Brave Bison (AIM:BBSN) jumped 7% to 85.9p after adjusted pre-tax profits more than doubled in the first half of 2026, up 120%.
The digital marketing firm reported that net revenue nearly doubled to £23.9 million, driven by accretive acquisitions and robust organic growth across its platform-based solutions.
This strong interim performance provides a solid financial foundation as the business advances a formal takeover offer for System1, the AIM-listed market research agency.
The core sport and entertainment division also delivered a resilient trading performance, helping push total half-year revenue significantly higher.
Scalable digital products contributed 41% of divisional earnings during the period, reflecting the highly profitable nature of the MiniMBA training business.
A newly secured multi-year agreement with Omnicom, the global advertising holding company, highlights the rapid commercial expansion of these educational services.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation climbed 98% to £4.5 million as management successfully delivered operational cost synergies from recent integrations.
Statutory profit before tax jumped to £2.1 million from £100,000 in the previous year, even after absorbing an expected increase in the amortisation of acquired intangible assets.
The strategic stake already held in System1 reached a market valuation of £11.0 million by the end of June.
Professor Mark Ritson, founder of the MiniMBA programme, recently exercised an option to increase his beneficial interest in the group to 7%.
This equity transaction provided the business with an additional £2 million of capital while strengthening the partnership between the two entities.
The group ends the period with net cash of £4.7 million after completing scheduled bank loan repayments of £2.6 million.
Trading remains aligned with internal expectations for the remainder of the financial year.
