Altitude results review discovers loss

28th Jul 2009 09:24

Promotional merchandise company Altitude lost up to 40% of its value Tuesday after a review of its 2008 results turned a £338,000 profit into a loss of £33,000.Bosses decided to review the figures for 2008 following the departure of chief executive Craig Slater, and finance director Tim Sykes.New finance chief David Smith and incoming CEO, Martin Varley, worked with KPMG to get the results in order after identifying "material differences" between the actual results and the preliminary results published on 17 March.Altitude said the adjustment was due to a mixture of changes in provisions, estimates, restating accounting policies and correcting errors. The review increased the cost of sales by £201,000, due to the re-instatement of stock provisions, and raised administrative costs by £170,000.Sales for the 12 months ended 31 December fell 8.6% to £18m, mostly due to one major client in the financial sector in the second half of the year."Our information and exhibitions businesses have started 2009 well but it has become difficult to predict the level of demand that we will experience from corporate customers in our promotional marketing businesses," said chairman Colin Cooke. "We continue to monitor our cost base ready to react quickly to any further softening in our markets to preserve profitability and cash."