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(Alliance News) - Primorus Investments PLC on Tuesday posted a widened loss for the first half of 2019 due to a loss on a disposal.
Shares in Primorus were 9.6% lower at 0.11 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.
In the six months to the end of June, the company made a pretax loss of GBP418,000, compared with a loss of GBP48,000 in the first half of 2018.
Primorus made a GBP136,000 loss on the disposal of available for sale investments compared with a GBP267,000 gain in 2018's interim. Total assets at June 30 were valued at GBP4.9 million, staying broadly flat year-on-year.
Administrative expenses rose by 2.3% year-on-year to GBP264,000 from GBP258,000.
The company noted that during the interim period, investee WeShop Ltd signed a license agreement with Amazon.com Inc. The deal will see the American online retail giant pay the Primorus-investee for Amazon purchases made on the WeShop platform.
Exploration company Greatland Gold PLC secured a USD65.0 million farm-in agreement with Australia-based Newcrest Mining Ltd. Primorus owns 37 million Greatland shares.
Primorus also said that since the end of the interim period, it has upped its investment in Engage Technology Partners Ltd by GBP50,000 to GBP1.5 million.
The company said: "The board remains confident that the private and pre-initial public offering markets remain significantly under-served and as such, significant opportunities exist for the company going forward.
"We look forward to the remainder of 2019 being a period in which we can further demonstrate our business model by exiting some more of our investment positions, thereby realising tangible value for all shareholders."