Pender Growth Fund Inc. (the “Company”) today announced its financial and operational results for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Faits saillants financiers

• Net income was $55,473,592 for the year ended December 31, 2024 (December 31. 2023 – Net income $1,029,528) due to positive investment performance during the year.
• Net income per Class C common share (“Share”) for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $7.61 (December 31. 2023 – Net income per Share $0.14).
• The Company’s total shareholders’ equity increased by $53,195,329, from $69,886,178 at December 31, 2023 to $123,081,057 as at December 31, 2024, due to net income from positive investment performance of $55,473,592 during the year, offset by shares repurchase of $2,278,263 under the Company’s Normal Course Issuer Bid (“NCIB”).
• Shareholders’ equity was $17.25 per Share as at December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023 – $9.48).
• 7,133,229 shares were outstanding as at December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023 – 7,368,229), a decrease of 235,000 shares as a result of shares repurchase under the NCIB, which was renewed on February 15, 2024.
• At December 31, 2024, 7% of the investment portfolio was made up of public companies and 35.3% of private companies and Net Assets were 56.9% publicly listed companies, 31.1% private unlisted companies, and 12.0% cash and other assets net of liabilities.
• Management Expense Ratio (“MER”) before performance fees was 2.65% for the year ended December 31, 2024, up 0.34% compared to 2.31% in 2023.

RENDEMENT

Faits saillants du portefeuille
The completion of the sale of Copperleaf in the third quarter of 2024 and the resulting injection of $70 million cash, substantially changed the Company’s portfolio.

In October, the Company closed the purchase of four private technology companies from Pluribus Technologies. The acquisition was made by Pender Software Holdings (“PSH”) a new entity owned 86% by Pender, with the balance owned by Acorn Partners Inc. (“Acorn”) and its principals. Acorn (www.acorncappartners.com) is a Vancouver based company that invests in tech companies and provides advisory services to clients. In early 2025, Acorn was merged into PSH and the shares of PSH formerly held by the Acorn were transferred to its principals. The four software companies acquired are each cash flow positive and stable. PSH is leaving existing management in place to facilitate a focus on operational excellence with strategic support and access to capital managed by Pender and Acorn. Ampere Chan, the founder and CEO of Acorn is the CEO of PSH. Pender intends to use PSH as a vehicle for investing in additional software companies. We believe this new enterprise has great potential.

With the significant run up in equities over the last year that has pushed large cap equity valuations to multi year highs, we remain vigilant and prepared for increased volatility as we enter 2025. The general trend in inflation continues to moderate towards central bank target levels and expectations are for continued interest rates cuts, albeit at a more moderate pace. Potential headwinds could also include trade policies, particularly tariffs, which could weigh on corporate earnings, and fiscal challenges in developed economies as government deficit spending remains high. There is always the potential for volatility as market expectations shift after such a strong run in risk assets in the past few quarters.

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 broad economic conditions, inflation, central bank measures, geopolitical risks, market risk, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings 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 2024, as always, we worked closely with our private portfolio companies and certain of our public portfolio companies.

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 20, 2025, the Company launched a new NCIB, under which the Company may purchase a maximum of 587,342 shares, or 10% of the Company’s public float on launch date, during the one-year period ending February 19, 2026.

We encourage you to refer to the Company’s MD&A and the annual audited financial statements for the year-ended December 31, 2024, and other disclosures available under the Company’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca .

À propos de la société
Pender Growth Fund Inc is an investment firm. Its investment objective is to achieve long-term capital growth. The Company utilizes its small capital base and long-term horizon to invest in unique situations, primarily small cap, special situations, and illiquid public and private companies. The firm invests in public and private companies principally in the technology sector. It trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “PTF” and posts its NAV on its website, generally within five business days of each month end.

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

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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.