The Pebble Group, parent company of promo products distributor Brand Addition (asi/202515) and merch industry service provider Facilisgroup, increased revenue by about 5% year over year during the first six months of 2023.

That’s according to financial results the publicly traded, United Kingdom-headquartered company reported on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The firm, which reports results in the British pound sterling (GBP) currency, said sales across Brand Addition and Facilisgroup during the first six months of the year totaled £63.3 million, or roughly $79 million at today’s exchange rate. That was up from £60.3 million in the comparable period in 2022.

Basic earnings per share rose 8% to 1.37p, while company-wide operating profit increased 6% to £3.3 million. After-tax profit tallied £2.3 million, up from £2.13 million in the 2022 half-year.

“Our attractive markets and blue-chip clients have seen Facilisgroup and Brand Addition trade solidly in the first half, as we deliver against our stated strategies,” said Chris Lee, CEO of The Pebble Group. “Both businesses have strong and differentiated market positions.”

Lee expects the growth to continue in the back half of 2023.

Headquartered in Missouri, Facilisgroup is a partnering community and software-as-a-service provider for the promotional products industry in North America. According to The Pebble Group, Facilisgroup revenue grew 18.4% in terms of U.S. dollars and 24.3% in GBP terms during the first half of 2023, with sales registering £8.6 million. Operating profit increased too – from £1.7 million in the first half of 2022 to £2.2 million in the first half of 2023.

“Our attractive markets and blue-chip clients have seen Facilisgroup and Brand Addition trade solidly in the first half. Both businesses have strong and differentiated market positions.” Chris Lee, The Pebble Group

Notably, the gross value of merchandise transacted through the technology solutions Facilisgroup provides distributors increased by 9% year over year to $688 million, according to The Pebble Group. “Strong partner retention rates continue, demonstrating how our technology and related services are key to business operations,” Lee said.

A global distributor, Brand Addition has locations in the U.K., U.S., Germany, Ireland, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Across geographic markets, Brand Addition generated total half-year 2023 sales of £54.2 million, a 2.5% rise compared to the same six-month stretch in 2022. Operating profit was essentially flat at £2.7 million.

With Brand Addition, “revenue by client sector has broadly followed trends in the global economy, with revenues from our technology and consumer sector clients being lower in half-year ’23 than half-year ’22, whilst revenue from our engineering and transport sector clients has grown in the same period,” Lee said. “Our sector diversity and embedded client relationships has insulated the business through a turbulent economic cycle.”

Brand Addition generates the majority of its revenue from approximately 70 client contracts. It has a new business development target list of 800 companies. “Current new business tendering activity remains consistent with prior years,” Lee said. “Through this new business development and growth within the existing client base, we aim for high single digit year-on-year revenue growth” in 2023 as a whole.