London cake retailer Cake Box Holdings PLC (LON:CBOX), which listed on London’s junior market AIM in June, served up a 34% jump in pre-tax profit for the first half as store openings and new products lifted revenues.
Adjusted pre-tax profit, excluding initial public offering costs of £599,000, rose to £1.97mln in the six months to September 30 from £1.47mln a year ago.
Revenue gained 44% to £8.28mln as 15 new franchise stores were added in the period and as new product ranges, including caramel and chocolate cheesecakes, were well-received by customers.
The total turnover of franchisees rose 29% to £14.1mln with like-for-like sales up 4.4% and online sales up 86%.
The company declared an interim dividend of 1.2p after ending the period with net cash of £800,000, compared to a debt of £400,000 last year. Underlying operating cash flow rose to £1.62mln from £1.33mln a year ago.
READ: Cake Box enjoys sweet AIM debut
Looking to the rest of the year, chief executive Sukh Chamdal said: “Our performance during the first eight weeks of the second half has been encouraging and we have already opened four new stores."
Chamdal added: “The group is well placed for further progress and the board remains confident of another successful year of growth."
Shares gained 3.8% to 182.8p in morning trading.
"With the important Christmas and New Year period to come, we retain our recently upgraded forecast at earnings per share of 8.1p though upward pressure remains and medium-term valuations appear undemanding," said house broker Shore Capital.
The group’s floated about 41% of the business on AIM in June, valuing it at about £43mln based on a placing price of 108p. The company now has a market capitalisation of about £71.5mln.