Altitude Group Plc, the U.K.-headquartered parent company of Philadelphia-based global promotional products distributor network, AIM Smarter (AIM), has reported that revenue for the six-month period ending September 30, 2020, increased 36% to £4.4m (nearly $6.1 million).

AIM Smarter’s U.S. operations were instrumental to driving the revenue gain, increasing 77% year-over-year to £3.9m (about $5.4 million). Altitude, a publicly traded company in the U.K., reports its results in British Pound Sterling.

Nichole Stella, AIM Smarter

“In the face of the most challenging business environment in modern times, I am proud of the resilience, effort and performance of the AIM team as well as our distributor and supplier partner community,” said AIM Smarter CEO Nichole Stella, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stella noted that aggregate revenues generated by AIM members and affiliates total $1.6 billion.

Despite the sales gains, financial documents show that statutory operating loss and loss before taxation were each £0.6m (roughly $831,400), with basic and diluted loss per share of 0.86p (about $1.19). Altitude’s gross profit decreased by 16% to £2.5m (about $3.46 million). Altitude noted that operating profit before share-based payment charges, amortisation of intangible assets, depreciation of tangible assets and exceptional charges was down from £0.6m in H1 2019 to £0.3m (about $415,500).

Encouragingly, Altitude said, the company remains debt free with a current net cash balance of £1.3m (roughly $1.8 million) as of January 22, 2021. “Purchase orders processed through the AIM system have shown progressive improvement to (about) 70% of original volume expectations since (the) steepest point of COVID-19 decline in April of 2020,” the company noted in financial documents.

Stella is excited about what the future holds, especially given Altitude/AIM’s ability to increase revenue during the coronavirus pandemic. She noted that AIM quickly shifted to providing its distributor network with access to personal protective equipment (PPE) products from trusted supplier partners, while offering virtual meetings and townhalls, education, marketing tools and real time information to assist in navigating the pandemic.

“It is through these efforts that the global AIM community continued to grow with over 2,230 members, ACS affiliates and 232 global supplier partners,” the company said.

Additionally, AIM continued its expansion and focus on its ACS Affiliate Services program, providing business support anchored by the provision of finance to distributors. The program further delivers marketing tools, a technology suite with both an order management system and company store and website solutions, as well as back office support, strategic supplier partnerships and expanded incentives to help distributors.

AIM’s “pre-pandemic effort, solid financial resources and ability to be nimble in navigating the challenges imposed by COVID-19 have ensured the company is poised for sustainable future growth,” Stella said.

Altitude announced the acquisition of AIM in January 2019.