GYG makes waves to beat revenue expectations

GYG jumped on Tuesday after the superyacht painting, supply and maintenance outfit reported that annual revenue will "marginally" beat market expectations following improved trading over the final two months of the year.

Though it acknowledged that it had been "a disappointing year for GYG and the wider industry as a whole", GYG said revenue for the year ended 31 December is expected to be no less than €44.7m resulting in an adjusted EBITDA loss of no more than €0.95m

Meanwhile, business wins in November and December mean the total order book on 21 January was €33.9m, up 61% on the same point in the prior year, while the order book for 2019 is currently €25.3m, a 54% increase when compared to an order book for 2018 at the same point in the year.

Remy Millott, chief executive of GYG, said: "I am pleased with the order book position at this stage in the year and the team is busy engaging with clients across the industry. Despite 2018 being a very difficult year for the group and the wider market, we have made significant progress internally through Q4 2018 to improve the business and how we operate."

The AIM-traded company said order book improvements were largely due to the New Build strategy the group has developed through 2018 and into 2019, allowing for New Build revenue to be spread throughout the year to mitigate some of the annual Refit seasonality.

"The changes we have put in place allow us to track operations on a more granular level and provide greater visibility on revenues, gross margins, sales and pipeline. The system also ensures management can address any important issues much earlier than we have been able to in the past. This will enable the team to spend more time with key clients while focusing on winning business from both new and existing customers," said Millott.

GYG's shares were up 15.49% at 41.00p at 0912 GMT.