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Struggling luxury TV and stereo maker Bang & Olufsen (B&O) on Thursday swung to a fourth-quarter operating loss, but said it expected to return to sales growth this year with a plan to open more sales points and launch new products.
By Reuters
Shares in the Danish company have fallen more than 70% over the past year, reflecting weak TV sales and slow progress in its turnaround plan at a time when subdued consumer spending has hit retailers across Europe.
“Our unsatisfactory results were primarily due to difficulties related to the transition of our sales and distribution network and fewer product launches compared to last year,” said Chief Executive Henrik Clausen in a statement.
The company reported a fourth-quarter operating loss of 66 million Danish crowns ($9.97 million), compared with a profit of 55 million crowns in the same period a year earlier.
Full-year earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell roughly 50% to 59 million crowns.
Sales for the financial year ending in May dropped 13.6% to 2.8 billion crowns, in line with the company’s revised expectations. It had initially forecast 10% growth.
B&O now expects single-digit sales growth in the 2019-2020 year and an EBIT margin above the 2.1% achieved in 2018-19.
$1 = 6.6229 Danish crowns Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Mark Potter
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