SUNSEEKER’S FINANCES LOOK UP WITH LOSES OF £21.2m

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BoatLife

25% increase

Sunseeker’s losses totalled £21.2m in 2021 - down £4m on 2020, marking another challenging year for the boatbuilder.

However, revenue was up by 51% during the year.

In its last accounts and business review, the company said “2021 was another challenging year with Covid-19 continuing to have an impact.”

Supply issues, cancelled boat shows and the continued impacts of Brexit all had an impact. Despite this, there has been ‘no identifiable effect’ on the export of boats.

Overall, when compared with 2020, revenue grew from £140.6m to £212.8m.

The company also reduced retained losses from £25.5m in 2020 to £21.2m in 2021.

But the gross margin was down from 6.6% in 2020 to 5.7% in 2021.

Sunseeker’s order book helped generate £17.5m of operating cash in 2021, compared to an outflow of £19.8m in 2020. A growing orderbook at the end of the year and new products coming on line are providing the company with cause for optimism.

Improved cash position has enabled the boatbuilder to invest in new models, namely the Predator 65 and 100 Yacht in 2022 - with the production line of the latter, sold out until 2024.

Going into 2023, the company stands in good stead with the launch of the much-anticipated Superhawk 55.

As in previous years, Sunseeker’s major shareholder Dalian Wanda said it remains ‘closely engaged’ in operations and has provided a letter of support to the company should it require funding in future.

New CEO for Oyster Yachts

Ashley Highfield has been appointed as the new CEO of Oyster Yachts.

Ashley, who was previously executive chairman, has been fulfilling the interim CEO role since September 2022. He will be replaced as chair of the Oyster Yachts board by Richard Hadida.

“One could say that this is the ultimate job swap, as Richard was previously CEO,” explained Ashley. “This new structure will give Richard the opportunity to concentrate on new product development and the future range of our yachts, while I will concentrate full-time on this new CEO role, building on the excellent work of the past four years, with this next phase in Oyster Yachts’ voyage.”

Ashley has previously headed many of Britain’s leading organisations including as BBC’s main board director for New Media and Technology, responsible for the development and launch of BBCiPlayer and the growth of BBC Online.

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