30th Sep 2015 13:49
LONDON (Alliance News) - Argo Group Ltd Wednesday reported a wider pretax loss in the first half of 2015 as it suffered an unrealised loss on non-current asset investments and said its performance was hit by challenging economic and market conditions.
The investment company said that its pretax loss in the six months ended June 30 widened to USD4.2 million from USD0.5 million the year before, as revenue fell slightly to USD3.1 million from USD3.9 million.
It said its loss reflected the unrealised loss on non-current asset investments of USD4.5 million, and that its fund performance was "lacklustre" amid a varied and challenging economic and market backdrop.
"Such is the downward pressure in emerging markets that even the US Federal Reserve hesitated in raising interest rates at its last meeting. The old BRIC nations have experienced huge investment outflows reflected mainly in the currencies of Brazil, Russia and now China. Against this challenging backdrop Argo has not been very active in sovereign credit, concentrating instead on creating liquidity on its private equity assets. We are pleased to report that we can see light at the end of the tunnel for a couple of these positions," Chief Executive Kyriakos Rialas said.
Shares in Argo were untraded on Wednesday, last quoted at 6.84 pence.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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