Specialist cleaning company React Group (LON:REAT) saw shares fall in early trading on Friday, after releasing their first full-year results since listing on the AIM market in August 2015.
Turnover for the period was £2.432 million, with the group disclosing a pre-tax loss of £0.146 million for the period on continuing operations, against a pre-tax loss of £1.189 million for the previous period. According to React, this reflected the cost of adding two new start-ups to the business, and carrying the expenses of being a public limited company. Cash remains strong at £1.1 million.
In a statement, Chairman Gill Leates called 2016 a “year of challenges”, noting in particular the integration of recent acquisitions, REACT Environmental Services, React Occupational Hygiene and EPUK.
EPUK was later closed after React Group struggled to combine the two companies. The company took a hit of £141,000 on after discontinuing the business, with Leates calling it “the correct decision to make due to the significant time React’s management were spending trying to bring this business to profitability.”
Looking towards 2017 Leates gave a positive outlook, concluding: “using our broader range of services, we will able to quote for larger projects and have a wider audience to present ourselves to and build for the future.”
Shares in React Group are currently down 1.87 percent at 0.785 (0826GMT).