The Pebble Group, the publicly traded parent company of promo industry software provider Facilisgroup and global distributor Brand Addition (asi/202515), reported a year-over-year dip in sales and profitability during the first six months of 2024.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom and reporting in British pounds sterling, The Pebble Group said total company revenue across Brand Addition and Facilisgroup fell about 4% to £60.8 million, or about $79.5 million at today’s exchange rate.

Facilisgroup’s sales in the January-through-June period of this year were $11.3 million, essentially flat with the comparable timeframe in 2023, according to a report from The Pebble Group. Brand Addition’s sales were down about 4% to about £52 million, or about $68 million at today’s exchange rate.

While The Pebble Group’s profit margin improved 1.9 percentage points to 44.7%, the company’s operating profit (£3.2 million) and profit before tax (£2.9 million) were down – 3% and 6%, respectively. Basic earnings per share declined from 1.37p in the 2023 half-year to 1.36p in the 2024 half-year.

“The group’s robust financial profile and market-leading businesses leave us well-placed to gain market share.” Chris Lee, The Pebble Group

Executives called the results in line with expectations and “satisfactory” given a variety of marketplace challenges, including inflation, recession fears and buyer hesitancy amid economic uncertainty. For context: Distributor sales in North America, where both Facilisgroup and Brand Addition have operations, decreased in the first quarter of 2024 and returned to low single-digit growth in Q2.

The Pebble Group CEO Chris Lee pointed to positives.

“The group’s robust financial profile and market-leading businesses leave us well-placed to gain market share,” said Lee, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people.

Lee noted that encouraging developments include bringing Anne de Kerckhove aboard as nonexecutive chair of The Pebble Group. She has experience leading fast-growing B2B and B2C technology, data, media, e-commerce and entertainment companies.

“Anne’s significant experience will further strengthen the board’s expertise and be particularly valuable as we push to deliver Facilisgroup’s technology and product innovation strategy,” Lee said.

Some other business highlights: Facilisgroup appointed its first chief product officer and focused on the refinement and delivery of its technology strategy. Meanwhile, key indicators of gross merchandise value – effectively a tally of the business conducted through the Facilisgroup platform – were up about 5%, and spend through preferred suppliers rose 6%.

At Brand Addition, “revenue has recovered well following a challenging second half in 2023” while client retention levels remain high, executives said. The firm said it also appointed a global marketing director to “evolve the business’s approach to new client acquisition.”