30th Aug 2019 15:54
(Alliance News) - Challenger Acquisitions Ltd on Friday said it swung to profit in the first half of 2019 following a deal to terminate all previous agreements with the Starneth group of companies.
In the six months to June 30, the company made a pretax profit on GBP1.1 million. In 2018's interim period, the observation wheel-focused investment company made a loss of GBP298,000.
The swing to profit was due to Challenger terminating its previous agreements with the Starneth Group, gaining EUR1.3 million.
As part of the settlement deal, Challenger transferred one equity unit in the New York Wheel to Starneth, a group of companies which designs and constructs observational wheels like the London Eye. In 2015 Challenger acquired the group, which comprises of Starneth BV and Starneth LLC, for EUR7.2 million.
Administrative expenses fell by 29% to GBP90,000 from GBP126,000 and finance costs fell by 37% to GBP108,000 from GBP172,000, also boosting the company's interim profit.
Chief Executive Mark Gustafson said: "Looking forward, we expect positive results from the ongoing process to seek out, evaluate and review a potential project that can utilise the public company platform in a manner that makes sense from a financial and regulatory perspective."
Shares in Challenger were down 6.8% at 0.14 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.
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