In QuotedData’s morning briefing 5 December 2023:
- Personal Assets Trust (PNL) announced its interm report for the six months to 31 October 2023. The company’s NAV fell by 2.7% while shares fell 4.5% with shares falling to a discount of around 1%. The company continues to be positioned defensively with almost 40% of the fund in US tips (inflation protected bonds). Commenting on the outlook, the investment manager Sebastian Lyon noted that; “The bear market, which began in stock markets at the beginning of 2022, has some way to go. We are positioned accordingly but are prepared to shift more positively as and when we see improved valuations. It is by buying good companies well that we will drive future returns for the company.”
- Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) announced the appointment of Elizabeth Surkovic as an independent non-executive director of the company with effect from 1 January 2024. Liz has worked for 30 years in environmental policy making and regulation in the private and public sectors and is now focussed on the interface of science and policy. She is currently head of policy at the Royal Society.
- The Lindsell Train Investment Trust (LTI) has announced its half year results for the period ended 30 September 2023. NAV was down 3.6%, while shares fell 11.3%, widening the discount to 8.5%, trailing the MSCI World Index total return of 4.5%. The bulk of the underperformance was due to an 11.9% fall in LTL, the company’s investment manager which accounted for 38.6% of LTI’s NAV.
- Picton (PCTN) has officially ended its interest in acquiring UK Commercial Property REIT (UKCM). UKCM’s largest shareholder Phoenix Life, which controls approximately 43% of its share capital, did not support the possible merger on the terms proposed. PCTN said that it continues to believe in the strategic and financial benefits of combining complementary businesses to enhance scale, diversification and efficiency within an internal management structure.
- Helical (HLCL) has let the first, second and third floors at the JJ Mack Building, 33 Charterhouse Street, EC1 (comprising 68,002 sq ft) to J. Sainsbury plc. The retailer is expected to relocate its existing London office from 33 Holborn to the new building in the next two years. The recently developed building totals 200,611 sq ft of office space across 11 floors, alongside 5,439 sq ft of ground floor retail. With the sixth and seventh floors, totalling 37,880 sq ft, let to Partners Group and the 13,408 sq ft ninth floor let to Corio Generation, part of the Macquarie Group, The JJ Mack Building is now 58% occupied.
- Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) has signed a £300m unsecured loan agreement with Santander, HSBC and BNP Paribas. The facility has an initial maturity of three years, with the option to extend the tenor by a further two periods of one year each, subject to lender approval. The proceeds of the facility, combined with the existing cash resources of the company, will be used to repay the remaining balance (£376m) of an unsecured loan, which was arranged at the time of the merger between Capital & Counties and Shaftesbury and drawn in April 2023 to fund the repayment of the Shaftesbury secured bonds, that is due to mature in 2024. The facility comprises term loan and revolving credit elements, and includes a £125m uncommitted accordion feature. As a result of the refinancing, the weighted average maturity of the company’s drawn debt will be extended to over 5 years. The current weighted average cost of debt is unchanged at 4.2%.
- Another tenant of Home REIT (HOME) has entered liquidation, the company said in its monthly update. Marigold Housing, which leases 15 properties representing 0.9% of rent demanded in November, entered liquidation on 15 November 2023, appointing Path Business Recovery as its liquidator. As 30 November, tenants in liquidation accounted for 16.3% of annual contracted rent. Rent collection including arrears represented 14% of rent invoiced during the month. The company also said that an additional fee of 5% per annum will be charged on the aggregate outstanding loan balances with Scottish Widows, with the fee accruing on a daily basis from 30 November 2023, payable on 28 June 2024 or full repayment of the loan, whichever is earlier. HOME has utilised £15m of net sale proceeds to repay its debt to Scottish Widows, which stands at £198.3m across two debt tranches. Cash balances stand at £16.4m, of which £3.3m is unrestricted, as of 30 November 2023.
- Town Centre Securities (TOWN) completed its tender offer, purchasing £9.125m of shares in the company. In total, 6,292,920 ordinary shares were purchased at a price of 145.0p. This represented around 13.0% of the issued share capital of the company.