Gottex, a Swiss-based fund of hedge funds specialist, posted another loss last year and has decided to cut personnel costs further as a result. The company also plans to raise new capital.

Gottex had a loss of $17.9 million last year, a little less than the $19.2 million a year earlier, according to a report by «AWP» news agency.

SIX, the stock exchange operator, in April accepted a demand by Gottex to report the annual figures on May 27 due to an ongoing restructuring and measures to bulk up on capital.

Headcount Down on the Year

Gottex last year managed to reduce operating expenses by 18 percent to $39 million. Personnel costs dropped to $23 million from $32.5 million – which translates to 59 percent of total expenditure compared with 68 percent in 2014. The headcount dropped to 95 from 139.
The company is now planning to reduce staff further and cut personnel expenditure to $12 million by the end of the year.
A number of one-time effects negatively affected last year's results. Gottex had a goodwill write-down of $3.5 million resulting from the sale of a unit and costs from a court case of $5.1 million. Without these one-time effects, the loss would have amounted to $7 million, Gottex said.

The company in April said revenue had declined 2.7 percent to $32.4 million. Assets under management declined 11 percent to $7.4 billion by the end of the calendar year.

No Dividend

Shareholders will not receive a dividend this year, much like in the four previous years. The company last issued a dividend in 2009, when it paid shareholders $0.115 per share for the year. 

Gottex also needs fresh capital. Investors signaled their intention to inject a further 12.7 million francs and the company will propose issuing new shares at the annual general meeting. Shareholders will be entitled to participate, proportionate to their current stake. In addition to this measure, the company's main shareholder has agreed to convert loans worth 4.7 million francs into shares.

Improved Outlook

Market conditions remain unstable, the alternative investment firm said, with shaky global economic growth, concern about government stability in Brazil, the potential of the U.K. exit from the European Union and the U.S. presidential election. Still, or perhaps rather because of these uncertainties, Gottex sees good opportunities for alternative investment products as has been shown in the first quarter of the year.