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LONDON (Alliance News) - African financial services investment vehicle Atlas Mara Ltd on Wednesday said its pretax loss widened and revenue fell in 2014, but said it will continue to focus on identifying new acquisition opportunities to drive growth in 2015.
The pretax loss for the company, which was co-founded by former Barclays PLC chief executive Bob Diamond, was USD58.1 million, compared to a USD45.1 million loss a year earlier on a pro forma basis. Revenue fell to USD57.4 million from USD180.5 million.
Atlas Mara closed four acquisitions in the year, comprising ADC African Development Corp AG, ABC Holdings Ltd, BRD Commercial and a 30.2% stake in Union Bank of Nigeria.
"We are excited about realising the growth opportunities existing in the sub-Saharan African markets in which we are operating and or investing and are focused on delivering improved financial performance across the group. Although forecasting is challenging in the current environment, we expect to demonstrate marked improvements in organic growth and profitability and will continue to pursue acquisition-related growth where consistent with our strategic objectives," said Chief Executive John Vitalo.
Shares in Atlas Mara were untraded Wednesday, having last traded at 7.25 pence.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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