(Alliance News) - Tracking system company Starcom PLC said Tuesday its loss widened for the first half of 2019 due to currency headwinds, as revenue remained flat during the period.
For the six months to the end of June, Starcom's pretax loss was USD505,000 compared to USD477,000 the year before, mainly due to a USD69,000 exchange rate loss, as the US dollar weakened against the Israeli new shekel.
However, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation was at USD75,000, compares to a loss of USD40,000.
Revenue remained flat at USD3.1 million, reflecting stability in the company's sales.
Operationally, Starcom launched its new intelligent padlock, Lokies, with initial orders for the product encouraging.
Also, Starcom is working with major companies in the containers monitoring segment for its Tetis devices, which the company said is the second product "central" to its growth strategy.
Looking ahead, Starcom considers its current pipeline to be stronger than that at the same time the year before, and expects to achieve a positive Ebitda result for 2019.
"Although the first half revenues were in line with the equivalent period last year, we are confident that, based on the company's current sales pipeline, the second half of the year will show an improvement over the second half of 2018. It is pleasing to note that we achieved a positive Ebitda result for the period and we expect that this will also be the case for the full year," said Chief Executive Officer Avi Hartmann.
Shares in Starcom were down 6.0% at 1.13 pence on Tuesday.
Star Energy (STAR)