1 Aug 2014

Software company to miss profit target

2:26 pm on 1 August 2014

Newly listed company Gentrack says it will miss the revenue and profit targets it forecast in its recent prospectus.

The company began trading on the NZX just over five weeks ago after raising $99 million and the shares debuted at an 8-cent premium to the issue price of $2.50.

Gentrack, which provides software for airports and utilites, said its revenue wiill fall short by up to 6.2 percent of its forecast.

The company had been expecting to earn up to $38.5 million in revenue, but now says it could earn as little as 36.6 million.

The net profit will also fall short by between $900,000 and $1.2 million. The company had forecast a profit of $3.7 million for the year but now estimates a profit of between $2.5 million and $2.8 million.

Gentrack chief executive James Docking said the fall in earnings is a result of a dispute with one customer over the payment of services and a delay in finalizing a contract with another customer.

He said the contract is expected to be signed within the next two months, while the dispute with the other customer is subject to mediation.

Mr Docking said the company still expects to be in a position to pay the $2.6 million dividend to shareholders promised in the prospectus and the financial outlook for 2015 is unchanged.