"Given the negative equity position, the directors have implemented various restructuring programs and believe that these measures undertaken and the access to funds noted above provide sufficient support to enable the company and group to meet its obligations as they fall due," the company said in notes to its accounts. As a result, the financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, it said.
The net loss for 2013 was the fourth in a row and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers tagged the report with an 'emphasis of matter', referring to the latest loss and noting that total liabilities exceeded assets by $16.3 million as at Dec. 31. The excess of liabilities over assets and reliance on funding "indicates the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt about the company and group's ability to continue as a going concern," the auditor says.
Last year Goodyear exited local retailing, selling 52 Beaurepaires retail stores and shifting 180 employees to Beau Ideal, owned by TyreLine Distributors' founder Grant Rushbrooke. Beau Ideal would also take on Goodyear's local retail marketing and licensing programmes. Goodyear sold its heavy commercial tyre service in 2012.
Larger rival Bridgestone New Zealand, the local unit of the world's biggest tyre maker, posted a profit of $9.6 million for 2013, just down from 2012's decade high of $10.2 million, on sales of $219 million.