I know I must be sounding more and more like The Grinch when it comes to what many perceive as a great British success story, and perhaps I am. But I am also a ‘back to basics’ sort of person who firmly believes that ‘the truth is in the numbers’. And the numbers at AIM-listed, UK-headquartered mobile banking player Monitise are still going in the wrong direction , at least on the bottom line where it really counts.
After CEO Alastair Lukies backed away from his FY13 EBITDA break-even target date in December (see Monitise 'ton' – one-third down, two-thirds to go!), today’s half-time results still give no hint as to when Moritise will be profitable on a sustained basis. Indeed, in the six months to 31st Dec., Monitise sank into a net loss of just under £30m – even larger than its £27.8m turnover – almost double the size of the net loss it made in the whole of FY12.
You can argue (and even I might concede) that Monitise is very much punching above its weight in this oh-so-important ‘space’. But to stretch the analogy perhaps an inch too far, they are leaving themselves increasingly exposed to a knock-out blow below the belt.
Look, you can make up your own minds on this as you have a unique opportunity to hear Lukies’ side of the story on Thursday at the Intellect Cobalt Conference at London’s Lancaster Hotel, where he will be interviewed on stage by the BBC’s Political Editor, Nick Robinson. I shall be there too, so what’s your reason for not coming? Pop on to the conference website for booking information, or drop an email to Intellect’s Tina Compton.