Surf's down as Hot Tuna sales collapse

Hot Tuna, the crippled surfwear business which once boasted the Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson as a director, came closer to a total wipeout yesterday after new losses reduced hopes of finding a buyer for the brand.

The company founded for Australian surfers in 1969 has repeatedly struggled to keep sales at a sustainable level and admitted yesterday that they had fallen in all its markets of Europe, Australia and the US. Losses for the year were £862,000 – better than the previous year's £1.4m, but sales also fell from £464,000 to £207,000. Its shares fell by a quarter to just 0.08p.