Altitude Group Plc (PPAI 722407), a publicly traded UK-based promotional products industry business services provider with operations in the UK and U.S., has released its financial results for the year ending December 31, 2018. The company acquired Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-headquartered distributor AI Mastermind Group, now called AIM Smarter LLC (PPAI 230461), in January.

Altitude Group reported revenues for the year of £6.6 million, up from £6.1 million the year before. However, it also experienced pre-tax losses of £2.89 million in 2018, compared to a £100,000 profit in 2017. It attributes the adjusted operating loss of £800,000—compared with a £900,000 profit in 2017—to investments in the U.S. and the UK’s decline in exhibitions and publications. The group remains debt-free as of April 30, 2019 and reports that it has £3.8 million on hand.

The company’s financial report also included an operational update, noting that it raised £1.5 million in March 2018 to fund the rollout of its AIMPro platform in partnership with AI Mastermind Group and has processed £19.9 million in orders from AIM members during the year. It also raised £9 million to acquire AIM for $5 million and fund development of the combined businesses.

Nichole Stella, who was appointed CEO in June 2018, says, “We have made substantial progress throughout the year as we developed our relationship with AI Mastermind, providing its members with access to our white labelled AIMPro platform. In January 2019 we acquired AIM, the largest promotional product supplier distributor member group in the U.S., securing ownership of its $1.9 billion throughput pipeline, a huge opportunity for us to deliver great services and value to our members and shareholders alike.”

She adds, “This acquisition is strategically significant and transformative and has now become the core focus of our strategy as we look to expand our U.S. team, formalizing agreements with key industry suppliers as part of our Preferred Supplier Partner Program, and responding to demand from our AIM members. Just four months post the acquisition of AIM, we are very pleased with progress, especially with both supplier and member adoption. We look to the future with confidence."