Fishing Republic lands whopping first half margin gain

21st Jul 2015 12:41

(ShareCast News) - Fishing tackle retailer Fishing Republic, which floated on AIM last month, said margins in the first half of the year were well ahead of last year's on top of a small increase in sales.The Rotherham-headquartered company said trading over the first six months ended 30 June 2015 has seen margins improve "considerably", helped in part by online sales being significantly ahead of last year thanks to its improvements to its website."Trading has started well in the second half of the year and the company is looking to expand its operations by making some small acquisitions," the company said.Fishing Republic, which was founded by chief executive Steve Gross, former captain of England's under-21 fly fishing team, added that it was making progress on the opening a new outlet in the Midlands.The group currently has a chain of seven retail outlets in the North of England, located in Barnsley, Doncaster, Manchester, Sheffield, Sunderland, Hull and Rotherham.