Scooter manufacturer Vmoto has reported an increased annual loss, after being hit by restructuring and one-off costs and major delays with a key sales contract in Vietnam.
Its loss rose to $4.4 million for the year to June 2011, from a loss of $3.6 million previously.
The company said the major change in its business was a transition from agency sales to manufacturing its own products.
This contributed to a large reduction in annual turnover, from $17.9 million to $7.1 million, but an improvement in its gross profit margin from 4.5 per cent to 21 per cent.
That margin improvement was wiped out by other costs, including $1 million in off-costs, such as former director Patric Davin’s “separation costs”, former director Russell Goodman’s “ex gratia payment” and new executive Alicia Atkinson’s “sign-on payment”.
The company said the most disappointing aspect of the financial year was the continued delay in relation to shipments of its fuel-injected scooters for Vietnam.
It attributed the delay to technical issues with its newly developed electronic fuel injection system, which the Vietnamese customer said was not suitable.
On a more positive note, it said construction of stage 2 of its manufacturing facility in China was completed, though full fit-out is still required.
The company said it is continuing its search for experienced executives to strengthen its board and management team.
