NauticAWT registered a net loss of US$1.8 million for 1H15, a great plunge from the net profit of US$1.7 million in 1H14, despite a 56.7 percent increase in revenue.
The higher turnover was attributable to contribution from a group of subsidiaries acquired under AWT International in November 2014. However, gross profit slipped 13.6 percent, underpinned by a 22.1 percentage points fall in gross margin to to 27.3 percent, mainly due to the acquired units, whose businesses have generally lower margins.
The acquisition, coupled with the firm’s initial public offering (IPO) expenses of US$1.1 million, resulted in rocketing administrative expenses, which leaped 221.4 percent to US$6.1 million and dragging the group into the red.
For illustrative purposes, if the results of the acquired subsidiaries and one-off IPO expenses were excluded, NauticAWT would have recorded a profit after tax of US$17,000 for 1H15.
Contributed by Shares Investment