Trakm8 Holdings PLC on Thursday said it swung to a loss in the first half of its financial year, following a drop in sales and higher material costs.

The Birmingham, England-based telematics and data insight provider recorded a pretax loss of £2.4 million in the six months that ended September 30, from a profit of £47,000 a year before. Trakm8 reported a pretax loss of £122,000 in the year that ended March 31, 2022.

Trakm8 said profit was hit by lower software sales, higher material costs, and exceptional costs from its strategic refocus and cost reduction programme.

In September, the company announced a review of its strategy and operations to build on the success in its Insurance and Automotive sectors, which recorded 26% revenue growth to £4.2 million in the half year, and to ensure resources are available to address a ‘narrower part’ of the connected vehicle market with more focussed products.

Trakm8 added that profit was hurt by exceptional costs which multiplied to £1.3 million from £306,000. This comprises £900,000 of costs associated with the strategic refocus, £210,000 in additional costs to mitigate the impact of electronic component supply chain challenges, and £210,000 of other costs.

Revenue was marginally down to £9.01 million from £9.02 million in the first half of the year.

Looking ahead, Trakm8 said its primary strategy is to grow through more connections, increased device sales and higher service fees.

It added that several new Insurance customers will launch during the second half of financial 2023, although the financial impact of these will mainly occur in financial 2024.

Trakm8 shares were up 0.7% to 13.60 pence on Thursday afternoon in London.

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