Santumas Shareholdings plc - Interim Results

On 31 December, Santumas Shareholdings plc published its interim results for the six-month period to 31 October 2009. The results show a pre-tax profit of €321,466 mainly due to the increase in the fair value of the Company’s financial assets in line with the recovery registered by the local equity market. Although this profit is considerably lower than the €2.7 million record in the six months ended 31 October 2008, the comparison is distorted by the profit on sale of property amounting to €3.5 million which is included in the 2008 figure. The sale of land was a one-off item and without this substantial sale, Santumas would have otherwise incurred a substantial loss of almost €700,000 from the Company’s investment portfolio.

After accounting for a tax charge of €25,588, the Company’s profit for the six month period under review amounted to €295,878, translating into an earnings per share of €0.178. The Directors did not declare the payment of an interim dividend but stated that the dividend policy will be reviewed at the year end.

In the interim report, the Directors stated that they have acquired the superior ground rents on a property in St. Paul’s Bay resulting in the increase of the ground rent roll. On the investments side, the Directors confirmed that the Company’s foreign portfolio has been liquidated and the resulting funds have been placed into a Sterling denominated Capital Protected Fund which it intends to hold to maturity.

The Net Asset Value per share as at 31 October 2009 was of €3.767 and this increased to €3.864 by the end of November. The equity of Santumas last traded on 7 December 2009 at a price of €2.601.

Download of a copy of the Santumas Shareholdings plc – Interim Report 31 October 2009