Thalassa (di) Regulatory News (THAL)

GROUP RESULTS 1H 2022 versus 1H 2021

• Profit /(loss) after tax for the year     £0.20m vs. (£0.81)

• Group Earnings Per Share (basic and diluted)*1    £0.03 vs. (£0.10)

• Book value per share*2       £1.50 vs. £0.82

• Holdings         £10.1m vs. £7.9m

• of which Unlisted holdings     £6.4m vs. £6.1m

• of which Listed holdings     £2.5m vs. £0.3m

• of which Hedges      £1.2m vs. £1.5m

 *1 based on weighted average number of shares in issue of 7,945,838 (2021: 7,945,838)

 *2 based on actual number of shares in issue as at 30 June 2022 of 7,945,838 (2021: 7,945,838)

2022 Observations

• First 6 months of 2022 saw war in Ukraine continue to negatively impact Global economic growth
• Flow of Russian energy continued to decline causing EU shortages, and a massive increase in European gas prices
• Global borrowing in 2021 grew to $303 trillion, and keeps growing
• Companies around the World issued $4.4 trillion of bonds in 2020, and continued through 2021
• In 2020 Global Government indebtedness was at its highest level since Post-World War I 

• Due to Central Bank Intervention, which has kept interest rates low, cost of debt since 2005 when debt/US GDP was 85% vs 140% today, means that interest cost has declined from 2% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP today
• In an adverse scenario where U.S. borrowing costs rise 2 percentage points above current market expectations, the price tag to USA’s debt would jump from 2% of GDP in 2020 to nearly 6% of GDP in 2030. In Italy, costs could hit 5.5% of GDP—higher than during the European sovereign debt crisis
• 2022 also saw the worst start to a year for stocks in more than half a century
• At the halfway point of the year, the tech-heavy NASDAQ had fallen by 30%, whilst the S&P was down by over 20%. Since the 16 June 2022, when the NASDAQ bottomed, it has risen ~18.8%, whilst the S&P has risen ~12.9%...which we believe is unsustainable and a bear market rally that will reverse again
• The next crisis will not be like its predecessors. In the 1970s, we had stagflation but no massive debt crises because debt levels were low. After 2008, we had a debt crisis followed by low inflation or deflation because the credit crunch had generated a negative demand shock. Today, we face supply shocks in a context of much higher debt levels, implying that, in our opinion, we are heading for a combination of 1970s-style stagflation and 2008-style debt crises – that is, a stagflationary debt crisis.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-coronavirus-global-debt/

Chairman’s Statement

Trading update

The Company's hedging strategy has served THAL shareholders well during the first half of the year and whilst our long-quoted-holdings suffered, in some cases substantial declines, these were largely offset by gains in our hedge positions.   

We covered most hedge positions shortly before the mid-June market bottom and subsequent rally, but have since repositioned, and increased our hedge exposure, after what we perceive to have been a ‘dead cat’ bounce. 

Market Action

Shareholders who read my Statement in the Company’s recently released 2021 Annual Report will know that I had for some time anticipated a major market correction, which was, in my opinion, long overdue. 

Global Technology stocks took the full brunt of the 2022 correction on the chin, which has seen Cathie Woods’ ARK Innovation ETF give back virtually all its ~383% gain, and which is now down ~74% since peaking in December 2021. Many of ARK’s investments had no earnings (with no prospect of sustainable earnings) or were trading on triple digit p/e multiples. Many of the major stock market indices have performed badly but not as badly as the investment vehicles with substantial exposure to “Story Stocks”. At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Index is down Year to Date (“YTD”) 15.29%, the S&P 500 is down 13% and the NASDAQ Index is down 19%. whilst European Indices are down YTD between ~7% and ~22%.

Macro Outlook

Your Board is of the opinion that the Market’s recent rally is unsustainable, and take the view that there is another leg down in US and EU (incl. UK) stock prices, which will be driven by earnings’ misses and subsequent reduction in overly optimistic earnings estimates for 2022, 2023 and 2024. 

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are still estimating that S&P 500 earnings will increase from current level of

199.67 to 235.78, an increase of 18.08%, in 2022, by +5.22% in 2023, and by +9.02% in 2024. Given the fact that inflation is currently running at record levels, and our view that Central Bankers could well tighten too much, just as Western economies grind to a standstill, we believe that analysts will rapidly start to reduce their 2022 Q3 and Q4, as well as 2023 and 2024 earnings estimates when they get back from their summer holidays.

ARL - https://autonomousroboticsltd.com/

• Focus on further continued development of Flying Node towards commercialisation with significant progress made in software development.
• Offshore trials scheduled for the second half of 2022.
• Advanced sales process aborted due to potential buyer itself being acquired

Tappit - https://tappit.com/

• We await news on further developments

Janzz  - https://janzz.technology/

• Company recently closed strategic investment by subsidiary of major Japanese industry market-leader

ALNA - https://www.alina-holdings.com/

• Please refer to Alina website

AMOI - https://anemoi-international.com/

• Please refer to Anemoi website

NWT - https://newmarksecurity.com/

• Please refer to Newmark Securities’  website

Conclusion

We anticipate a further correction to Western Stock Markets, and remain cautious on the macro-economic outlook, which we believe could deteriorate significantly this Winter.

Duncan Soukup

Chairman

Thalassa Holdings Ltd

12 August 2022

Responsibility Statement

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

1. the condensed set of financial statements has been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 ‘Interim Financial Reporting’ and gives a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation as a whole as required by DTR 4.2.4 R;

2. the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7R (indication of important events during the first six months and description of principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year); and

3. the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.8R (disclosure of related parties’ transactions and changes therein).

Cautionary statement

This Interim Management Report (IMR) has been prepared solely to provide additional information to shareholders to assess the Company’s strategies and the potential for those strategies to succeed. The IMR should not be relied on by any other party or for any other purpose.

Duncan Soukup

Chairman

Thalassa Holdings Ltd

12 August 2022

Financial Review

Continuing Operations

Total revenue from operations for the period to 30 June 2022 was £0.1m (1H21: £0.1m).

Net financial income from investment operations was £0.56m (1H21: £0.21m),

Cost of Sales was a credit of nil (1H21 : £0.18m) comprising development costs (net of capitalised costs) at ARL, resulting in a Gross Profit of £0.68m (1H21: gross profit £0.51m).

Administration expenses were £0.33m (1H21: £1.25m).  Depreciation costs were £0.15m (1H21: £0.06m).

Operating Profit was therefore £0.35m (1H21 Loss: (£0.75)m).

Profit before tax was £0.2m (1H21 loss: (£0.8m)).

Net assets at 30 June 2022 amounted to £11.9m (1H21: £10.5m). The increase in net assets primarily due to the sale of id4 to Anemoi International Ltd in 2021.

Net cash (being cash balances less borrowings) was £0.8m as at 30 June 2022 (1H21: £1.4m).

Net cash inflow from operating activities amounted to £0.18m compared to an outflow of £1.85m in 1H21.

Net cash outflow from investing activities amounted to £0.26m, which related to the purchase of portfolio securities and R&D in ARL, compared to 1H21 of £0.47m.

Net cash outflow from financing activities amounted to £3.89m (1H21: inflow £1.29m). This relates to the settlement of the short position on USD, which resulted in a gain of £0.3m.

Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income

For the six months ended 30 June 2022

The notes on pages 13 to 18 form an integral part of this consolidated interim financial information.

For the six months ended 30 June 2022

The notes on pages 13 to 18 form an integral part of this consolidated interim financial information.

Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

As at 30 June 2022

The notes on pages 13 to 18 form an integral part of this consolidated interim financial information.

These financial statements were approved by the board on 12 August 2022.

Signed on behalf of the board by:  Duncan Soukup

Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

For the six months ended 30 June 2022

The notes on pages 13 to 18 form an integral part of this consolidated interim financial information.

Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

For the six months ended 30 June 2022

The notes on pages 13 to 18 form an integral part of this consolidated interim financial information.

1. General information

Thalassa Holdings Ltd (the “Company”) is a British Virgin Island (“BVI”) International business company (“IBC”), incorporated and registered in the BVI on 26 September 2007. The Company is a holding company with various interests across a number of industries.

Autonomous Robotics Limited (“ARL” – formerly GO Science 2013 Ltd) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thalassa and is an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (”AUV”) research and development company.

Apeiron Holdings (BVI) Ltd is a BVI registered company and is wholly owned by Thalassa. It owns 100% of Alfalfa AG which is a company registered in Switzerland.

WGP Geosolutions Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thalassa which has an additional subsidiary, WGP Group AT GmbH, both currently non-operational.

2. Significant Accounting policies

The Group prepares its accounts in accordance with applicable UK Adopted International Accounting Standards.

The accounting policies applied by the Company in this unaudited consolidated interim financial information are the same as those applied by the Company in its consolidated financial statements as at and for the period ended 31 December 2021 except as detailed below.

The financial information has been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the accounting standard for financial instruments at fair value.

2.1. Basis of preparation

The condensed consolidated interim financial information for the six months ended 30 June 2022 has been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard No. 34, ‘Interim Financial Reporting’. They do not include all of the information required for full annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements of the Company as at and for the year ended 31 December 2021.

These condensed interim financial statements for the six months ended 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2021 are unaudited and do not constitute full accounts. The comparative figures for the period ended 31 December 2021 are extracted from the 2021 audited financial statements. The independent auditor’s report on the 2021 financial statements was not qualified.

All intra-group transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated in full on consolidation.

2.2. Going concern

The financial information has been prepared on the going concern basis as management consider that the Group has sufficient cash to fund its current commitments for the foreseeable future.

3. Earnings per share

4. Intangible assets

The intangible assets held by the Group increased as a result of capitalising the development costs of Autonomous Robotics Ltd (“ARL”).

5. Property, plant and equipment

6. Securities

The Group classifies the following financial assets at fair value through profit or loss (FVPL):-

Equity investments that are held for trading