Zamano phone services posts pretax loss of €13.3m for 2010

MOBILE PHONE data services provider Zamano has announced a pretax loss of €13.3 million for 2010.

MOBILE PHONE data services provider Zamano has announced a pretax loss of €13.3 million for 2010.

The loss has been attributed to a fall in revenues and a €12.7 million goodwill impairment cost. The company recorded a profit of €1.07 million a year earlier.

Revenue at the Dublin headquartered firm fell by almost €10 million from over €25 million in 2009 to €15.8 million last year.

Gross profit almost halved year on year from €8.4 million to €4.6 million, with earnings per share falling from €0.13 in 2009 to a loss of €0.141 per share.

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“Profit margins came under pressure as the company increased the value of the content sold and experimented in many different channels when seeking new revenue opportunities,” Zamano chief executive John O’Shea said.

Mr O’Shea earned €187,755 last year compared to € 215,746 a year earlier.

Zamano chairman Mike Watson said significant cost reductions had been achieved, after a staff consultation process, and that more recent indications suggested revenues were stabilising.

The number of staff employed fell from 53 to 50, with costs falling from €3.3 million to €2.2 million.

“New opportunities for growth are being actively pursued, based upon redeploying Zamano’s technology and competencies,” Mr Watson said.

“This activity is being funded by profits from the core content business.”

Cash at the company, which is listed on Dublin’s IEX and London’s Aim markets, declined by €4.2 million in 2010. This was primarily due to €4 million in debt repayments and a loan repayment of €1 million in the first quarter that reduced gross debt to €4.8 million.

Goodwill and intangible assets of €6.8 million were retained on the Zamano balance sheet.

Steven Carroll

Steven Carroll

Steven Carroll is an Assistant News Editor with The Irish Times