Termination fees push PDL loss to $1.18m

Christchurch-based manufacturer PDL Holdings reported an after-tax loss of $1.18 million for the year ended March 31, compared with a profit of $9.74 million the previous year.

The company said net one-off costs of $2.93 million came from restructuring and included costs from termination fees for four directors, redundancies, and plant closures.

Operating revenue was down 3 per cent at $320.9 million.

No final dividend will be paid. A dividend of 20c, with full imputation credits of 9.85c, was paid at the half-year, while last year's dividends amounted to 40c.

Managing director Mark Stewart, who was appointed last June, said directors underestimated the extent of the company's problems when making a strategic review.

"We decided that irrespective of the costs involved in totally reforming our balance sheet and operations, we would take all these costs up within one financial year."

Mr Stewart said the company was rebuilding in Australia, and investing in a new product range for Asia.

It was looking at marketing alliances, and changing the philosophy of how it developed products.

The company had now taken all known costs.

Since the new business year began on April 1, the financial numbers had been improving, Mr Stewart said. - NZPA