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Myanmar Investments International Ltd on Monday said its net value asset per share had sharply dropped due to the combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and the political turmoil that has engulfed the nation.
The Myanmar-focused investor said its net asset value per share decreased by 66% to $0.23 per share at March 31 from $0.67 per share at October 31.
The company said this period was extended due to the State Administration Council altering Myanmar’s fiscal year in August 2021 to March 31 from April 1, starting in the financial year 2023.
‘We have issued interim accounts for the periods from October 1 2021 to March 31 2022 and from April 1 2022 to September 30 2022 which were both published within three months of the period end,’ the company explained.
Myanmar Investment said the decrease in NAV was due to the decrease in the assessed value of the company’s two investments: Apollo Towers which fell to $7.5 million from $14.7 million, and Myanmar Finance International Ltd which fell to $400,000 from $1.1 million.
The company had invested $21.0 million in Apollo Towers; the Yangon, Myanmar-based telecommunications tower company. Apollo Towers has a portfolio of 3,234 towers and 6,706 tenants. Apollo Towers annualised adjusted revenue decreased by 11% to $91.4 million.
Myanmar Investments had invested $2.7 million for a 37.5% holding in Myanmar Finance International Ltd is one of the country’s leading microfinance companies. Myanmar Finance International’s gross loan book was MMK11.05 billion, about £4.2 million, down from MMK16.5 billion at the beginning of the period.
Both companies were disrupted by the impact of Covid-19 and the military takeover on February 1, 2021
‘The political crisis in Myanmar is settling into a prolonged conflict. The military continues to take aggressive action in the north, northeast and west of the country against pro-democracy and ethnic groups and is effectively not in control of a large part of the country,’ said Chair Henrik Bodenstab.
The company noted that there were continuing levels of inflation around 10% and a severe crisis in electricity and fuel supply. A United Nations Development Programme report in February said that a quarter of people living in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, have often not had any income in the last year.
Pretax loss widened to $24.3 million from $10.9 million, and total loss also widened to $22.2 million from $9.1 million, reflecting the uncertainty of the period.
Myanmar Investments did not declare a dividend for the period.
Since 2018, the company has said it feels that the investment environment in the country was unlikely to generate an appropriate risk adjusted return, and have attempted to wind down the company.
Myanmar Investment plans to withdraw trading on AIM, has sold its investment in Medicare International Health & Beauty for $1.9 million, and is in the process of selling its investment in Myanmar Finance International Limited.
Shares in Myanmar Investment fell by 5.9% to $0.080 in London on Monday.
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