The financial accounts showed a significant increase in accounts receivable which more than doubled to $7.3m, up from $3m in 2021.
A New Zealand Shareholders Association representative asked the company's managers whether those doubtful debts were continuing to grow after the balance date.
Chief financial officer André Gaylard said Plexure had made a big effort since reporting to follow up with its major customers and collect the payments.
BusinessDesk understands these are primarily from McDonald's operations in Eastern European countries, including Belarus and Ukraine.
Belarus has been hit with sanctions for its support of Russia's invasion, which has made sending payments to international suppliers difficult; Ukraine has been preoccupied repelling the invasion.
The New York Times reported overnight that McDonald's has begun a phased reopening of its outlets in the Ukraine capital of Kyiv.
"A lot of the constraints were really about the ability to make payments during wartime," Gaylard told shareholders. "We are making progress with that, and we believe those receivables are still going to be paid – we are yet to receive the money, but we are making good progress in terms of collecting it".
New focus
Chief executive Dan Houden said the company was expected to increase revenue by 72 per cent in the 2023 financial year and post a profit of $3.7m.
"Our ongoing transformation means the profit forecast could be understated."
This has been made possible by re-negotiating its contract with McDonald's to provide customer engagement across 66 markets, he said.
In August, Plexure said it had struck a new five-year deal with the fast-food giant that will allow the division to run profitably, having lost money in previous years, despite growing user numbers on its platform.
Outgoing board chair Phil Norman said it was the first time Plexure had a tenured contract with McDonald's and if it performed well there was "every chance" it would be renewed. Norman has stepped down as chair in part of what he described as an "orderly board renewal process".
McDonald's had a 9.4 per cent stake in Plexure and accounted for the bulk of its revenue before its recent merge with Australia's Task (the deal diluted McDonald's stake to 5.4 per cent).
Four directors resigned from the board at the meeting and were replaced by two new ones: Manda Trautwein and Mitch Bowen. Norman remains on the board and Bill Crichton is the new chair.
The board reset has been part of a broad reinvention of Plexure, which will see the company move its primary listing to the Australian stock exchange (ASX) and rebrand itself as Task Group (Task bought Plexure in a A$90m deal, billed as a "reverse takeover", first announced in August last year).
Houden said the new focus meant the company was pursuing a different set of customers and was no longer pursuing business with Indo-Super, a supermarket chain in Indonesia.
"Our focus was to home in on our capabilities with McDonald's and focus on making sure we can make the Plexure division profitable and getting synergies out of the combined offering."
He said a strategic decision was made not to go after the supermarket industry and instead focus on verticals where they have experience.
