In QuotedData’s morning briefing 3 October 2022:
- Jasmine Yeo has been made co-manager of Ruffer Investment Company (RICA). She joins Duncan MacInnes who has co-managed the company since October 2016. Jasmine graduated from Warwick Business School with a degree in international business with Spanish, and joined Ruffer’s UK private client team in 2017. She became a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment in 2020, following completion of the Chartered Wealth Manager qualification. She is an investment specialist in Ruffer’s UK Wholesale team, working closely with multi-family offices, wealth managers, financial planners and their clients.
- JZ Capital (JZCP) confirmed that the maturity date of its subordinated loan notes has been extended through to 30 September 2023. The company’s 2022 Zero Dividend Preference Shares matured on 1 October 2022.
- NB Private Equity’s (NBPE) 2022 zero dividend preference shares have also matured, on 30 September, cheques are being mailed today, CREST settlement should have happened on Friday.
- We are delighted to report that just 178,064 shares were validly tendered in Gulf Investment Fund’s (GIF) latest biannual tender offer, equal to 0.43% of its shares in issue as at 20 September 2022. The board is pleased that the resulting post tender offer share capital will therefore be 40,927,152 shares, which is significantly in excess of the minimum size condition [so the fund, which is unique in its sector and has been performing very well, gets to keep on going.]
- Pantheon Infrastructure (PINT) announced on Friday that, as a result of the extreme volatility of recent days in UK markets, notably within Government bonds and yield-based asset classes, it would not proceed with its £250m fundraise.
- British & American (BAF) released its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022 on Friday. During the period, BAF’s NAV decreased by 8.9%, while, in comparison, it says that the 100 and All Share indices increased by 0.6% and decreased by 2.8% respectively. BAF’s chairman, David Seligman, says that the underperformance of BAF’s NAV over the period was the result of a significant fall in the value of one of its large US dollar investments, Lineage Cell Therapeutics Inc, which declined by over 35%. This fall did not fully offset by the 27% increase in the value of BAF’s other large US dollar investment, Geron Corporation Inc.
We also have results from Vietnam Holding; news of a debt refinancing by Hipgnosis Songs Fund; and Annual results from Henderson Eurotrust.
In other news, it has been announced that the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has done a major u-turn on the proposed scrapping of the 45% rate of income tax for high earners (just ten days after the proposal was first announced in his mini budget). In a statement this morning, Kwarteng said “It is clear that the abolition of the 45p tax rate has become a distraction from our overriding mission to tackle challenges facing our economy. As a result, I am announcing that we are not proceeding with the abolition of the 45p tax rate.” Kwarteng has said that scrapping the proposal will allow the government to focus on “delivering the major parts” of the mini budget (the energy price guarantee, cutting taxes and driving supply side reforms and infrastructure projects). The volte-face has occurred after a number of senior conservatives, including Michael Gove, have made clear that they have major concerns about the policy. There are clear concerns that the Government might fail to get the change voted through in the House of Commons. At the time of writing, the pound is up against the dollar this morning, which is believed to be a positive response to the announcement.