EARNINGS: Blackrock Latin opts for patience as net asset value falls

(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings for London-listed companies, issued on ...

Alliance News 27 September, 2024 | 1:26PM
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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings for London-listed companies, issued on Friday and not separately reported by Alliance News:

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Blackrock Latin American Investment Trust PLC - Latin America-focused investor - Net asset value per share declines 24% to 489.79 US cents as at June 30 from 644.24c as at December 31, citing portfolio overweight in Brazil, with stock selection in several interest rate sensitive sectors having a negative impact. NAV total return is negative 22.0% for the first half of 2024, underperforming against its benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America index, which has a return of negative 15.7%. The company lowers its second quarter dividend by 19% to 6.13c per share from 7.54c a year ago. This brings the payout for the first half to 13.52c, down 1.7% from 13.75c on-year. Looking ahead, Chair Carolan Dobson says: "We have seen the first reduction in US interest rates, which should benefit Latin American economies. Declining interest rates throughout the region should result in better economic activity going forward and thus see a favourable environment for asset prices. While both absolute and relative performance in the first half have been disappointing, we strongly believe that investing in Latin America requires patience and an ability to maintain and add to portfolio positions when others in the market are heading for the exit. To that end, and reflecting our view of the opportunity set, it should be noted that we have increased our leverage by 10.8% since the end of 2023."

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Galileo Resources PLC - mining company focused on Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and the US - Pretax loss narrows to GBP966,115 in the financial year ended March 31, from GBP1.6 million a year ago. Reports no loss or profit from equity accounted investments, compared to a loss of GBP765,172 in financial 2023. Operating expenses reduce to GBP1.1 million from GBP1.3 million. Chair Colin Bird says: "Our key focus is our Zambian copper assets, all located in highly prospective areas, with considerable promise for discovery. The licence 28001 situated adjacent to Angola in the Western Foreland region of NW Zambia, is a large licence where we recently commenced drilling. Our initial sorties and detailed fieldwork have identified several targets with the required architecture for copper mineralisation and these targets will be drilled during the course of the drilling season, which may continue to mid-December."

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Inteliqo Ltd - Edinburgh-based start-up technology company, which provides distribution services to consumer technology brands - Turns to a pretax profit of USD31,197 in the financial year ended March 31 from a loss of USD684,267 a year ago. Revenue jumps to USD783,497 from none. Administrative expenses increase to USD758,757 from USD680,391. Looking ahead, Chair Joseph Truelove says: "With our client's continued support, we remain confident in our ability to market and sell the Langaroo App in the coming months, sustaining a neutral cash flow. This financial stability will enable us to concentrate on executing the strategic initiatives mentioned earlier, which are anticipated to yield returns under our revenue-sharing agreement."

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TechFinancials Inc - purely investment entity since 2022 after closing operating entities in Israel - Pretax loss widens to USD90,000 in the first half of 2024, from USD73,000 a year ago. Looking ahead, Chair Eitan Yanuv says: "We will continue to look for opportunities to materialise our assets or join forces with other companies in order to be able move forward." Chief Executive Officer Asaf Lahav says: "We continue to look for investment opportunities to maximise the company's value, leveraging its available cash."

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Xtract Resources PLC - Australia and Zambia-focused mining company - Pretax profit dives to GBP84,000 in the first half of 2024 from GBP622,000 a year ago. Reports no revenue from gold sales compared to GBP393,000 a year ago. Further, announces no other operating income, down from GBP1.7 million. Administrative and operating costs reduce to GBP818,000 from GBP1.1 million. "The Western Foreland is rapidly emerging as the global frontier district for the discovery of new Tier One copper deposits, with many of the global leading mining companies actively exploring for new deposits of sediment hosted copper mineralisation," the company says. Further, Xtract awaits results regarding samples from Bushranger, with preliminary results reported to be favourable.

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By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
BlackRock Latin American Ord 329.00 GBX 0.46
Xtract Resources PLC 0.68 GBX 17.39 -
Galileo Resources PLC 1.00 GBX 0.00 -
TechFinancials Inc 0.25 -
Inteliqo Ltd Ordinary Shares 6.00 -

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