During a board meeting held last month, the directors of GlobalCapital considered and approved the interim financial statements for the period ended 30 June.

In its half-yearly financial results, GlobalCapital announced a profit after tax of Lm388,919 compared to Lm735,180 for the same period in 2006. This represents earnings per share of 2c9 compared to 5c6 in 2006.

GlobalCapital registered an operating profit of Lm802,579 compared to Lm658,316 in 2006, which represents an increase of 21.9 per cent over the same period last year. This increase in operating profit is mainly attributable to returns on international investment property held by the company and its subsidiaries, supporting the group’s strategy of further diversification of revenues.

GlobalCapital’s property portfolio has performed particularly well with a number of projects in the pipeline that are expected to deliver further growth in the near future.

As stated in the company announcement, the directors expect that the level of trading activity experienced during the six months to June 2007, which shows an overall improvement in turnover over the corresponding period last year, should be sustained in the latter half of the current year.

Turnover for the group increased by 60.5 per cent to Lm4,406,316 compared to Lm2,745,900 as at 30 June 2006. The increase in turnover was driven by stronger sales in long-term life assurance business, which should serve as a catalyst for stronger results in the second half of the year. However, recent stock market volatility, and global economic uncertainty may affect trading and investment performance.

Investment returns were negatively affected in the financial period under review mainly due to a lacklustre stock market performance. An increasing interest rate scenario has also affected prices in the bond market that have negatively impacted on the investment portfolio performance.