(Alliance News) - Fulcrum Utility Services Ltd on Monday reported less than stellar annual results, but said it is now "stronger" and making "good progress" on its return to profitability.
Shares in Fulcrum plummeted 69% to 0.26 pence in London on Monday morning.
The Sheffield, England-based provider of utility infrastructure services said its pretax loss widened to GBP25.7 million in the year ended March 31, compared with GBP14.2 million the previous year.
Fulcrum Utility said revenue decreased 18% to GBP50.6 million from GBP61.8 million. Infrastructure revenue decreased 19% to GBP46.4 million from GBP57.6 million.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation swung to a GBP6.2 million loss from a GBP500,000 profit and basic loss per share widened to 6.3p from 5.2p, while adjusted loss widened to 3p from 1.4p.
Fulcrum said its Ebitda was affected by a diluted gross margin, "particularly as cost of materials were impacted by inflationary effects," and "more challenging" trading conditions caused by the ongoing turbulence in the energy sector.
Fulcrum said it would not recommend a dividend payment for the year, but will continue to keep its dividend policy under review.
In August 2022, Fulcrum's pretax loss widened despite revenue increasing 31%, attributing this to "significant" challenges including the impact of the UK energy crisis.
"Our FY23 results reflect the legacy issues and the difficult conditions that the group has operated in," said Interim Chief Executive Officer Lindsay Austin, "however we are now in a stronger position and laser focused on our path back to profitability as we continue to make improvements at pace."
Fulcrum's strategic changes included a proposal, also announced on Monday, to cancel trading of its shares on AIM. It said its review noted its limited prospects of raising additional equity financing on AIM, limited trading in its shares, the "legal and regulatory burden" and the "significant cost" associated with maintaining its admission to AIM.
"Turning the group's performance around has been a challenging task and is ongoing, but we are making good progress, at pace," explained Non-Executive Chair Jennifer Babington, who said Fulcrum was trading in line with expectations.
"Medium to long-term market fundamentals are supported by the UK's transition to a low carbon economy and also continue to be very strong," she added. "Considering all of this, I am confident that the group is well positioned to take advantage of the many and significant opportunities available to it as we move forward."
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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