(Alliance News) - Myanmar Investments International Ltd on Monday posted a swing to profit for its first half of financial 2020 as it outlined progress on plans to sell its stake in Myanmar Finance International Ltd.
Shares in the Myanmar-focused investor closed untraded on Monday in London, last quoted at USD0.76 each.
For the six months ended March 31, Myanmar Investments posted a pretax profit of USD1.7 million, swinging from a loss of USD1.1 million recorded for the comparative period the prior year. Net asset value as at the end of March was USD0.87 per share.
Its holdings as at March 31 comprised a 37.5% stake in microfinance company Myanmar Finance and an indirect 4.1% stake in independent tower company AP Towers Holdings Pte Ltd, having sold its 49% stake in Medicare International Health & Beauty during the six-month period.
No dividend was declared, unchanged from the year prior.
Turning to current trading, the investor said that while the telecoms sector has not been significantly hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic, the microfinance industry has not come out unscathed as grassroot level clients have been disproportionately negatively affected by the lockdown. It added that it expects this to lead to an increase in non-performing loans.
As a result, in April, it said it would sell its stake to in Myanmar Finance to consumer finance company Thitikorn. While it did not disclose any financial details, it said the minimum consideration would be calculated based on a pre-agreed formula of twice the audited book value of Myanmar Finance at the close of the transaction.
On Monday, Myanmar Investments said while the transaction has been approved by Thikitorn and its lenders, the suspension of all air travel between Myanmar and Thailand due to Covid-19 means little progress has been made. Assuming level of normalcy returns over the next few months, it expects completion to take place within the next two to four months.
"Your company continued to focus on implementing the change of investment objective that was approved at the annual general meeting in October. As a result, no new investments have been or will be made and steps are being actively taken to sell the existing investments when opportunities arise at acceptable prices. Our operating costs are kept under constant review to seek to minimise our cash burn to return surplus capital to our shareholders," said Myanmar Investments Managing Director Nick Paris.
As at the end of March, Myanmar Investments had cash of USD2.8 million.
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com.
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