21st Century Technology Cautiously Optimistic As Loss Widens

LONDON (Alliance News) - 21st Century Technology PLC Thursday posted a widened pretax loss for 2014, and whilst it expressed cautious optimism for its future, it also cautioned on the risks of being reliant on a small number of large customers.

21st Century Technology provides closed-circuit television for public transport vehicles.

It booked a pretax loss of GBP417,000 in 2014, compared with a pretax loss of GBP218,000 in 2013, as a decline in revenue to GBP9.0 million from GBP10.8 million was only partly offset by lower administrative costs.

The company undertook a management shuffle at the end of 2013 after it swung to a loss due to losing a significant contract with Go-Ahead Group PLC. It appointed Russ Singleton as its new chief executive and Glenn Robinson as its finance director, and said that following this it had implemented measures to stabilise the business.

21st Century said that whilst it had secured all contracts as renewals came up, one large UK operator preferred to extend an existing contract rather than establishing a new, long-term framework agreement.

"This is a situation that the management is fully attuned to and is making every effort to resolve," the company said.

"I remain cautiously optimistic about our future as we are generating new opportunities and look to convert business leads into firm orders at the same time as seeking acquisitions that will both broaden the customer base and extend the company's technical capabilities. With an improved offering and adjusted cost base I look forward to reporting on a year of further progress in 2015," said Non-Executive Chairman Mark Elliott in a statement.

Shares in 21st Century Technology are untraded Thursday morning. It last traded at 4.84 pence.

By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews

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