Energy Mad lowers FY guidance, gets $1M from SuperLife

Wednesday 19th December 2012

Energy Mad, which raised $5 million in an initial public offering last year to kick start sales of its energy-efficient light bulbs, said annual earnings will be at the lower end of guidance after delays slowed sales in Australia and the US. It got a $1 million injection from SuperLife Investments.

Last month the Christchurch-based company cut its 2013 annual forecast sales to between $13 million and $20 million for a profit of between $100,000 and $2 million and it now expects that to come in at the lower end of the range.

In its offer document, Energy Mad had picked earnings before interest, tax and depreciation of $6.2 million in 2013 on sales of $21 million.

Since the downgrade the company has embarked on cutting costs and says it has stripped out $750,000 in annual spending, which it expects to start appearing in the last quarter of the 2013 financial year.

Separately, the company announced SuperLife subscribed to 2.22 million shares at 45 cents apiece to support growing its US, Australian and New Zealand businesses. That will give the investment firm a 5.6 percent stake in Energy Mad, making it the fourth-biggest shareholder.

Energy Mad's shares rose 7.1 percent 45 cents yesterday, having slumped from the $1 listing price when it joined the bourse last November.

SuperLife is a financial services firm that offers superannuation, KiwiSaver, investment and insurance products to more than 35,000 members and some $900 million of assets.

In October the investment firm put $2 million into unprofitable electric motor maker Wellington Drive Technologies.

SuperLife grabbed a degree of notoriety last year when it was rapped over the knuckles by the Financial Markets Authority for its KiwiSaver sales techniques. This year it missed out on securing a licence to operate as a trustee or statutory supervisor.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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