The impact of the Queensland floods on earnings at eBusiness Systems (NSX:EBS) appears to have dissipated.
In the company's annual report, published today, chairman Geoff Marshall revealed that the company earned a net profit before tax of $650,000 during the six months ending in September.
This compares to a post-tax profit of just $111,000 in FY11 — a decline of 51 per cent from the prior year as a direct result of the floods in late December and early January.
eBusiness Systems' main trading entity, business technology management and consulting company Corpnet, swung to a slim pre-tax loss for the year. The company had been anticipating $800,000 in pre-tax profit before the floods hit.
As a result of the disaster, sales fell over 73 per cent in January, and 47 per cent in February, as against the company's forecasts.
But in Q4, Corpnet reported a pre-tax profit of around $457,000, as it began processing the resulting order backlog. The effects of the backlog dissipated somewhat in first quarter of FY12, with Corpnet earning pre-tax profit of $188,000.
EBS' NSX-listed shares last traded at $0.200.