LONDON (Alliance News) - GYG PLC on Thursday reported a widening of its interim loss on decreasing revenue in a "challenging first half".
In the six months ended June, the superyacht service and supply company widened its pretax loss to EUR1.7 million from EUR1.4 million.
The Mallorca-headquartered yacht company's revenue decreased 26% to EUR25.2 million from EUR33.9 million.
The fall in revenue was primarily due to its Coatings business' revenue decreasing to EUR19.9 million from EUR28.6 million.
In particular, the New Build sector sector struggled to win short-term business in the half, which will create a "shortfall" for the full year.
The French government's decision to enforce a law that would mean yacht crew and owners are obliged to pay certain social security taxes if yachts remain in French waters for more than three months resulted in a "significant slowdown" of yachts entering French shipyards.
However, the French authorities have reversed the decision in the last few weeks and any yacht entering a refit facility will be exempt from any tax obligations. As a result, GYG has "since seen a resurgence of activity".
The company has not declared an interim dividend, though still expects to pay a final dividend for the year.
GYG said "due to the inherent seasonality of the business", it expects to produce the "majority" of its profit and revenue in the second half.
Chief Executive Officer Remy Millott said: "Despite the first half of the year being difficult for the group and the industry as a whole, we believe that the superyacht refit market is returning to normal trading patterns and that we have the right strategy in place to capitalise on the many opportunities that are being presented.
"We have made significant progress building relationships with shipyards and establishing ourselves as a preferred supplier which has resulted in us winning contracts in the New Build sector and this, combined with large Refit contracts in the pipeline for 2019, ensures that we can support future growth and development of the group."
Shares in GYG were down 0.8% Thursday at 87.80 pence each.