Saltaire set-top firm Pace Micro Technology has plunged into the red as it counted the cost of delays in launching new products for the American market.

The previously-announced problems meant the company announced full-year losses of £15.6 million, against profits of £9.1 million last time.

Pace finance director David Brocksom said shipments were now starting to flow through, with the company in the process of delivering a high-definition personal video recorder to DirectTV, the world's largest satellite pay TV operator.

Mr Brocksom said: "We have struggled to get the shipments through but we are now working with the largest satellite TV companies in the world and we will be back in the black next year."

New chief executive Neil Gaydon has also made organisational changes, including the creation of a combined sales, product and engineering team for each customer grouping which executives believe will benefit the company.

Chairman Mike McTighe said: "This approach is more efficient as management layers have been greatly reduced while at the same time allowing new talent to come to the fore.

"The board believes that with shipments to the US under way and the implementation of a new lower-cost - but more effective - organisational structure, Pace is turning an important corner.

"The board acknowledges that there is still much work to do but believes that the changes made since the start of the new financial year will provide greater accountability within Pace, better customer service and more predictable engineering delivery.

"Overall the market remains strong and Pace has good support from its customers and partners. Therefore the board is confident that the business has started to recover and will move back into profit this financial year."

He said steps were being taken to ensure Pace's workforce were appropriately managed and incentivised to deliver improved performance.

Despite the changes, Pace shares fell three per cent as the losses of £15.6 million came in worse than the £15 million estimated by the company in May.

In the last 12 months Pace shipped 2.2 million units, compared to a total of 3.4 million in 2005.

Last month Pace announced 60 redundancies as part of restructuring plans. Mr Brocksom pledged that further job losses were not on the cards.

e-mail: dan.webber@bradford.newsquest.co.uk