2013-08-21 Press release: Interim Report no 2 for the financial year 2013

Divestments and dividends in 2013 

The Group’s result amounted to MSEK -23.7 (1.2) corresponding to -0.66 (0.03) per share. Equity, as at June 30, 2013 amounted to MSEK 255.0 (310.2) corresponding to SEK 7.2 (8.6) per share. The Group’s cash and holdings in listed shares amounted to MSEK 37.8 (22.1).

MyPublisher was divested in April 2013 to the American company Shutterfly Inc. Novestra’s ownership amounted to 25 percent and Novestra’s part of the purchase price amounted to a total of MSEK 61.6 compared to the carrying value of MSEK 61.2 as at March 31 2013. 15 percent of the purchase price is held as a guarantee in connection with the transaction and will be paid out in 18 months while the remaining amount was paid out in cash.

Another Novestra portfolio company has appointed advisors in ongoing M&A and IPO processes with a possible divestment or listing within the next 9 months.

The prospects in 2013 for the portfolio companies are positive. The remaining private portfolio consists of companies which show both strong cash flow and good profitability which allows for good opportunities in the ongoing work with exit strategies.

The Annual General Meeting held on April 25, 2013 renewed the Boards mandate to purchase the company’s own shares. A total of 1 657 407 shares have been purchased since February 2012, of which 430 000 were purchased during 2013.

The Board of Directors will call for an Extraordinary General Meeting to propose a distribution of SEK 1.00 per share.

The total return on the Novestra share since 2002 including dividends amounts to 198.8 percent, corresponding to an annual return of 10.5 percent. The total return index for the Stockholm stock exchange during the same period gave a return of 7.2 percent per year.

“The ongoing process to realize the values in the portfolio is expected to be either through industrial sales or through listings in combination with distribution of shares to Novestra’s shareholders. We expect to have an additional divestment of one of the current holdings within 9 months and thereafter have established the future strategy for Novestra” says Johan Heijbel, Managing Director, Novestra.

For further information, please contact Johan Heijbel, Managing Director AB Novestra, +46 (0) 8 545 017 50.

About AB Novestra 

Novestra is an independent investment company with a portfolio of investments in a number of privately held growth companies including Explorica, Inc.,Strax Group GmbH and Swiss Picturebank AG. In addition, Novestrahas an investment corresponding to approximately 6 percent of the shares in WeSC AB, listed on First North. 

The Novestra shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, under the symbol NOVE, in the Small Cap section. For further information regarding AB Novestra, reference is made to www.novestra.com 

The information provided in this report is such that AB Novestra is obliged to make public according to the Securities Market Act (sv. lagenomvärdepappersmarknaden). The information has been released to the media for publication on August 21, 2013 at 8.55 am (CET).

Download press release

Download interim report

Comments are closed.