SPECIALIST cleaning group Proventec has slashed pre-tax losses in figures released today, but warned they are unaudited and a truer picture will not emerge until December in a change to the Rodney Street-based company’s reporting period.
Most of the year has been spent on negotiations with its largest shareholder, InnoConcepts NV on a refinancing deal after talks with its previous majority shareholder broke down.
A conversion deal involving loan notes for shares and a cash injection is hoped to be approved, leading to the return of trading in Proventec’s stock, probably in November.
But the time consuming process has led to a change in the group’s reporting structure and its accounting period has been extended to 18 months, to September 30, 2010.
Chief executive David Chestnutt said today’s figures are unaudited and take no account of impairments.
More precise data will be available when the company releases its 18 month report before the end of December, he said.
Today’s report shows a fall in revenues in the 12 months to March 31, from £14.99m to £14.44m, while pre-tax losses were cut from £28.64m to £2.78m.
The firm has developed steam cleaning techniques which help eradicate hospital superbugs such as C-difficile and MRSA.
However, Cryojet, a new dry ice-based cleaning system it had developed aimed at the petrochemical industry which was being trialled in Rotterdam and had attracted interest from Mexican authorities, has been discontinued.
Mr Chestnutt said: “It was a very exciting project and we thought it had tremendous potential, but contractually there were difficulties and we thought the best option was to close it down at our end.”
Over the past 12 months the group has won a £4m tender to supply NHS services with cleaning materials for at least two years, an order worth at least £1m from a global food manufacturer to provide a dry steam cleaning system for food conveyor lines, and a £300,000 second stage funding package to develop a hand hygiene system.
Mr Chestnutt said: “There have been some notable successes which encourage the board to believe Proventec is moving in the right direction, including high profile contract wins and expansion in the food manufacturing market.
“With a heavily reduced debt burden and a clearer capital structure, the group is in a stronger position to deal with the commercial pressures of the current economic climate.”
However, despite insistence by political and business leaders that a ‘double dip’ is unlikely, he painted a gloomy picture of the economic situation, saying: “This has been against an economic environment which threatens to sink back into recession, although in reality it is doubtful that we have even come out of recession.”
