(Alliance News) - EQTEC PLC on Monday said its loss narrowed considerably in 2019 following sizeable impairments the year before that did not repeat.
Shares in EQTEC were up 9.7% at 0.59 pence in London in morning trading.
The Cork, Ireland-headquartered company develops technology solutions for gasification in waste-to-energy projects. Its pretax loss for 2019 came to EUR3.6 million, significantly narrowed from EUR8.2 million the year before.
Revenue fell 23% to EUR1.7 million from EUR2.2 million in 2018, but cost of sales dropped to EUR1.6 million from EUR2.3 million, meaning a swing to a gross profit of EUR88,062 from a EUR77,702 gross loss.
On top of this, EQTEC reported a EUR94,985 reversal of impairment of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets after a EUR2.1 million impairment the year prior and incurred no impairment of goodwill after a EUR1.4 million goodwill impairment in 2018. It also made other gains of EUR128,235 after other loss of EUR772,046 the prior year.
Looking ahead, EQTEC said is has a "high degree of earning visibility" for 2020 on contracts or near-contracted sales of technology, and its annual results are likely to be significantly second-half weighted.
Chief Executive Officer David Palumbo said: "The group has entered 2020 with positive momentum and demand for our services is increasing. The waste to value market is forecast to grow significantly over the next three years. Whilst March 2020 was challenging for the group operationally, as we transitioned to remote working, our team rose to the challenge and is adapting well to new working routines. The business continues to press ahead throughout this disruption and we are heartened by the level of new enquiries from existing and new geographies in relation to our advanced gasification technology.
"It is still too early to estimate accurately the financial impact of the pandemic on the group. However, our low-risk business model and the support of our stakeholders, provide firm foundations on which to withstand the challenges.
"Whilst there will inevitably be some impact from the pandemic on the group's performance in FY20, we remain confident in the group's strategy and its ability to deliver strong returns for stakeholders in the short and medium term."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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Eqtec (EQT)