Aberdeen Reports Shareholders' Equity of $0.82 Per Share and Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 09/14/12 -- ABERDEEN INTERNATIONAL INC. ("Aberdeen", or the "Company") (TSX: AAB) is pleased to announce that it has released its financial results for the second quarter of 2013, ended July 31, 2012. For more information please see the Company's Condensed Interim Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") posted on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
As at July 31, 2012, Aberdeen's Shareholders' Equity (or Net Asset Value, "NAV") was $71.3 million, or $0.82 per share. Aberdeen's shareholders' equity decreased by $7.9 million from $79.2 million at the end of Q1 2013. The decrease in shareholders' equity was due to the performance of Aberdeen's equity investment portfolio in the second quarter, which decreased $6.3 million or 11.3% to $49.2 million. In the second quarter of 2013, the stock market performance for small capitalization mining and resource stocks continued to be weak. On a year-over-year basis, Aberdeen's shareholders' equity decreased by $51.9 million. Note that the reference to shareholders' equity is similar to previous references to Net Asset Value or "NAV" by Aberdeen.
July 31, 2012 January 31, 2012 July 31, 2011
Shares
outstanding 86,480,139 86,100,139 87,582,639
$ $/Shares $ $/Shares $ $/Shares
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Cash on hand 4,073,749 0.05 7,372,118 0.09 3,540,370 0.04
Investments
Publicly
traded 34,037,369 0.394 51,916,759 0.603 69,207,035 0.790
Private 14,416,279 0.167 16,325,377 0.190 18,909,369 0.216
Non-trading
warrants
Intrinsic
value - - 1,915,000 0.022 2,009,167 0.023
Option
value 758,996 0.009 2,170,214 0.025 1,282,321 0.015
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758,996 0.009 4,085,214 0.047 3,291,488 0.038
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Portfolio
Investments 49,212,644 0.569 72,327,350 0.840 91,407,892 1.044
Loans /
Preferred
Shares 18,319,003 0.212 3,459,778 0.040 6,981,688 0.080
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Total 71,605,396 0.828 83,159,246 0.966 101,929,950 1.164
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Aberdeen reported net earnings of $(10.1) million or $(0.12) per basic share for the three months ended July 31, 2012 on total revenue of $(7.0) million. Revenue was comprised of $(7.4) million from net investment losses and $0.4 million from interest income, dividends and advisory services fees. For the three months ending July 31, 2011, Aberdeen reported net earnings of $(7.6) million or $(0.09) per share on total revenue of $(9.2) million ($(9.9) million from net investment losses, $0.5 million from royalties, $0.2 million from interest income and advisory service fees).
For the six months ended July 31, 2012, Aberdeen reported net earnings of $(26.0) million or $(0.30) per basic share on total revenue of $(25.4) million. Revenue was comprised of $(26.5) million from net investment losses, $0.6 million in royalty revenue and $0.5 million from interest income, dividends and advisory services fees. For the six months ending July 31, 2011, Aberdeen reported net earnings of $(11.5) million or $(0.13) per share on total revenue of $(12.2) million ($(13.6) million from net investment losses, $1.0 million from royalties, $0.4 million from interest income and advisory service fees).
Normal Course Issuer Bid ("NCIB")
During the six months ending July 31, 2012, 520,000 common shares were purchased for cancellation at an average cost of $0.47.
Second Dividend Payment
The Company anticipates that the payment date for the second semi-annual dividend of one cent will be made on September 30, 2012, to be determined in accordance with the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Company's opinion is that the dividend policy sends a message to the market that Aberdeen's business model is sustainable and generates significant free cash flow. Its first and most important priority will be to continue making great investments in early stage resource companies, while returning a relatively small amount of capital to its shareholders.
Aberdeen's Chief Executive Officer, David Stein, noted: "Since the end of the interim period ended July, 2012, our portfolio has performed extremely well. Amongst our top holdings, Sulliden Gold Corporation (TSX: SUE) shares are up 39% since the last quarter-this alone contributes an increase of $6.2 mm to our portfolio value. Our precious metal holdings in particular have performed very well over the past month, in line with a rise in the gold bullion price.
We are also pleased that Bridgeport Ventures Inc. ("Bridgeport") and Premier Royalty Corporation have signed a definitive agreement to enter into a business combination on August 8, 2012. Upon completion of this transaction, Aberdeen will receive approximately 7.56 mm shares of the resulting issuer in addition to approximately 3.78 mm warrants. The market value of this holding based on the current trading price of Bridgeport is $20.1 mm, an unrealized increase of $10.6 mm from July 31, 2012.
Finally, a number of early-stage investments we made earlier in the year have begun to bear fruit. Burkina Gold/Savary Capital, Goldstream Minerals, Mason Graphite, and Windamere Ventures Ltd. have announced or completed material acquisitions or "go-public" transactions since July 31, 2012. The most significant new transaction to our portfolio was the announcement of Portex Ventures Ltd. ("Portex") acquisition of Scandinavian Metals Inc. We have supported Portex in this transaction to create a leading junior metals company in geopolitically-safe Western Europe with several advanced, growing zinc/base metal projects and gold-silver by-product potential."
About Aberdeen International Inc.
Aberdeen is a publicly traded global investment and merchant banking company focused on small cap companies in the resource sector. Aberdeen will seek to acquire significant equity participation in pre-IPO and/or early stage public resource companies with undeveloped or undervalued high-quality resources. Aberdeen will focus on companies that: (i) are in need of managerial, technical and financial resources to realize their full potential; (ii) are undervalued in foreign capital markets; and/or (iii) operate in jurisdictions with moderate local political risk. Aberdeen will seek to provide value-added managerial and board advisory services to companies. The Corporation's intention will be to optimize the return on its investment over a 24 to 36 month investment time frame.
For additional information, please visit our website at www.aberdeeninternational.ca and follow us on Facebook and Twitter: AberdeenAAB.
Cautionary Note
Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding the impact of the appointment on Aberdeen; past success as an indicator of future success; net asset value of the Company; the potential of investee companies and the appreciation of their share price; the future intentions of the Company with regard to its shareholdings; the Company's plan of business operations; and anticipated returns. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, financing risks, acquisition risks, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts:
Aberdeen International
Mike McAllister
Manager, Investor Relations
+1 416-309-2134
info@aberdeeninternational.ca
Aberdeen International
David Stein
Chief Executive Officer
+1 416-861-5812
dstein@aberdeeninternational.ca