14th Jan 2015 08:39
LONDON (Alliance News) - Tungsten Corp PLC Wednesday said that putting the foundations for growth in place had taken longer than had been expected, as the automated invoice processing provider reported a loss for its first half.
In a statement, Tungsten, which also provides supply chain finance and spend analysis, said its pretax loss widened to GBP14.8 million in the six months ended October 31, from GBP5.5 million the corresponding period last year.
"The vision for Tungsten is now being realised," Edmund Truell, chief executive, said in a statement. "Our significant investment in all parts of the business means the building blocks are now in place for future growth, though this took longer than expected."
Tungsten also said its first-half loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation widened to GBP13.3 million from GBP5.5 million, including GBP6 million of one-off set-up costs and GBP2 million of recurring investment in the Tungsten Network, arose due to more than GBP47 million of cash investment in developing its early payment and supply chain analysis services, and expanding the network.
"As we have now assembled the team and tools to execute our strategy to build the largest global electronic invoice network, we are now moving from this set-up phase to start to deliver on our objectives," Truell said.
"Over the coming months, we will be working to complete the required infrastructure to offer Tungsten Early Payment internationally. Tungsten Bank has received regulatory passports for Germany, France and Italy as a key step to offering invoice finance in Continental Europe," Truell said.
"We are also working to attract deposits to Tungsten Bank before our financial year-end," the CEO added.
Arnold Hoevenaars, non-executive chairman, said Tungsten expects its "net financial performance" for the first six months of its financial year to be "broadly replicated" in the subsequent six months, which will see additional one-off costs.
"Thereafter, with the progress being made in increasing the size of the Tungsten Network, the financing capability provided by the arrangements with Insight and the pipeline of opportunities for Tungsten Analytics, we are confident in the long-term growth prospects of the group," Hoevenaars said.
Tungsten shares were down 11% at 239.69 pence inside the first hour of trading on Wednesday.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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