INF to buyback shares in defensive move

Interfund Investments Pcl announced that it will buyback 1 mln shares from July 17 until August 31 at a price that will not exceed by 5% the average price prevailing five working days prior to the buyback scheme, in a move seen as a desperate effort to close the discount and thwart potential hostile bids.

With 157.67 mln shares in circulation, the 1 mln shares will not have a major impact on the issued share capital, but it will help close the 34% discount between the traded price of INF at 14 cent with its Net Asset Value, at 21.58 cent as at end of June.

The value of the buyback program, seen at CYP 140.000 will also not affect the liquidity of the company, since at the last count it had CYP 2.5 mln in cash, which is another headache considering that the larger the cash holdings, the more attractive an investment company becomes.

INF, which had CYP 33 mln in investments was one of the few investment firms that managed to boost its NAV in the second quarter from 20.23c at the end of March to 21.58c end of June, at a time when most other funds saw a decline in their NAVs.

For the first quarter, INF reported net profit of CYP 8.7 mln compared to CYP 2.04 mln a year ago in the same period and CYP 7.5 mln for the whole of 2005.