LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Investment firm LMS Capital said on Friday that full-year portfolio losses had widened in 2020 as its net asset value contracted.
LMS posted a net asset value of £47.9m for the twelve months ended 31 December, down from £56.0m at the same time a year earlier, while portfolio losses widened from £800,000 to £2.1m.

Cash available to the group at the end of the year also thinned, falling from £26.6m to £20.6m, despite the group cutting running costs from £2.1m to £1.7m.

However, LMS did return £3.7m to investors by way of a special dividend of 4.25p per share in January and an interim dividend of 0.3p per share in September. A final dividend of 0.6p per share was also recommended by the board, subject to approval by shareholders at the group's annual general meeting.

Chairman, Robert Rayne: "While 2020 was a challenging year that was significantly impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic, we were still able to progress on our deal flow, principally in the energy and real estate sectors.

"The previously announced Dacian Petroleum transaction remains in the final stage of government approvals, and we have backed two real estate teams, George Capital and Cavera, that have a pipeline of opportunities. Our significant cash balances will enable us to deploy capital in 2021, although we remain cautious during these times of uncertainty."

As of 0900 GMT, LMS shares were flat at 36.0p.

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