Pender Growth Fund Inc. (the “Company”) today announced its financial and operational results for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Faits saillants financiers

• Net income was $1,029,528 for the year ended December 31, 2023 (December 31, 2022 – Net loss $127,838,962) primarily the result of positive investment performance during the year.
• Net income per Class C common share (“Share”) for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $0.14 (December 31, 2022 – Net loss per share $16.85).
• The Company’s total shareholders’ equity decreased by $353,077 from December 31, 2022 ($70.2 million) to $69.9 million as at December 31, 2023, primarily due to share repurchases of $1,382,605 under the Company’s Normal Course Issuer Bid (“NCIB”), offset by positive investment performance of $1,029,528 during the year.
• Shareholders’ equity per Share was $9.48 as at December 31, 2023 (December 31, 2022 – $9.28).
• Shares outstanding were 7,368,229 as at December 31, 2023, a decrease from December 31, 2022 (7,569,929) as a result of share repurchases under the NCIB, which was renewed on February 15, 2024.
• At December 31, 2023, 77.1% of the investment portfolio was made up of public companies and 22.9% of private companies.
• Management Expense Ratio (“MER”) before performance fees was 2.31% for the year ended December 31, 2023, up 0.41% compared to 1.90% in 2022.

RENDEMENT

The Company’s portfolio is materially concentrated in the shares of one publicly listed Portfolio Company, Copperleaf Technologies Inc. (“Copperleaf”). As at December 31, 2023, the Company held 6,889,883 shares of Copperleaf with a value of $­­­41,614,893, which was of the Company’s total shareholders’ equity of $69,886,178 (December 31, 2022 – 6,762,065 shares with a value of $38,814,252 which was 55.3% of the Company’s total shareholders’ equity). There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to realize the value of this investment.

Faits saillants du portefeuille  
With the rate of inflation continuing to slow, central banks led by the US Federal Reserve are taking the opportunity to signal a pivot in interest rate policy with the next rate move likely to be lower. There is still potential for volatility as the market was quick to adjust to these revised expectations, potentially setting the stage for disappointment if inflation remains sticky and rate cuts don’t materialize to the degree expected.  We think these macro variables will likely remain in focus. We will continue to monitor these macro events and assess their impacts on the Company and our Portfolio Companies with the goal to help the businesses we own have the durability and balance sheet strength to weather a variety of economic environments.

We believe that the Company continues to be well-positioned today to pursue its investment objectives and we continue to find attractive investments opportunities as valuations in micro and small cap stocks in North America remain attractive despite the recent rally this year.

Investment results may be affected by future developments and new information that may emerge about inflation and the impact of central bank measures on the economy, the state of M&A markets, geopolitical and other global events, factors that are beyond the Company’s control.

While macro events have driven investor sentiment, we have remained focused on our bottom-up fundamental research to identify companies that can thrive in a wide range of economic scenarios.  We believe that this environment provides compelling opportunities for long term focused investors and that the Company is well-positioned to continue to pursue its investment objectives.

In 2023, as always, we worked closely with our private portfolio companies and certain of our public portfolio companies.

Importantes participations au capital et événements récents
Pender Private Investments Inc.
On  December 31, 2023, the Company completed an amalgamation of Pender Private Investments Inc. (“PPI”), formerly the Working Opportunity Fund (EVCC) Ltd. (“WOF”), which was acquired by the Company in May 2021.

Copperleaf Technologies Inc.
At December 31, 2023, the Company held 9.3% of Copperleaf’s issued and outstanding shares. The value of the Company’s holdings of Copperleaf was $41.6 million at December 31, 2023, which was 59.5% of the Company’s total shareholders’ equity.

Autres faits saillants
We continued to acquire shares of the Company in the market under our NCIB because we believe the shares are trading at a discount to their intrinsic value. On February 15, 2024, the Company launched a new NCIB, under which the Company may purchase a maximum of 630,188 shares, or 10% of the Company’s public float on launch date, during the one-year period ending February 14, 2025.

We encourage you to refer to the Company’s MD&A and annual audited financial statements for the year-ended December 31, 2023, and other disclosures available under the Company’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca for additional information.

À propos de la société                               
Pender Growth Fund Inc. est une société d’investissement. Son objectif consiste à réaliser une croissance du capital à long terme. La société se sert de son modeste capital de base et de sa vision à long terme pour investir dans des situations uniques, principalement des entreprises à petite capitalisation, des situations spéciales et des entreprises publiques et privées non liquides. La société investit dans des entreprises publiques et privées, principalement situées au Canada et aux États-Unis et issues, dans une large mesure, du secteur de la technologie. Elle se négocie sur la Bourse de croissance TSX sous le symbole « PTF » et affiche la valeur de son actif net sur son site Web, généralement dans les cinq jours suivant la fin de chaque mois.

Veuillez visiter www.pendergrowthfund.com.

Pour plus de renseignements, veuillez communiquer avec :

Tony Rautava
Secrétaire général
Pender Growth Fund Inc.
(604) 653-9625
Sans frais : (866) 377-4743

Ni la Bourse de croissance TSX ni son fournisseur de services de réglementation (tel que ce terme est défini dans les politiques de la Bourse de croissance TSX) n’acceptent de responsabilité quant à la pertinence ou à l’exactitude du présent communiqué de presse.

Renseignements sur les énoncés prospectifs
Ce communiqué de presse peut contenir des énoncés prospectifs (avec le sens qu’on leur accorde dans les lois sur les valeurs mobilières en vigueur) relatifs à la société et au contexte dans lequel elle exploite. Les énoncés prospectifs se reconnaissent habituellement à l’emploi de termes et expressions comme « croire », « prévoir », « anticiper », « avoir l’intention de », « estimer », « planifier » et « pouvoir », « évaluer » et de verbes au futur ou au conditionnel, et autres expressions comparables. Ces énoncés s’appuient sur les attentes, estimations, prévisions et projections de la société et comprennent, sans toutefois s’y limiter, les énoncés portant sur la diminution des risques des portefeuilles de la société, ainsi que leurs occasions de placement futures. Les énoncés prospectifs dans le présent communiqué de presse sont émis sur la base de certaines hypothèses : le rendement futur n’est pas garanti et suppose des risques et des incertitudes qui sont difficiles à contrôler ou prévoir. Un certain nombre de facteurs pourraient faire en sorte que les résultats réels diffèrent considérablement des résultats discutés dans les énoncés prospectifs, y compris, sans toutefois s’y limiter, les facteurs mentionnés dans la section « Facteurs de risque » de la notice annuelle de la société, offerte sur le site www.sedarplus.ca. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Readers, therefore, should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.