Crystal Amber, managed by Richard Bernstein (pictured), has been consulting its shareholders about expanding the fund. Crystal Amber buys stakes in companies that it thinks can benefit from a bit of self-help or active engagement by Crystal Amber. It points to its three year track record (65% NAV growth and 85% share price growth) and says it believes that it makes sense to expand the capital base of the company so that it can tackle larger companies. They say new shares will only be issued at NAV or higher so existing shareholders will not be diluted.
They have paid modest dividends in the past from revenue. They are now looking to dip into retained earnings to finance two semi-annual dividends of 2.5p to give a total of 5p per annum – about a 3.3% yield on the current NAV. The statement doesn’t really explain why it thinks this is a good idea – it might be that they think the new policy will help attract investors looking for yield.
CRS : Crystal Amber to pay 5p dividend