Construction and engineering company Stefanutti Stocks revealed earlier this month that it was experiencing short-term liquidity pressures and was considering raising funding through ringfenced project financing, a number of alternative funding solutions and, as a last resort, a fresh issue of shares.
The company, which said the trading environment remained “extremely difficult,” incurred losses for the financial year ended February 28.
Although its loss per share for the year narrowed to 65.9c, from a loss per share of 317.7c in the prior financial year, the company reported a headline loss per share of 70.1c, compared with a headline earnings per share of 67.5c in the prior financial year.
It further said the adverse market conditions were contributing to an increase in delayed payments from clients, while the group’s overall cash had decreased to R881-million from R916-million in the prior year, resulting in the liquidity pressures.
Meanwhile, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation decreased to R55.5-million, compared with R345.5-million in the prior financial year.
Contract revenue decreased to R9.9-billion from R10.4-billion.
The current order book is valued at R11.5-billion.
The company expects the contraction in construction activity to impact on its turnover and operating profit margins for “some time to come”.