EROAD has posted a loss of $3.6 million before tax for the six months to September 2018.

The company said this reflects continued investment and higher operating expenses during the six-month period as well as the adoption of new accounting standards.

Revenue rose to $28.5m, up 46% over the same period last year, and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation were up $6.2m compared with $3.4m for the same period last year.

EROAD’s total contracted units grew to 86,240, up 45% on the same period last year.Total contracted units in New Zealand and Australia grew to 65,285, up 31% on the same period last year.

EROAD chief executive Steven Newman said New Zealand growth remained solid in both electronic RUC and health and safety services, particularly among enterprise customers with sizeable fleets, as well as among local bodies and council fleets.

During the six months EROAD decided to re-launch in the Australian market.

“We have recruited dedicated sales staff in key states in Australia to take advantage of what we see as a growing opportunity in this market, while at the same time leveraging heavily off our New Zealand capabilities,” said Newman.

He said EROAD would continue to incur higher operating expenses for the near term as it invested ahead of its growth curve.

“The opportunity in North America for the EROAD platform, which combines regulatory-driven telematics with commercial services, continues to develop positively.

“We are establishing a scalable platform for growth. We have a strong local leadership team in place to drive scale. We have the people, products and increasingly the ability to win target customers”, he said.