South Canterbury sees claw-back quarter as turning point

South Canterbury Finance says breaking even in the last quarter is a turnaround for the company after it lost nearly $200 million in the previous six months.

An unaudited operating profit for the March quarter totalled $4 million and included a positive net interest margin of $1.4 million before one-off expenses for investment losses of $3 million, impairment losses of $1.7 million and foreign exchange losses of $500,000, the company said yesterday.

South Canterbury posted a $198.6 million net loss after tax for the six months to December last year and the latest break-even result represented a turning point after the losses recorded over the previous 18 months, said chief executive Sandy Maier.

"This is a heartening outcome with many positive aspects for the future of the business."

The company's cash position has steadily improved through loan repayments and non-core asset realisations and it now had $80 million in the bank.

Realisations of past due and non-core assets have generated $202 million in cash since January this year.

The unaudited trading result for the March quarter excludes contributions from Helicopters NZ and 80 per cent owned Scales Corporation, both of which were bought on February 28.

South Canterbury Finance's unaudited total assets were $2.1 billion at March 31 and equity was $203 million.

Equity will increase by $37.5 million after Torchlight Fund No 1 LP, the Pyne Gould Corporation-owned property funds manager, confirmed on Thursday it will invest another $15.5 million in South Canterbury Finance on top of $22 million it had already committed.

- NZPA