TFG announces E105m net loss

TFG Venture Capital, the German venture capital company, has reported a net loss for 2001 of E104.7m, or E9.52 per share, as the weak economic climate continues to take its toll on investments. 

In the fourth quarter, the company charged write-downs of E48.2m on its investment portfolio, including a book loss of E11.3m on an investment in German investment bank Concord Effekten. Other items include write-downs of the residual book values of Gastrofix AG and Inline AG, after both companies filed for insolvency in Q4. The Q4 correction takes the total value of write-downs for the whole of 2001 to E105.2m.

TFG’s Managing Board said in a statement that is was not anticipating any sustained market recovery in the current fiscal year. Commenting on the results, managing board member, Jürgen Leschke, said: “As things stand, we would be doing extremely well if we managed to end the year in the black. We have used the current fiscal year to carry out internal restructuring and reorientation. Our high cash reserves mean that we are well able to ride out the current slump.'

Cash reserves decreased only slightly in the fourth quarter, by E2m. TFG currently has access to over E34.4m in cash reserves. At E3.12 per share, the cash cover for the share price level is currently approximately 75 per cent.

TFG Venture Capital was established in 1994 and currently has E210m funds under management. It is listed on the SMAX of the Deutsche Börse for small caps companies – and on the S-DAX.