YuuZoo narrows Q4 loss to S$3.1m; trading remains suspended

YUUZOO Networks Group Corp - previously known as YuuZoo Corp - narrowed its fourth-quarter losses mainly due to the absence of amortisation costs and the impairment of assets available for sale, according to unaudited financial results released late on Thursday night.

For the three months ended Dec 31, the online media company narrowed its net loss to S$3.1 million, from a loss of S$78.7 million for the year-ago period.

Loss per share for the quarter stood at 0.45 Singapore cent, from a loss of 9.90 Singapore cents last year.

No dividends have been declared, unchanged from the preceding year.

Meanwhile, revenue fell 93 per cent to S$740,000 from S$11.3 million, mainly attributable to lower logistics services revenue generated by YuuLogistics France, the company said.

It added that there was no amortisation for the fourth-quarter as all intangible assets were fully written off in fiscal 2017.

"As a result of restructuring and strategic alignment by the group, management was of the view that no future economic benefits would be generated from the existing intangible assets, due to the current changes in technological and industry landscape," Yuuzoo said in a regulatory filing.

The group posted amortisation costs of S$21.7 million, and impairment expenses of S$38.6 million for the year-ago period, both of which were absent in its latest quarter.

For the full year, YuuZoo also narrowed its net loss to S$2 million, from a loss of S$100.9 million a year ago. This translated to a loss per share of 0.37 Singapore cent, from a loss of 12.67 Singapore cents in the previous year.

Revenue for the 12-month period was down 13 per cent to S$15.7 million.

Nonetheless looking ahead, the group expects industry growth to remain strong in key areas it operates in, namely social commerce, as well as the online and mobile payments sector.

Separately, the company on Thursday also announced that it has changed its financial year end from Dec 31 to June 30 to "better coordinate and finalise its year-end financial reporting requirements with its professional advisers".

According to Yuuzoo, this will result in "greater administrative and operational efficiencies" as the year-end is generally a busy period. Its new financial year ending June 30 will cover a period of 18 months from Jan 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.

In March 2018, the Singapore bourse suspended shares in YuuZoo, citing auditors' inability to give their opinion on the veracity of financial statements for the year to Dec 31, 2017.

Audited results for that period, released in September 2018, later showed a 12-month net loss of S$101 million, against the net profit of S$2.29 million that the group had reported, while the audited revenue came in at S$18 million, against the unaudited figure of S$62.2 million.

Trading remains suspended as the group is under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD). In April 2018, CAD raided YuuZoo's offices, seizing materials related to the financial years 2013 to 2016, and interviewed former management staff.

In January this year, two independent directors - Joseph Lee and Brendan Goh - resigned after several months with the company.