National Empowerment Fund’s net loss more than doubled last year
IMPAIRMENTS and write-offs meant that the National Empowerment Fund’s (NEF’s) net loss more than doubled last year and it has renewed its call for a recapitalisation.The NEF provides funds for enterprise development, focusing specifically on promoting black economic empowerment. In the year to end-March, the NEF Trust made a net loss of R91m compared to the 2014/15 loss of R38m on revenue of R432m (R437m). Impairments increased dramatically to R407m (R167m) and investment write-offs rose from R28m to R37m.The annual report tabled in Parliament this week noted that the fund approved 127 deals worth R1.2bn last year, committed R1bn and paid out R819m.The deterioration in impairments and write-offs was attributed to the contracting economy which has hit small and medium enterprises particularly hard."Despite increased active portfolio management interventions over the past three years, we have seen more and more of our investors struggling," NEF chief financial officer Innocentia Pule ...
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