In QuotedData’s morning briefing 10 June 2022:
- Tufton Oceanic Assets (SHIP) has announced that it has agreed to acquire a product tanker for US$31.5m with completion expected in early July. The Product Tanker, Marvelous, is being acquired at approximately 90% of its depreciated replacement cost. SHIP says that, initially, the vessel will be employed in a leading product tanker pool where the current net unlevered yield is in excess of 25%. SHIP anticipates that this yield will remain above 20% over the next 1-2 years during which time it will decide if a longer term fixed rate charter is more appropriate. SHIP says that like the product tanker ‘Exceptional’, which the Company acquired at the end of 2021, Marvelous is in the top quartile of fuel efficiency in its market segment. However, the tanker will nonetheless be evaluated for further improvement, including the retrofit of energy saving devices. Marvelous is being acquired at only a slightly higher valuation multiple than Exceptional.
- Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) has announced that the Apax X Fund (Apax X), in which it is a limited partner, has announced that it has closed the sale of a controlling stake of its portfolio company MyCase, which APAX describes as a leading provider of cloud-based legal practice management software and payment services. The acquirer is AffiniPay and the purchase consideration for MyCase consists of cash and stock and, following the transaction, the Apax Funds remain a minority shareholder in the combined business. APAX says that the transaction values its current look through investment in MyCase at approximately €22.5m which represents an uplift of around 48% to its last unaffected valuations and an uplift of around €7.3m (c.€0.01 per share) in its adjusted net asset value at 31 March 2022.
- NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) has announced that it will be releasing its full year results, for the year ended 31 March 2022, on Monday 27 June 2022. An analyst presentation will be held at RBC’s offices, 100 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AA. To register to attend please contact Camarco on nesf@camarco.co.uk. The presentation, which will be hosted by Michael Bonte-Friedheim (CEO and Founder of NextEnergy Group) and Ross Grier (UK Managing Director of NextEnergy Capital), will also be live streamed via webcast for investors. Click here to register for the webcast. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session for analysts. Investor questions can be submitted prior to the presentation via email to ir@nextenergysolarfund.com. A recording of the analyst presentation will also be made available on the Company’s website shortly after the event.
- JPMorgan Indian (JII) has released its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2022. During the period, JII provided NAV and share price total returns of -1.9% and -5.4% respectively, both of which underperformed its benchmark, the MSCI India Index, which returned +0.3% over the period (all figures in sterling terms). JII says that its underperformance was mainly due to stock selection, although decisions on asset allocation at the sector level also detracted modestly, mainly as the result of underweight exposures to materials and utilities, along with an overweight in financials. At a stock level, the most adverse influence on performance was an underweight position on the Adani Group companies, which accounted for more than half of the total underperformance during the review period (1.2%). Adani has diverse interests across commodity trading, energy generation and distribution, gas distribution, consumer staples and infrastructure assets such as ports and airports. The group has also announced significant investment plans in renewable energy. JII’s manager says that, despite its opaque governance, and an ongoing regulatory investigation, share prices of group companies defied the volatility in broader markets and surged, driven by a stream of new business announcements. JII’s overweight positions on financials such as HDFC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and HDFC Life Insurance, at a time of rising rates, also hurt returns. Financials, which has the largest weightage in the benchmark, suffered due to foreign investors’ significant outflows. Stock selection in telecom and IT services were the key positive contributors to performance over the review period.
- EP Global Opportunities has changed its name to Global Opportunities Trust Plc and its ticker has changed from EPG to GOT. The name change became effective on 9 June 2022.
- AEW UK REIT (AEWU) has acquired the Railway Station Retail Park in Dewsbury for £4.7m, reflecting a net initial yield of 9.4%. The park is fully let with an average passing rent of £8.28 per sq ft, which the investment manager says it believes provides strong potential for rental growth. Tenants include Sports Direct, Mecca Bingo, Fieldrose Ltd, trading as KFC, and the Danish furniture retailer, Jysk.
- Syncona (SYNC) investee company, Autolus Therapeutics Plc (Nasdaq: AUTL) has announced the publication of clinical data across multiple programmes at the European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress, being held between 9-12 June, 2022. Key highlights are as follows:
- Positive early safety and efficacy data from AUTO4 in 10 patients with T cell lymphoma (TCL), with AUTO4 demonstrating a tolerable safety profile. As of 26 April 2022, 9 patients were evaluable for efficacy and all 3 evaluable patients treated at the highest dose level achieved complete metabolic responses (CMR) one month post treatment. Two of these patients remain in ongoing CMR at months 3 and 6 respectively, with the other patient relapsing after 3 months.
- Encouraging early safety and efficacy data in AUTO1/22 in paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (pALL), with 9 out of 11 patients achieving complete response. At a median follow up of 8.7 months, 6 of the 9 responding patients were in minimal residual disease (MRD) negative complete remission.
- Early safety and efficacy data in AUTO1 (obe-cel) in relapsed/refractory primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) from 6 patients.
- Early safety and efficacy data in obe-cel in relapsed/refractory B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (B-NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). obe-cel continues to display a favourable safety profile. Of the 20 patients evaluable for efficacy, the overall response rate was 18 out of 20 patients.
We also have annual results from Baillie Gifford UK Growth and Industrials REIT and HgCapital’s investment in TigerRisk Partners.