IkeGPS lifts revenue to cut loss in first half

IkeGPS, the laser measurement toolmaker, upgraded its sales expectations but maintained its breakeven guidance for the full year after revenue lifted and its loss narrowed in the first half.

Revenue rose to $3.5 million in the six months ended Sept. 30, from $2 million in the previous first half, while its net loss narrowed to $3.9 million, or 6 cents per share, from $6 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier, the Wellington-based company said in a statement. The company's operating loss narrowed to $4.4 million from $6.8 million a year earlier.

In the first half, the company used $2.6 million in operating cash, compared to $5 million a year earlier, which it said "reflects continued prudent control of expenses" and it expects to continue lowering operating expenditure spending for the remainder of the year "consistent with the well progressed shift from investment into platform engineering to the focus on sales & marketing." It maintained its forecast for cash breakeven in the current financial year.

The company lifted its gross margin to $1.5 million in the first half, from $1.1 million a year earlier, though it said this was impacted by one-time non-cash items such as a $179,000 write-down of obsolete parts, $181,000 for consumption of higher-priced parts, and lower average selling prices for its IKE product due to volume discounting.

In August, Ike raised $4 million in an oversubscribed placement to Australian and New Zealand institutional and wholesale investors. Directors and management subscribed for about 19 percent of the new shares within this process, the company said, and the cash will be used to fund a working capital requirement expected to grow over the coming 12-18 months as its IKE4 product is delivered into several large enterprise customers.

Ike said it is in the process of appointing a new director after its longest-serving director Peter Britnell retired in May.

The shares last traded at 29 cents, and have fallen 26 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)