Powerhouse Ventures would probably be considering sacking its boss, if he hadn’t already left.
The venture capital firm posted a $NZ11.2 million ($10.2 million) loss on Wednesday afternoon, 10 months after listing on the ASX.
Since its listing, Powerhouse’s (ASX:PVL) shares have dropped from the original issue price of $1.07 to just 35c.
Powerhouse announced on Tuesday that founder and managing director Dr Stephen Hampson had resigned, effectively immediately.
Replacing him as CEO will be former chief financial officer Paul Viney.
The New Zealand “intellectual property commercialisation” company’s yearly results were disappointing — as expected, after the implosion of one of its innovation hopefuls Hydroworks.
However the company is still optimistic about its push into Australia.
“Powerhouse is working to ensure its expansion into Australia gathers pace. This will include growing university networks and connections to capital and when appropriate opportunities arise, investments into new spin-out entities,” it said.
How much does the ASX cost?
Powerhouse placed much of the blame for its poor results on the Hydroworks scandal, which left it about $7 million out of pocket.
However its other big “one off” cost was to list on the ASX. The company said it had spent almost $NZ1.8 million ($1.64 million) listing on the Australian exchange.
Those costs were laid out in the full-year results as follows:
Direct IPO costs
$NZ931,000
Indirect IPO costs
Other IPO broker fees – $NZ319,000
ASX listing fees – $NZ105,000
IPO transaction success staff bonuses – $NZ190,000
Share-based payment expense re IPO – $NZ133,000
Other one-off IPO related costs – $NZ110,000
Powerhouse has a portfolio of about two dozen innovation companies it’s banking on to pay off.
Stockhead is seeking to interview Powerhouse’s new boss Mr Viney about his plans to turn the company’s share price around.