Dec 2005 Financial News

Guardian Holdings Group moves into the Americas

Dec 07, 2005

Abiding by the Group’s focus on diversifying operations away from the Caribbean region, Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL) has announced the acquisition of its newest Associated Company – Grupo Mundial Tenedora S.A. (Mundial), a Panama listed company, which is the parent company of the Mundial Group in Panama. The principal subsidiary of the Panamanian Group, Aseguradora Mundial has been touted as the “Panama’s recognized market leader in insurance”. The cost of the acquisition of the 2.9 million newly issued shares of the Mundial Group, which gave GHL the 20.1% stake, totaled US$26.6 million. In the press release, the Half-Year Audited results of Mundial revealed After Tax Profits of US$6.4 million and Accumulated Capital and Free Reserves of US$62 million. In the nine month results of Guardian Holdings Limited, the Share of Profits from Associates totaled just over US$4 million. If Mundial is able to maintain the current rate of earnings, investors can look forward to an increase in the contribution from Associates in coming periods. The impact on Guardian’s current financial year should not be significant, and in 2006 a 20.1% share of the Mundial Group’s profits could translate to TT$16-20 million. It is noteworthy though that Profits from Associates made up a less than 10% component of GHL’s Profit before Taxation from 2003 to present and with an issued share capital of 201.7 million shares, the increase in income would translate to less than TT$0.01 per share.

WISE Research Department