ERoad Q4 result 'broadly in line' with expectations

ERoad Q4 result 'broadly in line' with expectations

By Sophie Boot

Jan. 5 (BusinessDesk) - ERoad, the logistics and fleet management company, said its total contracted units at the end of 2016 were "broadly in line" with expectations, with a 5.1 percent lift from a quarter earlier.

As at Dec. 31, the Auckland-based company had 45,657 total contracted units, up 5.1 percent Sept. 30, it said in a statement after trading closed. Units in its established markets of Australia and New Zealand rose 4.8 percent to 39,964, while units in its commercial market of the US rose 7.4 percent to 5,693.

When announcing its first-half results at the end of November last year, ERoad said it expected strong growth in New Zealand, whereas the US would be modest until there was greater acceptance of electronic logging device compliance.

The volume of distance recorder units contracted to ERoad customers in North America increased 68 percent to 5,301 in the six months to September, and rose 35 percent to 38,129 in Australia and New Zealand. In the first half of the previous year, the number of units contracted rose more than 300 percent in North America, and 47 percent in Australia and New Zealand.

The shares last traded at $1.60, up 0.6 percent today before the release. The shares first publicly traded at $3.32 in August 2014 after being sold to investors at $3 apiece, and lost 29 percent of their value in the last 12 months. In October, chairman Michael Bushby said the board didn't think the share price, then at a record low of $1.45, reflected the underlying value of the business.

(BusinessDesk)

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