RE: Pretty poor18 Sep 2025 20:16
On the face of it, the decision to drop $3M of JV sales seems a very poor one at this stage of the company's development. The 2024 year end figures showed these sales providing $1M of gross margin (33%) and after $800k of allocated fixed overheads a $200k contribution to profit. I'll be very surprised if they did actually make a saving of $800k on fixed overheads, or anywhere near that figure. At the time I thought they must have $3M of better margin customers 'waiting in the wings', but the first half figures suggest this isn't the case. Furthermore, they continue to adjust reported figures by eliminating the JV sales as if it was some sort of 'act of god' that they are no longer there. Hence the first half sales 2025 are actually 16% down on the 2024 comparative figure in reality. I recently read the first half 2024 results again and it's hard to believe that we are in this position 12 months later. It's almost like someone set out to scupper the company just when it was about to be successful. Let's hope the new chairman can wave a magic wand!