Monitise CEO Buse to step down as losses rack up

Monitise CEO Buse to step down as losses rack up

Monitise CEO Elizabeth Buse is to step down 'for personal reasons' after just 15 months in the job at the struggling mobile banking technology firm.

News of Buse's departure came as the firm announced a further slump in full-year revenues and a loss of £223.6 million, including a £94.3 million write down and other charges totalling £58.3 million. FY 2015 revenue declined six percent to £89.7m, while Ebitda loss was £41.8m.

Looking ahead, the company maintains a forecast of Ebitda profitability in 2016.

Buse took over the sole CEO role in March, when founder and co-CEO Alastair Lukies stepped aside following a failed search for a third-party suitor.

Deputy CEO and chief commercial officer Lee Cameron is the latest to fill the hot seat.

Explaining the impairment charges, Buse says: "It has become clear over the past year that the market is not evolving at the pace we had anticipated, and this impacted market readiness for some of our more advanced solutions. It is appropriate therefore that we look critically at our balance sheet and impair assets that are not essential to our revised strategic direction. Impairments have been recognised where either technologies or geographies are no longer core to our near-term strategy."

Shares in the vendor slipped a further 29% on the news to stand at 4.12 pence at pixel time, recovering form an earlier low of 3.89 pence

Comments: (1)

Michael Fuller
Michael Fuller - None - London 09 September, 2015, 12:57Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Back in the day we always looked for stake, liquidity and profitability in assessing any business. Unfortunately EBITDA is not really a measure of profitability and "EBITDA Profitability" doesn't mean that an organisation is making profits. Even in the digital age cashflow is king so I hope Monitise is targeting Pre Tax Profits rather that EBITDA.  (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation).

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