27th Mar 2019 12:07
LONDON (Alliance News) - Blockchain Worldwide PLC on Wednesday said its loss widened in the first half of its financial year due to the cost of its aborted Chorum Group Ltd acquisition.
The technology investor said its loss before tax totalled GBP170,780 for the six months to December 31 - many times its GBP7,501 loss a year before. Blockchain Worldwide did not record any revenue in either period because it had no operations.
Blockchain Worldwide's goal is to make acquisitions in the blockchain technology sector. It changed its name from Stapleton Capital PLC in January 2018 to reflect its new shift toward blockchain acquisitions and away from its previous telecoms acquisitions focus.
Blockchain is a digital network which records data and transactions in multiple locations. It was originally created for the digital currency bitcoin, but has a range of other applications in banking and communications.
At the time of its name change, Blockchain Worldwide said it had identified a number of opportunities for blockchain technology acquisitions. In November 2018, it proposed to buy blockchain software firm Chorum for an undisclosed sum.
However, in February, after the half year had ended, Blockchain Worldwide abandoned the deal because it was unable to complete the necessary fundraising. Since then, the company has extended its investment criteria to include the technology sector as a whole, including blockchain.
Blockchain Worldwide Chair Jon Hale said: "A great deal of work went into the proposed Chorum acquisition, but institutional demand was not sufficient to fund the transaction at the time."
As at December 31, the company's cash assets totalled GBP1.2 million, down from GBP1.4 million a year before.
Hale said: "Having preserved as much cash as possible, we are now considering other deals in the technology space and are more determined than ever to deliver value for shareholders this year."
Shares in Blockchain Worldwide were untraded at 3.00 pence on Wednesday.
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