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Cape Town - Unlisted technology group Venfin, which is controlled by the Rupert family, came through the half-year to end December in solid shape.
Perhaps more intriguing, though, was the additional investments in existing holdings - particularly post balance sheet in SEACOM.
Interim results released on Thursday morning showed Venfin's net asset value (NAV) increased 2% to 2 851c/share (equivalent to R7.6bn).Venfin's share price ended at 2245c on the OTC market on Wednesday, discounting the NAV by over 20%.
The value of the main portfolio constituent, the 18% stake in Dimension Data, increased slightly to R2.46bn while unlisted investments, Sabido (etv) and Tracker, were static at R1.26bn and R594m respectively.
Venfin disclosed it had boosted its stake in Didata to over 20%. Didata was the biggest contributor to Venfin's earnings in the interim period, chipping in R72m of the R139m group headline earnings.
The big surprise in Venfin's results was the marked jump in value of VisionChina Media, which increased from R35m last year to a much more meaningful R232m.
Venfin said it had invested another $5m in VisionChina, bringing its total investment in the Chinese company to $10m. VisionChina was listed on the NASDAQ in early December 2007.
Technology venture Britehouse is listed as worth R129m, while Venfin's participation in SEACOM (the sea fibre optic cable developer) is reflected as R115m.
Earlier this week, VenFin invested an additional $13m in SEACOM, bringing its total investment to $30m (R225m).
The other major portfolio of Venfin's NAV is cash, which has swelled to almost R2.5bn following the sale of the group's stake in Alexander Forbes.
- Fin24