LONDON (Alliance News) - Cambium Global Timberland Ltd on Tuesday recorded a rise in net asset value after negotiating a favourable settlement with Banco da Amazonia SA.
As at April 30, the end of the investment trust's financial year, Cambium recorded a 5.7% increase in net asset value per share to 20.2 pence from 19.1p the year before.
Most substantially, the company negotiated a settlement with Banco da Amazonia. Cambium had made a GBP4.6 million provision to cover claims from this financial institution.
However, during the year, Cambium reached a GBP1.4 million settlement with Banco da Amazonia and was able to retain the remaining GBP3.2 million, which contributed strongly to profit and boosted the company's net asset value by 20%.
This boost was, however, undercut by expenses on its forestry investments and a GBP1.7 million currency headwind - the year before saw a GBP649,000 gain on foreign exchange.
Cambium disposed of all its Hawaiian assets, dropping its assets held for sale to GBP14.8 million from GBP18.7 million. However, this substantial drop in liabilities held for sale to GBP165,731 from GBP5.2 million resulted in a favourable change in net asset value.
In its financial year forestry investor Cambium recorded a GBP4.0 million profit, which compares with a GBP2.8 million loss the year before.
Cambium did not declare a dividend for the year but is considering a share buy-back programme and will seek to renew its buy-back authority at the company's next annual general meeting.
"Milestones in the year comprise the beginnings of asset value recoveries, and time will tell if this is the start of an upward trend...Considerable work to prepare assets for sale has been completed and the last six months have seen a pick-up in prospects in Brazil. The wait continues for all of that to translate into further actual sales," said Cambium.
Shares in Cambium were untraded on Tuesday, last quoted at 9.58 pence.