Bang & Olufsen continues to lose money

Management remains positive in the face of losses

The 90-year-old company Bang & Olufsen A/S (B&O) ended last year in the red. The Danish maker of luxury stereos and television sets blamed the loss on production failures and weak markets.

The company posted a pre-tax loss of 224 million kroner. Revenue during the period came in at 759 million kroner compared to 822 million kroner last year – a decrease of 8 percent.

Late products and high costs
Despite the gloomy numbers, management said that they are still looking forward to “high single digit” growth over the entire 2014/2015 period.

Company head Tue Mantoni said part of the explanation for the loss was that a number of new products, including the company’s highly-touted 55-inch TV, could not be delivered on time. Production costs have also been higher than the company had anticipated. 

Mantoni said that he still expects a strong 'second half', but that it won’t be enough to compensate for the slow start. Mantoni has had to downgrade expectations three times since he took the top job in 2012.

READ MORE: B&O to outsource TV production to Czech Republic

The company, which was founded in 1927, employs over a thousand people around the world.

 

 





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