AMCIL and Mirrabooka Investments Cancel Their Shareholder Meetings Amidst Growing Coronavirus Fears

The global impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been devastating and companies have started feeling the effects directly. Amid the current health and safety concerns, two ASX-listed LICs (listed investment companies) - AMCIL Limited (ASX:AMH) and Mirrabooka Investments Limited (ASX:MIR) decided to cancel their respective shareholder meetings.

The Shareholder meetings of AMCIL Limited was scheduled for 17 March 2020 at ZINC Federation Square while the shareholder information meetings of Mirrabooka Investments Limited was expected to take place on 20 March 2020 in Sydney, 27 March 2020 in Adelaide and 31 March 2020 in Perth.

However, both the companies would still be holding a telephone briefing. Below are the details of the conference of both the companies:

Present Status of Coronavirus Cases in Australia:

As on 12 March 2020 (11:00 AM AEDT), Australia has 126 confirmed coronavirus cases which include three deaths. The maximum cases were reported from New South Wales. Below are the stats for the same:

• New South Wales: 64
• Queensland: 17
• South Australia: 8
• Tasmania 2
• Victoria 18
• Western Australia 7
• Diamond Princess cruise ship 10

Out of these 126 cases of coronavirus, 24 have recovered.

Current Number of Coronavirus Cases at a Global Level:

On a global scale, as per World Health Organisation stats on 11 March 2020 (02:00 AM AEDT), there were 118, 381 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and 4,292 reported deaths.

Let us now look at the two LICs and their recent updates:

AMCIL Limited (ASX:AMH)

Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, AMCIL Limited oversees a concentrated investment portfolio that includes more than 30 stocks of large as well as small companies in the Australian equity market. The Company aims to provide its shareholders with attractive returns via robust capital growth in the portfolio, and the generation of dividend income.

On 03 March 2020, AMCIL Limited provided an update on its monthly net tangible asset backing per share along with its 20 top investments as at 29 February 2020.

Net tangible asset as at 29 February 2020 before tax was $1.00 ($0.92 after tax). The size of the portfolio on 29 February 2020 was $281.4 million.

As at 31 January 2020, NTA per share before tax was $1.08 and after tax was $0.97.

In 1H FY2020 (period ended 31 December 2019), the Company’s profit was $3.8 million, slightly higher compared to the previous corresponding period.

Concerning the portfolio performance of the Company, the market helped in generating positive return during the six months to 31 December 2019. Most of the critical sectors, apart from banks, delivered impressive growth during the period.

AMCIL’s focus on investing in quality companies for long-term, as well as having less exposure to some parts of the market that have considerably underperformed, has supported the relative performance of the company’s portfolio.

AMH’s total portfolio return, including franking, was 10.2% for the half-year and 29.2% for the previous 12 months.

Over the last 18 months, the Company has concentrated on lowering the number of holdings in its portfolio from 46 holdings to 36 (current position) in order to bolster the current positions in quality holdings.

On this front, AMCIL’s significant sales for six months include positions in Westpac, National Australia Bank, AUB Group, Lifestyle Communities as well as the reduction in the holding of BHP Group. Wellcom Group was removed because of a takeover.

The sales proceeds were used across various existing holdings which include Ramsay Health Care, Macquarie Group and CSL. Apart from this, the funds were also utilised while adding additional companies to the portfolio. These include:

• Goodman Group
• Macquarie Telecom
• Cleanaway Waste Management
• Lendlease Group.

These four companies have prominent positions when it comes to their fundamental business segments, and in sectors, that is projected to provide a robust growth going forward.

In 1H FY2020, the company reported an increase in the total income from $4.643 million in 1H FY2019 to $5.148 million in 1H FY2020 and NPAT from $3.662 million in 1H FY2019 to $3.822 million.

The balance sheet of the company remained robust with a growth in the net asset from $20.718 million in 1H FY2019 to $25.333 million in 1H FY2020.

Mirrabooka Investments Limited (ASX:MIR)

Mirrabooka Limited is a listed investment company that focuses on investing in small as well as medium-size firms situated in Australia as well as New Zealand. Such firms fall outside the top 50 companies on the ASX by market capitalisation.

The Company aims to offer medium to long term investment gains to its shareholders by way of holding core investments in selected small & medium-sized businesses as well as attractive dividend return from these investments.

On 04 March 2020, Mirrabooka provided the data of its monthly net tangible asset (NTA) backing per shares along with its top 20 investments as at 29 February 2020.

The net tangible asset per share as at 29 February 20202 before tax was $2.38 while net tangible asset after tax was $2.14. The net tangible asset as at 31 January 2020 was $2.58 before tax and $2.29 after tax.

As at 31 January 2020, NTA per share before tax was $2.58 and after tax was $2.29.

In its 1H FY2020 results (period ended 31 December 2019), the Company reported a profit of $4.4 million. However, the value dropped by 5.5% as compared to the previous corresponding period. The income from the operating activities, which was $5.927 million in 1H FY2019, increased to $6.024 million in 1H FY2020. The Company’s interim dividend for the period was 3.5 cents per share (fully franked). However, the company did not provide any special dividend this year. In the previous corresponding period, the company paid a special dividend of 10 cents.

During 1H FY2020, Mirrabooka continued to refine its portfolio with a target to provide a consistent medium to long term returns with a dividend portfolio which comprise of ~65 stocks.

The company’s 10-year portfolio return, including franking, was 13.1%. The balance sheet of the company reflects an increase in its net asset from $345.048 million in 1H FY2019 to $365.396 million in 1H FY2020.

The total portfolio including cash as at 31 December 2019 was $415.3 million.

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