The Australian surfwear brand Billabong has reported much worse than expected results as it continues to try to refinance its debt, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday.
It reported a net loss of A$859.5m ($777.8m; £495.1m) for the year ending 30 June, compared with a loss of A$275.6m a year ago.It has written off the value of many of its brands, including cutting the value of the Billabong brand to zero.
Its shares fell as much as 15 per cent, having lost more than 60 per cent in the past year.
Billabong has been struggling to maintain sales in key markets such as the US and Europe.
“They have had an absolutely ginormous writedown, and that’s the only way that you can describe it,”IG Markets analyst Evan Lucas, said.
The firm has also been in financial trouble after an international expansion loaded the company with debt.Billabong rejected an A$850m takeover bid from private equity firm TPG Capital Management early last year, which valued the shares at A$3.50 each.
The shares ended the day at 53.5 cents.Chairman Ian Pollard said the year had been “the most challenging period in the company’s history.”
The firm, which is also facing weaker trading in its home market, Australia, has taken various steps in an attempt to revive its business.
It has closed 158 of the stores it describes as under-performing, sold the DaKine brand and all but withdrawn from its Nixon joint venture.
