Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 Dec 20

2020 an Annus Horribilis.

2020 was a serious reminder, especially for any advocates of big Government, why less is more. From China through India to Europe and the USA the recurring stories of failed Politically-led medical response to the COVID-19 virus and the resultant spend "whatever it takes" monetary policy response is a glaringly stark reminder why the World is better off with less not more Government intervention.

To make matters worse, if that was possible, 2020 also reminded us why Political leaders shouldn't actually be running soup kitchens. How arrogant does someone have to be to convince themselves, with disastrous consequences, that they knew more about medicine than the medical practitioners advising them. Global lockdowns and re-openings followed by further lockdowns brought travel chaos; mass business failures were only avoided due to Central Bank intervention as Interest rates were driven down to 0% and, in some cases, into negative territory, whilst money printing became the preferred drug of every Central Banker. And now, a year later Europe is only slowly progressing towards mass vaccination and economic recovery.

The consequences of unprecedented monetary intervention are still unknown, but as is already becoming clear from indicated changes to US and UK Fiscal policies, taxes will have to increase to pay the Piper. Whilst the USA appears to be 'normalising', Europe is still struggling to formulate either a unified medical or economic response to the COVID Pandemic.

Notwithstanding the above, somewhat critical assessment of the World's response to the COVID Pandemic, Stock markets are at or around all-time highs, driven by a limited number of "story stocks", long on rhetoric but short or devoid of earnings!

And to cap it all, market commentary would have us believe that it really is different this time and that infinite multiples, on stocks with minimal-, or in some cases, no earnings, are justified when interest rates are at or around 0%. I fear that US tech investors in the "it's different this time" camp will soon be subjected to a very rude lesson and reminder that what Mr Market giveth, he can also take away, in the blink of an eye, as interest rates rise in response to increasing inflation.

Operational update

Whilst 2019, was, from Thalassa's point of view, a period of immense hard work with very little reportable news. 2020 was not only busy but constructive in that we were able to capitalise on the collapse in stock prices between January and April 2020 which resulted in booking substantial gains on our hedge positions for the year. Whilst we were actively hedging, to protect the Company from the fallout from COVID-19, we were busy managing our current holdings and investing in a number of new situations:

Autonomous Robotics Ltd Proof of Concept completed. Discussions with potential commercial development partners at advanced stage but with no guaranty of successful completion. Focus on commercialisation of Node system and fundraising for production of shallow water system.

Apeiron Holdings AG The Company's subsidiary id4, a Swiss RegTech Software developer has now completed Phase 2 development of its SAAS software and has begun securing initial contracts whilst simultaneously expanding current relationships with initial clients.

Anemoi International Ltd London listing (on the Standard List) completed and now actively looking for an RTO target.

WGP The Company stands to earn a further $4 million if a second specific contract is awarded before 1 January 2023. Unfortunately, the project has been delayed due to welding failures during construction of the client's new Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel ("FPSO") currently being built in Singapore. The new oil field should have commenced production in 2022; this has now been pushed out to 2023. Our contract expires in January 2023. It is still likely that seismic work will commence before production is due to commence in Q3 2023, however it is too early to get a feel for the revised timetable.

Alina Holdings Plc (formerly The Local Shopping REIT Plc.)  In November 2020 Alina successfully relisted on the London Stock Exchange as an operating company in the Leisure sector. Management are reviewing a number of opportunities in the European market, however, given the resurgence in COVID-19 related cases and renewed lockdowns in France and Germany may well have a significant negative impact on summer tourism this year, it is unlikely that Management of Alina will be in a big hurry to complete an early transaction given the overhang of opportunities currently available in the market.

Miscellaneous Holdings As previously reported, Thalassa went into the January/March 2020 market collapse well positioned and benefited substantially from the ~30% fall in Global stock prices and were able to extend those gains through the second half of the year.

2021 Outlook Continued Central Bank intervention, coupled with President Biden's recently announced $2.25 Trillion infrastructure spending plan have substantially changed our view on Stock Market Risk, particularly in the USA. If, and in our view, it is a big if, the infrastructure spending plan is approved by both Congress and the Senate, it is likely to only do so after significant horse trading and compromise. In our opinion, the euphoric response to the President's spending plan leaves little or no room for disappointment and leaves the US (Tech) Market wide open to disappointment.

Share buy-back. As previously announced, the Company's share buy-back programme has been suspended in order to conserve cash.

I would like to thank the Company's staff who continue to work tirelessly in these difficult times.

Duncan Soukup

Chairman

8 June 2021