Clear Leisure sees further challenges as loss widens

Clear Leisure said its path to value creation faced further obstacles as the investment company reported a much wider annual loss of almost €4m (£3.6m).

The AIM-listed company reported a pre-tax loss for the year to the end of December of £3.94m compared with a loss of £63m a year earlier. Revenue from continuing operations was €12m, up from €5m.

The bigger loss was caused by the reduced value of its Mediapolis business, whose land was sold at auction by administrators for €1.96m. The company also wrote down the amount it will recover from its Sosushi and Sipiem businesses. Along with legal expenses the provisions contributed to an increase in administrative costs to €3.9m from €329,000 a year earlier.

Clear Leisure shares fell 17.4% to 0.38p at 0904 BST.

Since 2015, a revamped board has sought to sort out the company's complex and sometimes disputed investments while reducing debt. In 2018, Clear Leisure invested in a cryptocurrency datamining centre that was hit by the plunging value of Bitcoin in early 2019. After putting the joint venture's operations on hold the company said the prospects for cryptocurrency mining had improved with Bitcoin's recent rise.

Francesco Gardin, Clear Leisure's chairman, said: "Much has been achieved since the appointment of the new board in July 2015, but other challenges still need to be overcome before we achieve our goal of realising meaningful value for the company’s shareholders. We are confident that by continuing with our processes and strategies, this goal will be met."