5th Jun 2019 10:42
LONDON (Alliance News) - Fox Marble Holdings PLC said Wednesday its 2018 loss narrowed sharply - though less than expected - as revenue and sales rose, whilst it also reported a major new order from the United Arab Emirates.
For 2018, pretax loss stood at EUR2.3 million versus EUR3.4 million loss the year prior. This was after revenue grew 17% to EUR1.4 million from EUR1.2 million the year before.
Total marble production expanded 49% in 2018 to 13,094 tonnes from 8,811 tonnes the year prior. Meanwhile, block marble sold grew 9.0% to 5,059 tonnes from 4,641 tonnes the year before.
"We have increased sales and reduced operating losses but not to the extent we had planned, which is disappointing," Fox Chief Executive Officer Chris Gilbert said. "Notwithstanding this we have made progress with further investment in the development of our quarries, sales momentum continuing to build, further investment in our marble processing factory, and by strengthening our financial position and organisation."
Gilbert added the firm had made an "encouraging start to 2019" with production to the end of April more than doubling to 5,940 tonnes from 2,147 tonnes the year prior, and sales jumped to EUR515,000 from to EUR76,000 the year before.
"As last year, our objectives for the year are to achieve a material increase in production and sales, to significantly reduce operating losses," Gilbert added. "Our target for the year is to achieve a close to cash break-even position for the year as a whole. This will be critically dependent on our ability to produce marble to the required quality and on time to meet orders and to significantly grow sales of processed marble."
In a separate announcement on Wednesday, Fox announced it had secured the biggest single order for its "prized" Alexandrian white marble in order to build Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi.
The order from Swaminarayan Hindu religious order will buy a minimum of USD2.4 million of marble to be delivered in 2019 and 2020. They have already paid a USD100,00 good faith payment.
"We are privileged to be in partnership with the Swaminarayan religious order who have built over 1,000 temples around the world," Gilbert explained. "This temple will be the first such place of worship in the UAE and will be a monument for many generations to come. "
Shares in Fox were 3.6% higher at 7.12 pence on Wednesday.
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