System1 half-year revenue down 5%

The company’s gross profit also fell by 5% in the same period ( 3% on a constant currency basis) to £10.8m, as outlined in a trading update published prior to its H1 results.

Operating costs have been tightly controlled in the first half of the year, and are down 18% on the same period in 2017, excluding the Ad Ratings service. System1 invested £1.59m in the new offer in H1, of which £500,000 has been capitalised and £1.09m expensed.

Gross profit grew by 30% in Continental Europe compared to H1 last year but fell by 5% in the UK, 22% in Asia-Pacific and 16% in the Americas region.

However, the company saw an underlying pre-tax profit growth of 74% (excluding Ad Ratings) and 28% growth in pre-tax profit including the service.

John Kearon, chief executive of System1, said: "We are excited about our new Ad Ratings service for its future potential both to support the existing consulting business, as well as provide a new scalable revenue stream. Meanwhile, we believe that as our new product configurations and more competitive pricing take hold, our existing business will continue to stabilise and in time return to growth."