MySale has made a loss after sales plummeted in its first half due to a combination of high discounting and low margin product.

Pre-tax losses were A$10.2m, up significantly from A$0.1m in the first half of its previous year.

Revenue declined 16.9% to A$126.2m in the six months to December 31, 2018. Gross profit dropped 35% to A$29.5m.

In its home market of Australia and New Zealand, gross profit was down 37% to A$24.3m as revenues dropped 19% to A$101.6m.

In Southeast Asia, gross profit was down 37% to A$2.9m with revenues decreasing 13% to A$15.1m.

The picture was brighter for the UK, where the Cocosa brand saw sales rise 10% to A$9.5m and gross profit increase 8% to A$2.3m.

MySale blamed its poor performance on changes to the legislation for low-value ecommerce import transactions and established an action plan in December to address the challenges by changing its product mix and reducing operating costs.

It expects its current year to be negatively affected with a “sharp decline” in both revenue and profitability but believes it will become a “leaner, more focused business” as a result.