Media sale boosts Stimulus’ dividends
Private equity firm’s numbers bolstered
Stimulus will dispose of its shareholding in Network Media Hub over a three-year period.
Private equity firm Stimulus Investments will, over a three-year period, wholly exit its investment in Network Media Hub (NMH), formerly Namibia Media Holdings. The company made the announcement following the release of its results this week. During the year under review, Stimulus disposed of its 80% interest in NMH and Newsprint Namibia, it said.
The NMH Group entities were held in Desert Trade Investments (DTI), a 100% subsidiary of Stimulus, and the disposal was done at a transaction value equal to the independent valuations of these investments, the company said in a statement.
Following the acquisition of NMH, N$12 million of the sales consideration was received by DTI in the year under review and paid as dividends to Stimulus, while the remaining consideration remains outstanding and is payable by the purchaser over the ensuing three financial years, it added.
A look at the numbers
Stimulus recorded portfolio growth of 10.7% in terms of independent valuations. Its assets under management increased by 11.6% for the year under review.
The value ascribable to each preference share, cum dividend, was N$156.19 as at 29 February 2024. Dividend revenue from investee companies increased by 71% to N$29.7 million, mainly due to the sale of the shares in the NMH Group.
Stimulus declared a final preference share dividend of N$4.02 per preference share. This dividend, together with the most recent portfolio valuations, resulted in a total return to preference shareholders of 12.2% for the year.
“We are pleased to report that, in general, the portfolio companies continued to experience an improvement in the business activity which filtered through to revenue and profit growth. The laggard in this regard remains the construction sector, which continued to recede and thereby limits revenue growth in Neo Paints,” the company said.
Existing investments
Apart from its investment in DTI, Stimulus continues to hold investments in six Namibian businesses, namely the Plastic Packaging Group, Cymot, Polyoak Packaging Namibia, Neo Paints, Khomas Solar and Walvis Bay Stevedoring. The total assets under management amounted to N$726.4 million, and the investee company employs 1 595 permanent employees and 584 temporary employees.