The Crystal Amber Fund (CRS) announced its final results for the year ended 30 June 2023. Net Asset Value per share decreased by 4.6% over the period while the company also returned £37.5m to shareholders, as it goes through the realisation of its assets, bringing total returns of capital to more than £100 million.
At 30 June 2023, the company held equity investments in six companies down from nine in 2022. It also held debt instruments in Morphic Medical Inc and Sigma Broking Limited. The company’s strategy is to optimise realisations for a limited number of special situations where the company believes value can be realised regardless of broad market direction. By its nature as an activist fund, CRS needs to hold sufficiently large stakes to facilitate engagement as a significant shareholder. Therefore, it is inevitably exposed to concentration risk particularly as continuing realisations will increase the weighting of the remaining holdings.
Following significant cash returns, the manager remains mindful of the concentration risk of the portfolio and the increasingly challenging macro-economic backdrop, as long-term interest rates breach 15-year highs. Nevertheless, the fund’s holdings offer significant upside, and this is expected to convert into continuing to maximise returns of capital. The manager is optimistic that the strong relative performance of the last three years can be repeated in the coming 12 months.
CRS : Realisations continue for Crystal Amber Fund