SCEE announces $9.4m loss

Southern Cross Electrical Engineering shares jumped nearly 13 per cent today to their highest price since March, after the company announced an annual loss but maintained its dividend and was cautiously positive about its outlook.

SCEE now forecasts a $9.4 million net loss after tax for the 2015 financial year.

Despite the loss, the company says it intends to pay dividends at 2.7 cents a share, the same level as it did for the 2014 financial year.

The company says it made an underlying trading profit of $4.3 million in the past 12 months, but that a number of writedowns and restructuring costs hurt the company’s bottom line.

Notably, SCEE expects to make an $8.4 million impairment of goodwill in its annual financial report.

The vast majority of the year’s trading profit, $4.1 million, was made by the company in the six months ending December 2014.

SCEE says it made a $1.4 million loss in the March quarter, which was only just covered by the $1.6 million profit it made in the June quarter.

However, the June quarter result was better than expected; in March, the company announced that it expected to make a trading loss in the second half of the financial year.

SCEE says it remains free of debt and that its cash balance was $44.5 million at the end of June.

The results come after a tumultuous six months for the company.

Half of the company’s board walked out in May, including the then chair John Cooper.

That followed the March retirement of former SCEE managing director Simon High.

SCEE shares finished the day up 12.9 per cent to 35 cents a share.