexit vote was much stronger than the first half, as expected. However, it is now expecting a number of M&A transactions on which it was advising to carry over into 2017, which would have otherwise further strengthened this year’s second-half earnings.

“Looking ahead, the outlook for both our Professional Business Services division and our Stock and Inventory Systems and Services division remain positive and encouraging,” it said.

Back in September, the company said it swung to a loss of £0.9m compared to a profit of £1.7m the year before, with a loss per share of 4.95p. Revenue declined marginally to £31.6m from £31.7m.

At 1545 GMT, the shares were up 4.9% to 85p.