Schiehallion says that over the year to 31 January 2024, the NAV returned negative 0.9% and share price returned negative 22.3%. The share price discount to NAV widened from 23% to 40% as sentiment remained against growth stocks and private company investments. The net revenue return was negative and there will be no dividend.
From a $20m buyback announced in November 2023, over the three months to 31 January 2024, the company has bought back 2.6m shares at a cost of approximately $1.9m. Since the financial year end, the company has bought back an additional 1.1m shares.
Extracts from the manager’s report
Performance for the year was driven by a mix of public market uplift and increased valuations in private holdings. Listed holdings, Affirm, Wise, and Oscar Health, saw significant increases in their share prices throughout 2023 of 408%, 272%, and 64%, respectively. Private holdings, such as Bending Spoons and SpaceX, also experienced strong increases in their valuations. Bending Spoons’ valuation increased over 150% in Q4 on the back of strong operational performance following successful integrations of their recent acquisitions and a new funding round where the company was valued at $2.55 billion. SpaceX conducted another substantial secondary tender offer that values the company at $180 billion, making it the second most valuable start-up in the world behind ByteDance, which is also in your portfolio.
The largest detractors of NAV performance were private holdings, specifically Convoy, which ceased operations in October 2023, Indigo Agriculture, and Solugen. When considering the broader portfolio, companies are well capitalised, with over 90% by capital weighting having more than 12 months of cash runway. In recent months, we have seen an increased focus on capital efficiency as companies seek to strike the right balance between growth and profitability. We remain optimistic about the resilience and potential of the companies in your portfolio. Operational performance and efficiency continue to improve, and in several cases, are better than expected following rate hikes and broader economic and political tension.
MNTN : Another year of losses for Schiehallion