SHAREHOLDERS in a smart-meter manufacturer have called for the removal of the company’s chairman as the firm announced operating losses of more than £2million.

Darwen-based Bglobal unveiled its preliminary results for the year ending on March 31, which showed revenue had dropped from £16.03million to £11.58million.

Operating losses stood at £2.05million, compared with a profit last year of almost £750,000.

However, the firm still had a healthy bank balance of £3.02million.

Investors Forest Nominees Ltd, which holds 9.79 per cent of the company’s shares, has called a general meeting of shareholders in a bid to secure support for the removal of Peter Kennedy as executive chairman.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, August 15, in Manchester, and Forest Nominees has also called for the appointment of John Heathcote Grant as company chairman.

But with Mr Kennedy having personal shareholding of almost 24 per cent, the investors must persuade more than 40 per cent of the remaining shareholders to back its revolt.

Bosses at the firm said the Government’s decision to postpone the mass roll-out of smartmeters had forced a change in the business’ focus.

Chief executive Tim Jackson-Smith said: “We have shifted away from manufacturing and the focus is now more on software and services.

“Volumes of meter sales have gone down.

“We are obviously disappointed at not making a profit but we were ready for it.

“This has been a year of transition.”

As reported in the Lancashire Telegraph in September, Mr Jackson-Smith believed they had achieved the ‘full package’ with the acquisition of Welsh firm Draig Technologies, a software solutions provider.

On Forest Nominees’ call for Mr Kennedy to be removed, Mr Jackson-Smith said: “They are a long-standing shareholder in Bglobal and are obviously concerned about the share price and performance of the company.

“To that end they have called the meeting in August to try to change things themselves.”

In a statement to shareholders, Mr Kennedy said he believed those calling the meeting wanted to sell the business to get as much cash out of it now as was possible.

He said: “It was clear before I took my role as executive chairman that we needed to build a strategy that was not reliant upon Government plans for a mass roll out of smart meters.

“I and the management team have diligently been building the strategy based around selling ‘Software as a Service’ and wrapping around it other services such as energy efficiency, training and metering.

“This has resulted in what others and I believe to be a unique offering in the market.”

A smart meter is an electric device that monitors energy use and feeds data back to the utility firm.