Georgia Capital PLC ("the Group") has published today its second half 2019 and full year 2019 results. The results announcement together with the supplementary financial information and investor presentation is available on the Group’s website at https://georgiacapital.ge/ir/financial-results. An investor/analyst conference call, organised by the Group, will be held today, on 27 February 2020, at 13:00 UK / 14:00 CET / 8:00 U.S Eastern Time. The duration of the call will be 60 minutes and will consist of a 15-minute update and a 45-minute Q&A session.

Management Commentary
“2019 was a significant year of capital allocations and progress for Georgia Capital. We successfully converted active pipeline deals into 11 acquisitions, while our total portfolio value increased to GEL 2.3 billion. Our NAV per share (GEL) increased 5.7% in 2019 on the back of strong value creation across our private portfolio companies and disciplined share buybacks.”

2H19 and FY19 performance highlights

  • NAV per share up 5.7% to GEL 46.84 on the back of 3.9% growth in NAV and 1.7% decrease in number of shares outstanding
    • The private businesses led to 10.1% growth in NAV per share, which was offset by 4.4% negative impact from listed businesses
    • GEL 165 million value creation from BoG, offset by GEL 199 million decrease in the value of our holding in GHG
    • GEL 168 million value creation in private portfolio (18.6% growth in private portfolio value), of which, value creation excluding multiple change was GEL 145 million
    • Increase of our shareholding in GHG by 13.6% to 70.6% in exchange for 3.4 million CGEO share issuance
    • 3.5 million CGEO shares worth GEL 125 million bought back in 2019, while 2.7 million shares were cancelled
  • Disciplined investments amounting to GEL 358 million across our portfolio lay grounds for future value creation, of which:
    • GEL 113 million capital allocation for acquisition of 13.6% equity stake in GHG
    • GEL 40 million investment in securing high quality partnerships with three top schools with excellent management teams
    • GEL 46 million investment in acquisition of high-quality wind and hydro assets, increasing installed capacity by 42MW to 91MW
    • GEL 37 million invested in the development of pipeline hotels in line with the strategy to develop more than 1,000 rooms
    • Alaverdi acquisition for GEL 16 million tripled existing wine production capacity and added 244 hectares of vineyards
    • GEL 10 million allocation for acquisition of the second largest auto service industry player, Amboli, and successful launch of PTI
    • Kazbegi brand acquisition for GEL 10 million, which added the fifth largest Georgian beverages brand to our beer business portfolio
    • Entered the high growth digital services industry by acquiring the leading digital marketing agency, Redberry, for GEL 9 million
  • GEL 122 million dividends were collected from our listed and private late stage assets (GEL 72.5 million in 2018)
  • Consolidated IFRS cash flow from operating activities9, excluding IFRS 16 impact, up 39.8% y-o-y to GEL 229 million in 2019

Conference call detail

Dial-in numbers:

30-Day replay:

Pass code for replays/Conference ID: 4271084

Pass code for replays / Conference ID: 4271084

International Dial In: +44 (0) 2071 928000

UK Freephone Dial In: 08082380667

UK Freephone Dial In: 08003767922

UK Local Dial In: 08445718951

UK Local Dial In: 08445718892

International Dial In: +44 (0) 3333009785

US: 18669661396

US: 1 (866) 331-1332

This announcement contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements concerning expectations, projections, objectives, targets, goals, strategies, future events, future revenues or performance, capital expenditures, financing needs, plans or intentions relating to acquisitions, competitive strengths and weaknesses, plans or goals relating to financial position and future operations and development. Although Georgia Capital PLC believes that the expectations and opinions reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations and opinions will prove to have been correct.