Metropolis Transactive Holdings has published its first interim results since exiting the business-to-business (B2B) market.
The group, which operates the iafrica.com portal and a recently launched application service provider, has reported a headline loss of 11.5c per share for the six months to 31 December 2000, compared with a 19.1c loss a year earlier.
Total revenue fell to R7.73 million from R22.41 million, although on continuing operations revenue rose from R4.93 million to R7.73 million.
A R6.98 million loss from operations was an improvement on the loss of R20.66 million a year earlier, while the headline loss improved from 19.1c a share to 11.5c a share.
CEO Mike Braby says Primedia, the group`s largest shareholder, has reconfirmed its financial support for the company for a further 12 months.
"Consideration is also being given to various alternatives for the funding of iafrica.com until it reaches profitability," he adds.
Metropolis announced in September last year that, with effect from 30 June 2000, it was disposing of its Information Management businesses, transferring its B2B communities to VerticalNet and closing its B2B division.
Since then, Braby says, the group has focused on growing its iafrica.com portal. It also entered a number of new joint venture e-commerce agreements and launched the Private Label application service provider division.
He adds that the reduction in headline losses has been better than budget as a result of lower operating costs, brought about by enhanced systems.
"The loss from operations of R7 million was slightly better than budget and the positive trend is expected to continue for the remaining six months of the financial year."
He adds that the group expects its performance in the second half to be consistent with the progress made in the first half.
The group`s net asset value was 3.2c (48c) per weighted average share at the end of the period.
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