The promotional products industry’s largest distributorship increased total global sales 23% year over year in the first six months of 2023 to $635.53 million, recently released financial data shows.

While headquartered in the United Kingdom, publicly traded Top 40 distributor 4imprint (asi/197045) generates the vast majority of its business in North America. That proved true again in the half-year through June’s end, with North American sales during the period jumping 23% to about $623.8 million. In 4imprint’s other main geographic market, the U.K. and Ireland, revenue increased almost 21% to about $11.7 million.

“Following a very satisfactory post-pandemic rebound in 2022, [4imprint] has delivered another remarkable operational and financial performance in the first half of 2023,” said Chairman Paul Moody. “The group’s strong first-half performance clearly demonstrates that its strategy and business model are effective in delivering profitable market share gains.”

Indeed, profitability was up, too. During the first six months of 2023, 4imprint’s profit after tax increased 48% year over year to almost $49.5 million, or $1.76 per basic share.

Operating profit rose 45% to $63.8 million, while the firm’s cash and bank deposits stood at $74.5 million, an 11% rise from the prior year’s period. Net operating profit margin percentage accelerated from 8.5% in the first six months of 2022 to 10% in the 2023 half-year.

“The group’s strong first-half performance clearly demonstrates that its strategy and business model are effective in delivering profitable market share gains.” Paul Moody, 4imprint

4imprint reported that it experienced record customer demand between the start of January and end of June, and generated 1,047,000 orders and acquired 158,000 new customers during the stretch.

4imprint previously forecasted that total 2023 sales will be slightly above $1.3 billion, with profit before tax tallying not less than $125 million. Moody reaffirmed that growth outlook, though he noted that percentage rate increases in total order count are likely to moderate through the remainder of 2023 as they’re going up against strong prior-year comparatives.

If the predictions on sales and before-tax profit hold, 4imprint will have increased revenue and before-tax profit on a year-over-year basis in 2023. In 2022, total global revenue was $1.14 billion and profit before tax was $103.7 million.

4imprint, which drives business through its e-commerce model, ranked first on Counselor’s 2023 list of the 40 largest distributors in promo based on 2022 North American industry revenue of $1.12 billion. The company made history by taking the top spot on the list during the first year that the Top 40 includes billion-dollar distributorships.