By SIMON HENDERY
Electric motor company Wellington Drive Technologies continues to shy away from predictions about when it might turn a profit.
But the Auckland-based designer of motors for appliances says it is poised to benefit from a growing international demand for energy-efficient appliances.
Chief executive Dr Ross Green told about 50 shareholders
at the company's annual meeting yesterday that the regulatory environment in Europe and the US had changed over the past year to favour energy-efficient motors such as those produced by Wellington Drive.
The company has received 12 development orders from European and American companies over the past year.
Chairman Shawn Beck said that although the contracts were small in dollar terms, "all of these programmes have good medium-term revenue potential and show increasing levels of commitment by the marketplace to the company's technologies".
Wellington Drive reported a $2.9 million loss for the year to June 30. Beck said another loss was highly likely this year, although he was confident it would be smaller.
"We have already booked more revenue for product sales, engineering fees, licence fees and royalties in the first five months of this financial year than in all of the last financial year."
He would not be drawn when asked by a shareholder if the following financial year would be profitable, saying it was difficult to predict.
"The company does have a good medium-term future."
The company announced yesterday that it had appointed to its board Ray Meyer, an Auckland University professor emeritus and former head of the university's engineering school.
