Publishing Technology plunges after swinging to pre-tax loss

26th May 2015 08:37

Shares in Publishing Technology plunged over 8% early on Tuesday as the content solutions provider swung to an annual pre-tax loss after a strategic review resulted in substantial non-cash charges.In the 12 months to end December, the AIM-listed group reported a pre-tax loss of £4m compared with a profit of £0.7m in 2013, while revenues fell 15% year-on-year to £14.4m.The company, described 2014 as a "year of considerable change" during which it carried out a strategic review, which resulted in the deferral of £1m of revenue related to an onerous contract and in the accrual of £1m of additional costs related to the same deal.However, the London-listed company remained confident of achieving its target in the medium to long-term future."We have hired the skills we require and we have provided for all past and future losses on the onerous contracts inherited by the new management team," said group chairman MC Rose."I am confident that, moving forward, we have built the right team to ensure the success of our strategy."Meanwhile, the group announced that it was undertaking a placing and an open offer, to repay its existing debit facility with HSBC and provide additional working capital.The placing is for up to 7,500,000 shares at 120p, raising £9m, and the open offer is for 833,333 shares at 120p, raising £1m.Publishing Technology shares were down 7.12% to 137.00p at 08:53 on Tuesday.