LONDON (Alliance News) - MySale Group PLC on Tuesday posted a slightly widened annual loss and announced the immediate departure of its chief financial officer, resulting in a share price slump.
Shares in the online retailer dropped 15% to 42.00 pence on Tuesday.
Preliminary results for MySale's financial year to June 30 show a pretax loss of AUD1.7 million, slightly wider than its AUD1.6 million loss the year before. This was attributed to higher marketing expenditure and an increase in depreciation and amortisation charges.
Expenses, including selling, distribution and administration costs, rose to AUD85.8 million from AUD76.1 million. This includes AUD22.6 million spend on marketing, up from AUD18.1 million the year before. This was part of a planned marketing investment to support long-term growth, MySale said.
Depreciation and amortization accounted for AUD6.6 million of expenses, up from AUD5.3 million.
The reported loss is in stark contrast to MySale's AUD4.9 million underlying profit before tax, which increased 50% year-on-year from AUD3.3 million. The underlying figure excludes one-off, non-trading, and non-cash expenses.
Revenue increased to AUD292.2 million from AUD268.4 million. In particular, revenue from its Rest of the World segment increased 26% to AUD16.5 million from AUD13.1 million. Segmental revenue from Australia & New Zealand increased a more modest 9% to AUD242.4 million from AUD221.5 million.
MySale Chief Executive Officer Carl Jackson expressed confidence in the retailer's future, and was encouraged by its progress post year end.
"While it is early in the current year, and our peak trading period lies ahead, trading to date has been in line with expectations and the board expects that underlying earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization for the year will be in line with market forecasts," said Jackson.
In a separate announcement MySale also said its group financial controller, Maarit Piisila, will assume responsibility for the company's finances as CFO Andrew Dingle has stepped down with immediate effect.
Dingle will remain with the company, although not on the board, during a handover process. He will then depart at the end of October.