Cornerstone FS PLC on Wednesday declared it had an ‘exceptional’ first quarter of trading, but warned that it does not expect the momentum to continue.

Shares in the cloud-based payment provider were up 6.0% to 7.95 pence each in London on Wednesday morning, having earlier fallen by more than 9%. The stock remains down 55% over the past 12 months.

Cornerstone said the ‘strong trading momentum’ experienced in 2022 increased in the first quarter of 2023. As a result, the company now expects quarterly revenue to beat management’s expectations, with it coming in at about £2.0 million, versus £950,000 a year ago.

Further, the company said it has achieved its first quarter of being earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation positive.

Cornerstone explained that the better-than-expected performance reflects growth across the business and the progress being made as a result of the increased focus on revenue generation. This is thanks to the sales team that was introduced at the end of last year and an expanding partnership network.

However, Cornerstone warned that it does not expect this ‘exceptional’ trading to continue at the same rate in the second quarter, with management expecting revenue to revert to its original budgeted levels for the period.

The company plans to release its full-year results for 2022 in May. It expects to report revenue of about £4.8 million, more than doubled from £2.3 million in 2021.

Chief Executive Officer James Hickman said: ‘This has been an exceptionally strong quarter for Cornerstone. We have generated substantial revenue growth, compared to the same quarter last year, driven by our enhanced sales efforts as we focus on commercialising our existing platform.

‘We are cautiously optimistic both in terms of revenue performance and Ebitda positivity for the 2023 financial year.’

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