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Ruder Finn owed ‘several months of fees’ as bike-sharing firm oBike hits financial strife

PR firm Ruder Finn is said to be owed “several months of fees” by bike-sharing firm oBike which ran into financial difficulties long before its exit from Singapore, it has emerged.

The future now appears gloomy for the bike-sharing firm

The start-up company, founded in Singapore, is also reported to have gone into liquidation in Malaysia, although it is understood to still be operating in Sydney.

The firm pulled out of Singapore on Monday, explaining that it predicted problems meeting upcoming Land Transport Authority (LTA) licensing requirements for the bike-sharing sector in Singapore.

The closure of its launch office followed the earlier withdrawal from Melbourne, for apparently similar reasons.

But the Business Times reported the firm was in financial strife and said Ruder Finn, which had started working with oBike last September, went unpaid for several months.

The contract with the PR agency “had been on hold due to payment issues”, the report added.

Ruder Finn declined to comment, telling Mumbrella it was “unable to discuss details of our contracts with clients”.

The PR firm added: “We are glad to have had the opportunity to work with oBike previously.”

For the financial year ended December 2017, oBike generated S$912,668 in revenue, but recorded losses mounted to more than S$4m, according to the Business Times, which cited BizFile data.

Total current liabilities stood at S$22.7m, while assets totalled S$11.3m.

Meanwhile, the Malay Mail reported that oBike has gone into liquidation in Malaysia while customers reported the latest app update, released yesterday, removed the button that let customers refund deposits.

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