MOBILE DATA services provider Zamano reported pre-tax losses of €3.622 million for 2008 compared to pre-tax profits of €3.08 million a year earlier.

Revenues at the company rose 68 per cent to €41.4 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) by 36 per cent to €5 million driven primarily by acquisitions. In 2007 the company reported revenues of €24.7 million and Ebitda of €3.7 million.

On a constant currency basis, revenue would have grown by 98 per cent to €48.8 million, reflecting a €7.4 million impact on revenue due to the decline in sterling’s value relative to the euro in 2008. Net debt at year end was €7.2 million and cash inflow from operating activities was €3.9 million.

“The pre-tax losses are not that significant in the sense that it’s brought about by the €7 million in intangible asset writedown and a €5 million goodwill impairment whereas Ebitda, which I think offers a much better view of the operational profitability of the business, is at nearly €5 million which is in line with expectations,” chief executive John O’Shea said.

“That impairment was primarily due to us taking a prudent view on sterling which cost us €1.2 million in profit last year and €7.5 million in revenues.”

Revenue at Zamano’s business to business (B2B) division, which sells to partners who use its applications and services, declined by 5 per cent in 2008 to €11.9 million due to the weakness of sterling.

The company’s direct to consumer (D2C) unit, which sells directly to consumers in Ireland, the UK, Australia, USA and Spain, reported a 141 per cent rise in revenue to to €29.5 million, due in part to the acquisition of Red Circle and Eirborne in 2007.

Zamano said that 2009 will be another challenging year for the firm, but it added that it remained confident that steps it has taken will allow it to take advantage of opportunities in the mobile arena.

“With sterling where it is, we won’t see huge top-line growth in the business in 2009. We’re focused primarily on maximising efficiencies and the quality of the revenue at the moment so we’ll be looking to maintain profitability but we are unlikely to have high levels of growth unless we can guarantee that the profit margins are very high. This year we will be looking more at bottom line profitability than revenue growth,” added Mr O’Shea.