Maistro's strong H2 revenues steady ship after eventful year

Maistro PLC announced 164% revenue increases for H2 2017 on Thursday, after the completion of a corporate rebrand from its previous identity, Blur Group.

Despite the recovery in the second half of the year, the company recorded an 8% reduction in revenues for the full-year compared to 2016, down to $0.77m, but did report increased gross profits to $0.13m compared to a loss of $0.08m the year before.

Online marketplace Maistro's increase in profits appears to be a result of a 30% decrease in cost of sales to $0.64m over the period.

David Rowe, chairman of Maistro, said: "It has been pleasing that despite the wholesale changes in the summer of 2017, the business has grown in both revenues, enterprise customers and gross profit compared to the first half of 2017.2

As well as January’s name change, Maistro’s entire board has been replaced over the course of the year as five members resigned in July, including chief financial officer Tim Allen who left after the company’s shares were suspended due to a cash shortage.

Cash balances increased by 32% to $3.3m, with the company also completing two oversubscribed placings during 2017.

"In all three areas there has been good progress. Firstly, the two successful placings completed in August 2017 and October 2017 have meant that the business is able to plan longer term to support its customer base. Secondly, Laurence Cook (CEO) and his team have won new business from existing and new customers driving revenue growth in the second half of the year. Finally, the tech team have a strong roadmap of development and enhancements to bring to market during 2018 and beyond," said Rowe.

As of 0959 GMT, Maistro’s shares were down 12.26% at 4.65p.