Smiles staff bill soars

STAFF costs soared 41 per cent at embattled Gold Coast dental group Smiles Inclusive during the third quarter, partly due to redundancy payouts.

A quarterly cashflow report issued yesterday afternoon shows staff costs of $5.32 million compared to $3.755 million for the previous quarter.

Smiles said previously that employees have been asked to accept reduced remuneration due to the current financial situation at the company, which is forecasting a loss of $4 million this financial year.

The company said third quarter customer receipts were $11.32 million for the three months to March 31.

That was 7 per cent down or $800,000 below the previous quarter’s accounts, which were restated following an audit.

Smiles blamed factors associated with the “seasonality” of the post-Christmas period for the lower cashflow after previously also attributing lower second quarter cashflow to worse than expected trading over the Christmas/New Year period.