Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Starcom PLC on Thursday said its loss widened in the first half of 2020, dropping behind its expectations, as the pandemic stalled the company's early momentum.
Shares in Starcom were down 13% at 0.98 pence in London in afternoon trading.
The remote tracking systems firm, headquartered in Jersey, reported a USD716,000 pretax loss for the six months ended June 30, widened from a USD505,000 loss the year before.
Most significant in this was a 26% revenue decline to USD2.3 million from USD3.1 million.
Chair Michael Rosenberg explained that: "At the beginning of the year, our expectations for 2020 were to comfortably beat 2019's results, based on a strong pipeline of firm and prospective orders that had been built and the launch of the new product, Lokies. However, the positive early momentum was abruptly halted by the pandemic. From March 2020 onwards many of our customers were locked down and consequently were unable place orders as expected."
As such, revenue suffered and the company had to implement "drastic cost reduction measures" to keep its cash position stable.
Chief Executive Avi Hartmann said: "Although these results are below our original expectations, we are pleased to have been able to deliver in excess of USD2 million of revenue in a period when the impact of Covid-19 created an unprecedented situation from March onwards, with many of our clients in complete shutdown. Notwithstanding this, we have managed to stabilise the business by maintaining engagement with customers, ensuring that we are able to support both existing customers, and are prepared to respond to both new opportunities and projects that recommence, as and when business conditions improve."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
