Kelso Group Holdings PLC on Friday celebrated its performance over its first year of operations, while outlining plans for a further placing of shares raising up to £1.9 million.

In 2023, the investor in undervalued London-listed companies said it made ‘significant’ progress in its inaugural year, having raised £3.0 million in January last year and a further £3.0 million in May.

It said internal rate of return on its investments stood at over 50% for 2023, coupled with a cash return on investment exceeding 40%, which surpassed Kelso’s targeted annual return of 25%.

Kelso said this has resulted in a combined realised and unrealised gain of around £2.6 million across its investments, resulting in a preliminary pretax profit of around £1.8 million after expenses and accounting for management incentive plan accrual.

In 2024, Kelso expects to expand its business by earning revenue from investor relations, consulting by advising listed companies on maximising shareholder value.

‘Over time, we expect this to develop into a more significant net revenue stream,’ said Kelso.

Kelso also said it plans to raise further money, expanding its capital base by a maximum of 20% via the placing of a maximum of 62.6 million shares at a price of 3.0 pence each. This would result in a maximum fundraise of £1.9 million.

Shares in Kelso were down 10% to 3.0p each in London on Friday morning.

Kelo said it would use the proceeds to continue looking to unlock value in the UK stock market, having recognised the ‘significant’ market opportunity in the UK small and mid-cap sector.

Kelso said it would make a further announcement confirming the outcome of the placing in ‘due course’.

Kelso intends to announce its 2023 results in March 2024.

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