Christchurch-based technology incubator Powerhouse Ventures has no plans to raise additional capital at the current depressed share price and will focus on its New Zealand operating strengths and expansion in Australia.
Powerhouse went public in an A$10.2 million ($11.3m) initial public offering last year selling shares at A$1.07 ($1.19) apiece. It traded at 34 Australian cents on the ASX last week, hurt by an unsettled year for the management and governance of the company, including a new chair and chief executive as well as a full review of the investment portfolio and the failure of hydroelectric turbine designer Hydroworks, which was tipped into liquidation by Powerhouse and led to a $4.3m impairment charge for the investment firm.
At the annual meeting in Sydney on Friday, chair Russell Yardley told shareholders that "Powerhouse does not want to ever again be in the weak position it found itself with Hydroworks" and that the decision to apply to appoint interim liquidators was "bitterly disappointing", while chief executive Paul Viney said the company was making sure the lessons from that failure become embedded in Powerhouse.
Viney said Friday that the company's funding position has improved post recent investment realisations and that it has embarked on a pathway to restoring shareholder value, which included restructuring and shrinking the executive team and reducing operating costs. The board was also reduced to five members from seven.
He also said that liquidity events and fair value uplifts will bolster stronger revenue in the second half and that there was "no intention to raise additional ordinary equity capital at current depressed share price," according to presentation slides accompanying his speech which were published on the ASX.
