- Riverstone Energy (RSE) has announced that one of its portfolio companies, Anuvia Plant Nutrients, has ceased operations and is undergoing liquidation. The company invested US$20 million in Anuvia in March 2022, with its investment being written down to US$14 million at the time of its Q1 2023 quarterly portfolio valuations. Anuvia is in the process of realising its assets and it is not yet certain if or when Riverstone will recover any of its investment, although it is anticipated that it will be written down to US$0 in the company’s forthcoming Q2 2023 quarterly portfolio update. Whilst Riverstone, along with the other series D investors, is first equity in line to receive proceeds from Anuvia, the investment manager informed the board on 10 July that no such proceeds can now be reasonably expected given the debt burden on the business.
- VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities (GSEO) announced that it has completed the construction of its first solar and storage hybrid system in Australia. This has been achieved through the addition of a 2 hours 4.95MW battery energy storage system (“BESS”) on its existing operational solar PV site in South Australia. The Australian energy transition programme was originally announced in August 2021 with Phase I consisting of the acquisition of two operating solar PV sites with a combined capacity of 17MW. Phase II incorporated the construction of co-located BESS. This has now been completed on the first of the two sites, while work is ongoing towards optimising the grid connection of the battery system for the second site. This represents one of the first hybrid renewable energy plants in Australia and is a key milestone in the Australian Programme. It provides the system with additional renewable energy and supports grid stability with the storage solution. Coupling both technologies should allow optimisation of each technology to better serve the needs of the Australian market in its energy transition. Notably, GSEO expects to gain access to additional energy arbitrage and frequency stability services revenue streams from the co-located BESS.
- Polar Capital Global Financials (PCFT) announced its results for the half year ended 31 May 2023. The company’s NAV fell 8.1% during the period, narrowly outperforming the MSCI ACWI Financials Index benchmark which was down 8.4%, although trailing the broader MSCI ACWI which was up 0.2%. Shares fell 11.5% leading to a wider discount of 10% at last close.The company struggled as financials underperformed, with management noting that rising interest rates, persistently high inflation and a number of bank failures took their toll. US banks, which are a big component of its portfolio, were particularly negatively affected, albeit the company had only a limited exposure to the failures via a modest holding in Silicon Valley Bank. Outside of banks, other financial sectors performed better with insurance and fintech adding value while there were more mixed results in diversified financials.
We also have an annual report from Miton UK Micro cap, and an investment update from JLEN Environmental Assets