RIT Capital has published some commentary on its NAV move over the first quarter of 2023. The NAV total return over the period was 0.7%, as the trust gave back some ground over March. The manager notes that it has been a turbulent few months. As we highlighted in our recent note, the trust has been buying back shares quite aggressively; 2.4m shares were repurchased over March, adding 0.3% to the NAV. It looks to us as though the discount has begun to narrow – at its widest it was nudging 24%, now it is below 20%.
The manager’s commentary highlights the sale of Infinity in January at a 30% uplift to its previous carrying value and a fundraise by Webull at a premium to RIT Capital’s valuation as evidence of the robustness of the valuations of its directly held private investments. The valuations of the private equity fund investments (which are valued based on information supplied by the underlying managers) are now overwhelmingly (80%) based on end 2022 figures [there is always a lag to these]. The commentary also says that terms have been agreed “for a sale from two other top 10 holdings at carrying value“. The manager is upbeat about the short-term prospects for this part of the portfolio given the bounce in markets over Q1.
Rising markets were reflected in good performance from RIT Capital’s listed equity positions – these added 2.1% to the NAV over Q1.
The manager says “while we remain cautious, there are signs that attractive opportunities are emerging in the new investment landscape“. RIT Capital has the liquidity to take advantage of this, with cash and short-dated gilts of around £340m, as well as undrawn borrowings of £85m.
RCP : RIT Capital NAV made positive progress in Q1 2023