Baycorp battles to win back market confidence

Friday 12th September 2003

Investors in the shares of Baycorp Advantage have had a good few weeks.

Since hitting a low of $1.04 in February the share price has more than doubled its value to reach a recent high of $2.62.

The price has dipped this week to around $2.50 but there are signs that the company is slowly regaining the market's confidence.

AMP Henderson this week increased its shareholding to 9.3%.

But investors will be looking to a new appointment to replace managing director Keith McLaughlin, who announced his retirement late last month.

Baycorp shares were initially buffeted by the threat of increased competition to its core consumer credit referencing business.

Things took a turn for the worse when the company warned it wouldn't meet its profit forecasts for the June 2003 year, mainly because the synergy gains promised from its merger last year with Australia's Data Advantage were running behind schedule.

The market was savage, slashing the company's already battered share price by half.

Then the company posted a net annual loss of A$19.4 million ($22.0 million), compared with the previous year's A$300 million loss.

However, Baycorp is committed to reducing its operating costs. The company is targeting about $7.2 million per month, as the merger benefits slowly roll in.

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