Business expansion after year of consolidation
Listed investment company, Charter Pacific Corporation (ASX:CHF) said today that it expected the company’s financial performance to continue to improve with the implementation of its strategy to expand into financial services.
Last month, Charter Pacific announced that it had recruited a Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) senior executive fund manager to run Charter Pacific Funds Management Limited, as part of the company’s expansion strategy, which comes after a year of consolidation for the company.
Charter Pacific’s 2006 financial results show the consolidated entity posted a loss of $1,439,359 under the new Australian International Financial Reporting Standards (AIFRS), compared to last year’s reported loss of $10,001,495 after adjustment to AIFRS. Under the previous reporting standards (GAAP), Charter Pacific had last year posted a $5,212,661 profit.
During the year, Charter Pacific has:
- increased its holding in ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited, which has commenced final clinical trials of its leukemia drug Ceflatonin, to 28,110,087 shares;
- maintained its 40.8 percent holding in US investment bank Global Markets Capital Group, which successfully advised on the first Australian biotech merger between Alchemia Ltd and Meditech Research Ltd;
- increased its holding in Monteray Group Limited, which acquired superannuation administration system developer, GPen Pty Ltd, that provides services to Australia’s superannuation administrators;
- maintained its holding in the innovative coatings company OEM NuTech Pty Ltd.
Managing Director of Charter Pacific, Kevin Dart, said the expansion into financial services promised to deliver more consistent flows of revenue to the company and, as a result, should enable future distributions of dividends to shareholders.
“During the 2006 financial year, the company put in place the building blocks of our expansion plans including the launch of our new subsidiary, Charter Pacific Funds Management, which is backed by senior executives with in excess of 60 years experience in funds management,” Mr Dart said.
“We are confident that our expansion will provide the market with a more conventional way to value the company’s share value, based on consistent revenue streams.’’
Mr Dart said he expected the company to be making further announcements regarding the company’s expansion plans over the next 12 months.
About Charter Pacific:
Charter Pacific Corporation is a diversified investment company that listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1989. Today the company invests in a diverse range of listed and unlisted entities across a broad range of industries. Its current investments include:
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Charter Pacific Capital Limited (corporate advisory house),
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Charter Pacific Funds Management Limited,
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ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals (ASX: CXS, NASDAQ: CXSP),
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US based investment bank Global Markets Capital Group,
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Monteray Group (ASX: MRY) superannuation administration platform provider;
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OEM NuTech.