HARARE - Private equity, investment and advisory firm, Brainworks Capital (Brainworks), says its revenue in the year to December 31, 2017 increased 21,8 percent to $4,8 million from just over $4 million following a 28 percent revenue rise in the first half of 2017.
The firm, however, said its headline loss per share increased to a loss of 14,22 cents per share compared to 0,10 cents per share for the year under review.
“Revenue increased to R58,6 million compared to R48,1 million for the comparative period. Earnings per share reduced to a loss of 14,68cents per share, compared to the earnings per share of 0,13 cents per share for the comparable period,” the company said in a short form announcement released yesterday.
Brainworks did not declare a dividend for the period.
This comes as the investment firm recorded a 940 percent surge in operating loss to $2,9 million from $280 000 in the first half of 2017 as operating expenses increased.
Operating expenses, impacted by listing costs, increased by 23 percent to $19,9 million compared to $16,2 million in the first half with the loss per share increased to $6,99 cents per share compared to $0,2 cents per share.
Brainworks last year became the first Zimbabwean company to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange main board under the Equity Investment Instruments (EII) sector, with the firm making its debut with the market capitalisation of just under R1 billion.
The firm’s chief executive Brett Childs is on the record saying the group was confident that its strategy of listing on the local bourse would prove sound and that international and Zimbabwean investors would view Brainworks as a vehicle to access our excellent asset portfolio and participate in the opportunity that was Zimbabwe.
Brainworks is an indigenous investment vehicle owned by various individuals and pension funds with interests in banking, asset management, consumer finance, life assurance and petroleum products.
Its current investments include controlling stakes in two companies listed on the Zimbabwean Stock Exchange (ZSE): African Sun, a hospitality management company and Dawn Properties, a real-estate investment holding, development and property consulting services company.
The group also has seven resort hotels and four city hotels in Zimbabwe, with some of them under the management of South Africa’s Legacy Hotels and Resorts. It also has significant investments in the financial technology sector through Getsure, a microfinance life insurer.
The JSE said the EII subsector had a market capitalisation of nearly R73 billion and Brainworks brought the number of companies listed in this sector to 10.
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