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(Alliance News) - Georgia Capital PLC on Thursday said it is positive going forward after facing a tough first half of 2020.
The holding company focused on investing in developing businesses in Georgia posted a net asset value per share of GEL31.67 on June 30, down 32% from GEL46.84 a year prior.
Georgia Capital said the decline in NAV per share was due to the negative impact of Covid-19 on listed asset prices, which suffered a 17% decline on NAV per share, and the valuations of private assets, which saw a 11% decline on NAV per share.
The company's NAV per share was also impacted by a 6.5% depreciation of the Georgian lari against the dollar, resulting in a 2.4% decrease on NAV per share.
Despite the drop in NAV, the company said that most of its businesses "proved relatively unaffected" by the pandemic, although some did experience material impacts in terms of revenues and profitability during the lockdown.
Georgia Capital said: "At the same time, all maintained healthy balance sheets, focused on cash flow generation, and have demonstrated an impressive recovery in profitability since the beginning of June, and have posted mostly either high single-digit or even double-digit year on year monthly revenue growth in June and July.
"Aggregated revenues across our portfolio companies declined in the second quarter by 6.2% year on year (up 3.1% in first half). However, as the lockdown eased in June, aggregated revenue increased in June and July by 11% and 7%, respectively."
Total portfolio value was down 19% in the half ended June 30 to GEL1.83 billion from GEL2.25 billion year on year.
The company will not be paying a dividend due to Covid-19 related uncertainties.
Georgia Capital said that, going forward, it believes most of its businesses are well positioned.
"Following our prudent capital allocation decisions, including the buyout of minority stake in renewable energy and the share exchange offer for Georgia Healthcare Group shareholders, most of our portfolio is largely concentrated in structurally important, counter-cyclical sectors: education, renewable energy, water utility, insurance, healthcare services & pharmacy and distribution.
"Looking ahead, the range of possible outcomes still remains wide, however, we believe that all of our portfolio companies other than the hospitality business, are positioned well to remain resilient."
Georgia Capital shares were up 0.1% at 380.00 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com
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