Somers Third Quarter Net Income: $8.6 Million
Somers Limited, a financial services investment holding company, announced its results for the quarter and nine months ended June 30, 2015.
Overview of the quarter ended June 30, 2015:
- Diluted net asset value [NAV] per share of $18.67 as at June 30, 2015 [March 31, 2015: $17.56];
- Consolidated net income of $8.6 million for the quarter [June 30, 2014: net income of $11.9 million];
- Diluted earnings per share of $0.75 compared to diluted earnings of $1.03 a year ago; and
- Shareholders’ equity increased by 6.3% to $217.9 million as at June 30, 2015 [March 31, 2015: $205.0 million].
Investment Highlights for the nine months ended June 30, 2015:
- Bermuda Commercial Bank Limited [BCB] reported net income of $3.9 million;
- BCB capital ratio of 22.7%;
- BCB maintains high liquidity with 37% of its balance sheet in cash and cash equivalents;
- Waverton Investment Management Limited [Waverton] reported pre-tax income of £6.3 million;
- Waverton reported Assets under Management [AuM] as at June 30, 2015 of £4.5 billion;
Strong operating performance by Private & Commercial Finance Group plc [PCFG]; and
- Somers completed an additional £4.0 million investment in Ascot Lloyd in July 2015.
Commenting on the financial results, Warren McLeland, Chairman of Somers said: “Somers enjoyed a strong third quarter with net income of $8.6 million. This brought our year to date net income to $1.2 million. NAV per share improved to $18.67 from $17.56 at March 31, 2015 [September 30, 2014: $18.96].
“Our investment portfolio has returned to a net positive year to date position following investment gains of $6.4 million in Q3. These gains were led by PCFG whose share price appreciated following their recently announced positive operating results. On a year to date basis we have had a mixed performance from our portfolio.
“While PCFG has performed strongly, these gains were offset by reductions in the carrying value of our two largest holdings, BCB and Waverton. Together these two investments represents 79% of our investment portfolio and how they perform will heavily impact our overall results until the portfolio is diversified. BCB’s value decreased mainly due to a reduction in the value of its investment portfolio while Waverton has been impacted by lower AuM related earnings.
“Currency movements were positive in Q3 however on a year to date basis they still remain in negative territory. A number of our investments including Waverton and PCFG are denominated in Sterling and over the course of the nine month period ended June 30, 2015 Sterling declined by 3.0% versus the Dollar.
“Somers is currently fully invested and has minimal leverage. However where opportunities arise we will use leverage to fund such new investment opportunities. Subsequent to the period end one such investment opportunity arose and was funded by a bank loan. We invested a further £4.0 million into Ascot Lloyd to allow that company to make an acquisition bringing our economic interest in Ascot Lloyd to 44.0%.”
