Shares in the Property Franchise Group – whose brands include Martin & Co – ticked up yesterday after it delivered robust results to the City.

The firm, which listed on the AIM stock market in December 2013, saw its shares finish at 156p, up nearly 8% on the previous day, giving it a market valuation of £40m.

The company’s share prices hit a 52-week high of 171p last September after it purchased EweMove. Its 52-week low last July saw shares at 118.50p.

This week, it reported group revenue for last year of £8.3m, up 16% on the previous year, and pre-tax profits up 19% at £3.2m.

The number of properties under management rose from 45,000 to 48,000 by the end of last year, when it recruited 16 new franchisees – nine for resales of existing territories and seven for new territories.

The firm also reported that its acquisition of EweMove was “progressing well”, with 12 new EweMove franchises sold in the first three months of this year.

Property Franchise Group CEO Ian Wilson told the City that the acquisition “provides us with a strategically important foothold in the rapidly developing market for online lettings and estate agency services”.

At the end of March, the company announced that EweMove founders Glenn Ackroyd and David Laycock were leaving, and will not be completing their earn-out period in which they stood to earn a further £7m on top of the £8m originally paid.