IT-invested private equity fund Trematon Capital Investments incurred a R20.33 million net loss in the six months to 28 February after a fall in the share price of its biggest asset, Intec Telecoms.
<B>Salient figures</B>
Trematon Capital Investments results for the six months to 28 February 2003.
Year-earlier figures in parentheses:
Net interest received: -R0.33m (-R0.08m)
Profit from operations: -R1.55m (-R1.11m)
Profit before tax: -R17.32m (R2.19m)
Profit from associates: -R3.01m (-R1.29m)
Income for the period: -R20.33m (R0.9m)
HEPS: -19.3c (0.8c)
EPS: -19.3c (0.8c)
Current assets: R0.35m (R1.87m)
Current liabilities: R4.89m (R7.18m)
NAV per share: 2.8c (86c)
Cash flow from operating activities: -R1.78m (-R0.66m)
A headline loss of 19.3c a share compares with a headline profit of 0.8c a share in the same period a year before.
Trematon has disposed of all its investments, other than those in Gracefield Investments and Mican. Mican`s most significant asset is its shareholding in UK company Intec.
Intec`s share price fell from 22p at 31 August to 17.5p on 28 February.
"Intec improved its operating performance for the six-month period ended 31 March 2003 despite a background of difficult and competitive market conditions," Trematon says.
Trematon`s other IT investments, held by Mican and Gracefield, are Iocore (Finland), Adaptive Systems (Denmark, Norway and Sweden), Iocore SA and Iocore Australia.
It says the value of these investments also continue to be affected negatively by market conditions and sentiment.
The company says its own operating costs have been significantly reduced as a result of the disposal of its other assets and no longer having full-time executive management.
Former CEO Richard McEligott and Trematon`s executive management were part of a consortium that bought the other assets for a nominal sum.
Trematon says the future value of its investments is dependent mainly on the price of Intec shares and the outcome of talks regarding a restructure of the funding requirements of Mican and Gracefield, as well as in regard to Trematon`s own funding requirements.
It points out that it is a minority shareholder in both Mican and Gracefield and does not have direct control over those company`s negotiations.
The Trematon share was untraded at 15c on the JSE this morning. The Intec share was last at 20.5p.
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