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LONDON (Alliance News) - Dillistone Group PLC on Tuesday called 2018 a challenging year as its loss widened following a departure of an undisclosed major client.
The supplier of recruitment software said revenue in 2018 declined by 11% to GBP8.7 million from GBP9.7 million reported a year earlier, resulting in a widened loss of GBP451,000 from GBP375,000.
Administrative costs, excluding acquisition related items, depreciation and amortisation, fell 8% to GBP6.3 million from GBP6.9 million in 2017, as measures were taken to reduce costs following the loss of the major contract in 2018.
Dillistone did not propose a dividend for 2018, having paid 0.5p per share the year before.
"Results in 2018 have clearly been disappointing and the board has embarked on a plan which, it believes, will deliver significantly improved performance from 2020 onwards," said Chief Executive Jason Starr.
In February, the company closed its London office as part of a restructuring and increased the size of its Basingstoke and Eastleigh offices.
In addition, Dillistone completed the implementation of a group-wide customer-relationship management system, allowing team members to operate more easily on projects. The implementation of a group-wide financial system also has begun, with completion expected by the end of 2019.
Dillistone said it is withdrawing some products from the market, but it continues to invest in product development for each of its flagship products.
The company expects the costs of the restructuring to be in the region of GBP500,000 to GBP900,000.
Looking forward, Dillistone said 2019 has begun well in each of the three divisions. However, the company said it is cognisant of the economic challenges that the year may bring.
"We are now well on our way to restoring Dillistone to healthy operating profits on a sustainable footing," said Non-Executive Chair Mike Love.
The stock was trading 1.2% higher on Tuesday at 41.50 pence a share.
