Cornerstone FS plc (LSE: CSFS), a foreign exchange and payments solutions provider, released today (Wednesday) an unaudited trading update. The company expects to report a full-year revenue of at least £8 million for the fiscal year 2023 (FY23). This figure exceeds prior expectations and represents an annual growth rate of 66%.

Cornerstone FS PLC Exceeds Board Expectations

The company's performance is attributed to several strategic moves. These include the expansion of its sales team and the broadening of its transaction capabilities. Consequently, Cornerstone has seen a rise in both the number of active customers and the average transaction value.

"We are continuing to experience excellent trading momentum," James Hickman, the CEO of Cornerstone, said. "We are executing higher value transactions and with a greater number of active customers, which is being driven by our enhanced sales efforts and focus on more fully commercialising our platform."

The company has focused on growing its sales team and enhancing its service offerings. This has increased the number of counterparties, allowing the company to transact in a broader range of currencies and countries. As a result, the average transaction value has risen, and the number of active customers has increased year-on-year.

In September 2023, the company reported results for the first half of 2023, showing a jump of 90% in revenue to £3.6 million. It now claims that it has maintained good momentum in the second half of FY23, which will result in better-than-expected performance.

"At the same time, we are carefully managing our cost base as we grow. Accordingly, we look forward to reporting better than expected revenue and adjusted EBITDA for FY 2023, and the Board continues to have great confidence in the future of the Group," the CEO added.

Cornerstone Aims to Maintain 2022 Momentum

If Cornerstone manages to close 2023 in line with its forecasts, it will continue the strong performance observed in 2022. The company reported a significant revenue growth, increasing 110% to £4.8 million compared to £2.3 million in the previous year.

This uptick was mainly due to a boost of 38% in revenue from directly served clients, which accounted for 78% of the total revenue, or £3.8 million. On the other hand, revenue generated through the company's introducer network made up 22% of the total, amounting to £1.1 million.

"During 2022, Cornerstone continued to deliver on its strategy, improved operationally and achieved a strong financial performance with revenues more than doubling and an increase in gross margin," Hickman commented a year ago.

The majority of the company's income came from its foreign exchange and payment services, particularly from spot and forward transactions. These contributed to 92% and 8% of the total revenue, respectively. This marks a minor change from the prior year where spot transactions made up 89% and forward transactions constituted 11% of the revenue.