Lonfin’s investment value declines by a hefty 28.64%

LONDON Finance & Investment Group (Lonfin) yesterday said the value of its investments declined by 28.64 percent or by £3.05 million (R56.84m) in the year to end June, largely due to the fluctuation in share price of Finsbury Food Group.

The group has invested in Finsbury, one of the largest producers and suppliers of premium cakes, bread and morning goods in the UK and currently supplies most of the UK’s major supermarket chains. Lonfin holds six million Finsbury shares, representing 4.6 percent of Finsbury’s issued share capital, with a market value of £4.020m at the end of June.

The group said the strategic investments declined to £7.60m, down from £10.65m compared to last year. It said the significant decrease in fair value of strategic investments resulted in the total comprehensive loss of £1.76m for the period compared to a profit of £256 000 reported last year.

Its basic earnings per share came in at 2.9 pence a share, but after adjusting for unrealised changes in the carrying value of investments and net of tax, the group reported a basic loss a share of 2.3p, while headline earnings per share were 0.6p.

Its net asset value a share declined by 9.79 percent to 59p a share, down from last year’s 65.4p a share.

Lonfin is an investment company listed both on the JSE and London Stock Exchange.

The group declared a final dividend of 0.60p a share, taking the total dividend to 1.15p a share.

Looking ahead the group said the continued political and economic uncertainty in Europe where Brexit has yet to be delivered will clearly impact on world economies, and it can expect further volatility and turbulence in the markets ahead.

“While the last 12 months have been challenging for the company’s investments, particularly its strategic investments, and we can expect further challenges ahead, the board is confident that the company has a solid base of investments which can lead to further capital growth in the medium to long term,” the group said.

The group holds 30 investments under its general portfolio at the end of June.

Lonfin shares closed unchanged on the JSE yesterday at R4.