Energy investor Tag Pacific is expecting a blowout in its full year loss, after its renewables business didn’t come up to scratch financially.
The company guided a full year after tax loss of $3.8 million to $4.1 million, up from $1 million in 2016.
Tag Pacific (ASX:TAG) boss Nathan Wise told Stockhead the loss was due to refocusing its activities in the core MPower business on batteries, lighting and solar, which had not performed as well as hoped, and very new projects that won’t show up in the 2017 accounts.
The company said in a statement late on Friday that heavy investment in new business was behind the loss — 2017 revenue is expected to be about $40 million compared to $56 million in 2016.
MPower had some hits in fiscal 2017, such as landing a $US10 million ($12.7 million) solar project in Samoa, completing a $1.7 million battery project at Karratha airport’s 1MW solar farm, and beginning work on a 5.6MWh battery system in Rarotonga that will be larger than any grid connected system in Australia.
The company said MPower was expected to show a full year EBITDA loss of between $1.5 and 1.7 million.
Tag Pacific isn’t the only Australian listed battery company performing poorly this year. Redflow Energy has struggled to find a commercial home for its technology, while Protean Energy has gone through two CEOs in just over 12 months.