Hills Ltd has been forced to book a $94 million write-down as the unwelcome flow-on effects of the entrepreneurial strategy of ousted chief executive Ted Pretty and an aggressive expansion into health and technology emerge.

Hills, best known as the inventor of the iconic Hills hoist rotary clothesline, will tumble to a bottom-line loss of $86 million in 2014-15 and won't pay shareholders a final dividend. New Hills chief executive Grant Logan, who started in late May, told Fairfax Media on Friday he thought this represented Hills' low point and there would be better times ahead.