Totalise

Shares in e-commerce venture Totalise plunged 32% as the company delivered a far from inspirational full year report. In the twelve months to April losses surged to £4.4m (£1.9m), despite a 300% rise in revenues to £4.3m. This loss included £1.1m of exceptional costs associated with the launch of several new businesses (two of which have already been closed) and £564,343 worth of restructuring expenses. The worrying signs did not end there, however. Totalise's founder and chief executive, Peter Gregory has provided the company with a further £375,000 of working capital by way of a loan and the guarantee of a bank overdraft. When the company moved from Ofex to Aim almost 12 months ago Gregory helped secure £1.2m of a £2m fundraising by again guaranteeing a loan. Chairman David Bruce's comments that Totalise's board 'hopes to be able to develop the group into a profitable enterprise' also fail to instil much confidence. There were a few positive's though, most notably the extension of a contract between Totalise's car import business 'Eurekar' and Direct Line's e-tailing site 'jamjar.com'. Eurekar has been installed as jamjar's preferred supplier of imported cars for a further two years. This business, along with Flowers2send and communications business Totalise Telecom are all expected to become cash positive this year. Here's hoping.

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Sector: Food & Drug Retailers

Companies: Total Produce

Market cap: £2.9m

PE Forecast: n/a

Share price: 4.75p

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