(Reuters) – Shares of Australian artificial intelligence training provider Appen Ltd on Monday hit their lowest level in more than seven years after reporting a significantly wider half-yearly loss on weak demand.
The shares tanked as much as 28%, logging its sharpest losses since May 10.
They pared some of the early losses and was down 27.2% at A$1.630 as of 0216 GMT.
The company posted a statutory net loss after tax of $34.2 million for the first half of the year ended June 30, compared with a loss of $3.8 million in the same period a year earlier.
Appen, one of the world’s largest AI training providers, said it could face persisting headwinds from a slowdown in the technology markets that could push its revenue for the second half of 2023 closer to the reported $138.9 million in the first half.
It also projected its annualised operating cost base on a run-rate basis to be lower than $113 million for fiscal 2023.
(Reporting by Navya Mittal and Poonam Behura; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
