Ideanomics, an evolving financial technology company planning a major West Hartford development, said higher costs and expenses in 2018 deepened its full-year loss.
The $27.4 million net loss, or 35 cents per share, compared with a loss of $10.5 million, or 17 cents per share in 2017, came despite a major increase in revenue, which grew 162 percent over the year, from $144.4 million to $377.7 million.
Ideanomics’ share price fell from $1.94 to $1.80 after the market opened on Monday, but had recovered to $1.90 just before 3 p.m.
Ideanomics is incorporated in Nevada and was formerly known as Seven Stars Cloud. It moved its principal offices to New York last year.
Previously focused on a video-on-demand business model, the company began transitioning to a fintech model in 2017, with plans to offer products and services based on blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies to a variety of industries.
In 2018, most of Ideanomics’ revenue came from its trading of crude oil and consumer electronics. Ideanomics said it entered those markets, both of which rely heavily on shipping and logistics, with the aim of learning about them and identifying use cases for new technologies it is developing. On an earnings call, Ideanomics’ CEO Alf Poor said the company would be divesting those businesses, because, though they have generated revenue, they haven’t yielded profits.
The majority of 2018 revenue came from business in Singapore and Hong Kong. United States revenue grew to just over $638,000.
Last October, the company purchased 58 acres of the former UConn campus in West Hartford for $5.2 million, with plans to build a $283 million Fintech Village. The project, which will require Ideanomics to remediate environmental contamination on the property, may be completed in 2020, the company said in February.
The state Department of Economic and Community Development has pledged $10 million for the project. Ideanomics said it had not drawn on any of the money, as of Dec. 31.
