Kingfish delivers $19.9m net profit

Kingfish Limited results announcement


Results for announcement to the market
Name of issuer Kingfish Limited
Reporting Period 12 months to 31 March 2024
Previous Reporting Period 12 months to 31 March 2023
Currency NZ$
Amount (000s) Percentage change
Profit from continuing
operations
$26,766 282%
Total revenue $26,766 282%
Net profit from continuing
operations
$19,905 202%
Total net profit $19,905 202%
Interim/Final Dividend
Amount per Quoted Equity
Security
$NZ 2.65 cents per share
Imputed amount per Quoted
Equity Security
$NZ 0.00166945
Record Date 6 June 2024
Dividend Payment Date 27 June 2024
Current period Prior comparable period
Net tangible assets per
Quoted Equity Security
$1.34 $1.40
A brief explanation of any of
the figures above necessary
to enable the figures to be
understood
The financial statements attached to this report have been audited by
PricewaterhouseCoopers and are not subject to a qualification. A copy
of the auditor’s report applicable to the financial statements is
attached to this announcement.
Authority for this announcement
Name of person

authorised
to make this announcement
W.A. Burns
Contact person for this
announcement
W.A. Burns
Contact phone number (09) 4840352
Contact email address enquire@kingfish.co.nz
Date of release through MAP

20 May 2024
Audited financial statements accompany this announcement.

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1
Total shareholder return – the return combines the share price performance, the warrant price performance, the net value
of converting any warrants into shares, and the dividends paid to shareholders. It assumes all dividends are reinvested in
the company’s dividend reinvestment plan, and that shareholders exercise their warrants, (if they were in the money), at
warrant expiry date.
2
Adjusted net asset value return – the net return of the portfolio adjusted for dividends (and other capital management
initiatives), and after expenses, fees and tax.
3
Dividend return - is the dividends paid for the period over the average share price for the period.

4
Gross performance return – The Manager’s portfolio performance in terms of stock selection, before expenses, fees and
tax.


For immediate release:

20 May 2024

Kingfish delivers $19.9m net profit
• Net profit after tax for year ended 31 March 2024 $19.9m
• Total shareholder return
1
+3.7%
• Adjusted NAV return (after expenses, fees and tax)
2
+4.6%


• Dividend return
3
+8.5% (10.83cps)

NZX-listed investment company Kingfish Limited (NZX: KFL) today announced an after-tax net
operating profit of $19.9m for the year ended 31 March 2024.
Globally investors have experienced another tough year, with market performance being driven by a
myriad of factors, including ongoing recessionary concerns, high interest rates in response to
inflation and geopolitical uncertainty. Given this environment, global share markets, which were
volatile for most of the 2023 calendar year, have only recently started showing signs of recovery.
However, while the New Zealand share market returns have lagged global share market
performance, Kingfish has performed relatively well.
The portfolio’s Adjusted NAV return of +4.6% (+6.3% gross performance
4
) was ahead of the
S&P/NZX50G benchmark which was up 1.9% for the 12-month period.
During the financial year the Company, in accordance with its capital management strategy, bought
back 660k shares per the buyback policy.
Total shareholder return
1
for the 12-month period was 3.7%, which was impacted by the fall in the
share price, which moved from $1.32 at the start of the year, down to $1.25 as at 31 March 2024.
The directors recognise that the regularity of the tax-effective quarterly dividends is important for
many shareholders. In accordance with Kingfish’s quarterly distribution policy (2.0% of average NAV
per quarter), the company paid a total of 10.83 cents per share to shareholders during the year
ended 31 March 2024. On 20 May 2024, the board declared a dividend of 2.65 cents per share,
payable on 27 June 2024 with a record date of 6 June.
Chair Andy Coupe said “The Manager has successfully turned around a half year loss of $14.7m (as at
30 September 2023) to end the 31 March 2024 financial year with a $19.9m net profit. The directors
are encouraged that the focus of the portfolio manager on quality growth companies has delivered a
superior performance to the benchmark S&P/NZX50G index.”

Portfolio Manager Matt Peek noted that “Kingfish's performance improved over the year, despite a
challenging environment persisting in the New Zealand share market. Interest rates have remained
elevated versus previous years, and this has translated to a weaker New Zealand economy, affecting
consumer-facing companies with domestic operations in particular. On balance, Kingfish's
companies have performed relatively well despite this headwind. This is in large part due to our
focus on companies with strong business models and high-quality management teams. In many
cases it also reflects certain companies' exposure to structural growth trends and reach beyond New
Zealand. We remain confident in Kingfish's portfolio of companies and believe that they will respond
well when New Zealand economic conditions improve.”


For further information please contact:

Corporate Manager
Kingfish Limited
Tel: (09) 484 0352







Non-GAAP Financial Information
The adjusted net asset value, gross performance return and total shareholder return methodologies are described in the
Kingfish Non-GAAP Financial Information policy. A copy of the policy is available at kingfish.co.nz/about-kingfish/kingfish-
policies/.


About Kingfish
Kingfish is a listed investment company that invests in growing New Zealand companies. The Kingfish portfolio is managed
by Fisher Funds, a specialist investment manager with a track record of successfully investing in growth company shares.
The aim of Kingfish is to offer investors competitive returns through capital growth and dividends, and access to a
diversified portfolio of investments through a single tax-efficient investment vehicle. Kingfish listed on the NZX Main Board
on 31 March 2004 and may invest in companies that are listed on the NZX Main Board, NZX Alternative Market or unlisted
companies. /Ends

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PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC Tower, 15 Customs Street West, Private Bag 92162, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
T: +64 9 355 8000, www.pwc.co.nz
Independent auditor’s report
To the shareholders of Kingfish Limited
Our opinion
In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements of Kingfish Limited (the Company) present
fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as at 31 March 2024, its financial
performance and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with New Zealand Equivalents
to International Financial Reporting Standards (NZ IFRS) and International Financial Reporting
Standards Accounting Standards (IFRS Accounting Standards).
What we have audited
The financial statements comprise:
● the statement of financial position as at 31 March 2024;
● the statement of comprehensive income for the year then ended;
● the statement of changes in equity for the year then ended;
● the statement of cash flows for the year then ended; and
● the notes to the financial statements, comprising material accounting policy information and other
explanatory information.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (New Zealand) (ISAs
(NZ)) and International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Our responsibilities under those standards are
further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our
report.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis
for our opinion.
Independence
We are independent of the Company in accordance with Professional and Ethical Standard 1
International Code of Ethics for Assurance Practitioners (including International Independence
Standards) (New Zealand) (PES 1) issued by the New Zealand Auditing and Assurance Standards
Board and the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International
Independence Standards) issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA
Code), and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.
Other than in our capacity as auditor, we have no relationship with, or interests in, the Company.
Key audit matters
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in
our audit of the financial statements of the current year. Given the nature of the Company, we have
one key audit matter: Valuation and existence of investments at fair value through profit or loss. This
matter was addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming
our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on this matter.

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Description of the key audit matter How our audit addressed the key audit matter
Valuation and existence of investments at
fair value through profit or loss
Investments at fair value through profit or loss
(the investments) are valued at $453 million
and represent 99% of total assets at 31 March
2024.
Further disclosures on the investments are
included in note 2 to the financial statements.
As at 31 March 2024, all investments are in
actively traded companies listed on the NZX
Main Board with readily available, quoted
market prices.
All investments are held by Trustees
Executors Limited (the Custodian) on behalf of
the Company.
This was a key audit matter given the
significance of investments to the financial
statements.

Our audit procedures included updating our
understanding of the business processes
employed by the Company for accounting for, and
valuing, its investment portfolio.
We obtained confirmation from the Custodian that
the Company was the recorded owner of each of
the investments.
We obtained copies of and assessed Trustees
Executors Limited’s internal controls assurance
reports for custody and investment administration
services for the period from 1 April 2023 to 31
March 2024.
We agreed the price for all investments held at 31
March 2024 to independent third-party pricing
sources and considered the liquidity of these
investments around the balance date.

Our audit approach
Overview
Materiality Overall materiality: $2.28 million, which represents approximately 0.5% of net
assets.
We used this benchmark because, in our view, the objective of the Company is
to provide investors with a total return on its assets, taking account of both
capital and income returns.
Key audit matter As reported above, we have one key audit matter, being Valuation and
existence of investments at fair value through profit or loss.
As part of designing our audit, we determined materiality and assessed the risks of material
misstatement in the financial statements. In particular, we considered where management made
subjective judgements; for example, in respect of significant accounting estimates that involved
making assumptions and considering future events that are inherently uncertain. As in all of our audits,
we also addressed the risk of management override of internal controls, including among other
matters, consideration of whether there was evidence of bias that represented a risk of material
misstatement due to fraud.
We tailored the scope of our audit in order to perform sufficient work to enable us to provide an opinion
on the financial statements as a whole, taking into account the structure of the Company, the
accounting processes and controls, and the industry in which the Company operates.
Materiality
The scope of our audit was influenced by our application of materiality. An audit is designed to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.
Misstatements may arise due to fraud or error. They are considered material if, individually or in
aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on
the basis of the financial statements.

PwC 3
Based on our professional judgement, we determined certain quantitative thresholds for materiality,
including the overall materiality for the financial statements as a whole as set out above. These,
together with qualitative considerations, helped us to determine the scope of our audit, the nature,
timing and extent of our audit procedures and to evaluate the effect of misstatements, both individually
and in aggregate, on the financial statements as a whole.
Other information
The Directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the
information included in the Annual Report and the Company’s climate statement prepared in
accordance with Section 461Z of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (the Climate Statement), but
does not include the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The Annual Report and the
Climate Statement are expected to be made available to us after the date of this auditor's report.
Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we will not express
any form of audit opinion or assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other
information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the
financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially
misstated.
When we read the other information not yet received, if we conclude that there is a material
misstatement therein, we are required to communicate the matter to the Directors and use our
professional judgement to determine the appropriate action to take.
Responsibilities of the Directors for the financial statements
The Directors are responsible, on behalf of the Company, for the preparation and fair presentation of
the financial statements in accordance with NZ IFRS and IFRS Accounting Standards, and for such
internal control as the Directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial
statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the Directors are responsible for assessing the Company’s
ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and
using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Directors either intend to liquidate the
Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements, as a whole,
are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that
includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that
an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (NZ) and ISAs will always detect a material misstatement
when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually
or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users
taken on the basis of these financial statements.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located at the
External Reporting Board’s website at:
https://www.xrb.govt.nz/assurance-standards/auditors-responsibilities/audit-report-2/
This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

PwC 4
Who we report to
This report is made solely to the Company’s shareholders, as a body. Our audit work has been
undertaken so that we might state those matters which we are required to state to them in an auditor’s
report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume
responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company’s shareholders, as a body, for our
audit work, for this report or for the opinions we have formed.

The engagement partner on the audit resulting in this independent auditor’s report is Philip Taylor.
For and on behalf of:






Chartered Accountants Auckland
20 May 2024