Results round-up: Fishing Republic, FairFX, Nasstar

"Fishing Republic has made strong progress over the year as we continued with expansion plans to build a significant position in the fishing tackle marketplace," said chairman James Newman.

"Results show very encouraging growth with revenues up by 41% to £5.8m and profit before tax and exceptional items up by 32% to £0.40m," he said.

Newman said the outlook for the group remained very positive.

The fishing tackle marketplace is large but highly fragmented, with over 2000 mainly owner-operated businesses and we continue to see a substantial growth opportunity for the Group and our multi-channel model."

FairFX

Shares in FairFX are up more than 4% after it more than halved its full-year 2016 pre-tax loss, and said it is trading in line so far in FY 2017.

Chief executive Ian Strafford-Taylor said FairFX had a very successful 2016, beating expectations in terms of all key performance indicators.

Turnover increased strongly, revenue broke through the £10m barrier and improved margins boosted gross profit.

FairFX also made big strides towards profitability, with the loss for the year more than halved compared to 2015 and profitable trading achieved in the final quarter of the year.

The company's pre-tax loss was £1.44m, from a loss of £3.4m. Revenue on currency transactions was £10.19m, from £7.97m.

"Importantly, the 2016 results were achieved whilst FairFX maintained its marketing spend, capturing a significant number of new customers and further building its brand awareness," said Strafford-Taylor.

"Even more pleasing is that this was accomplished despite the challenging trading conditions that resulted from the prolonged Brexit referendum process in the first half."

Strafford-Taylor said top-line growth had continued into 2017 through the first quarter and the company was significantly better equipped to maintain this growth as it targets a net profit for 2017.

"With the continuation of the company's strategy to maintain momentum in the retail product, whilst successfully growing the corporate offering, the board is confident that the outlook for the full year remains in line with market expectations."

Nasstar

Provider of hosted managed and cloud computing services Nasstar has widened its full-year pre-tax loss as it posted a surge in revenue.

It said full-year trading was in line with expectations with a robust performance from the core group business offsetting the previously disclosed under-performance of VESK acquired assets,

Revenue was £18.7m, from £13.8m. Pre-tax loss was £1.77m, from a loss of £1.3m. Its final dividend was 0.052p a share, up 16% on the prior year.

"Our focus in 2017 is to realise the efficiencies that have been made possible via our acquisition strategy with a view to improving margins in future years," said chief executive Nigel Redwood.

"We believe this will continue to provide a strong platform for organic growth and increase in shareholder value."