Alternative Income REIT’s dividend bears the impact of refinancing its debts on a higher interest rate; plus updates from Vietnam Holding, Oakley Capital Investments and Aurora UK Alpha.
Bankers (BNKR) fund manager Janus Henderson has appointed Richard Clode, manager of its top quartile Global Technology Leaders fund as co-manager of the £1.3bn global equities investment trust with Alex Crooke. See our full report here.
Alternative Income REIT (AIRE) has cut this year’s dividend target by 10% to 5.6p per share from the 6.2p it paid last year having refinanced its debts. Although the new £31m fixed-term loan and £10m credit facility from HSBC charge a lower margin of 1.7% over Sonia, the inter-bank lending rate, the company’s annual interest payments will rise to £2.2m from £1.4m. Chair Simon Bennett said base rate had stood at just 0.25% when the real estate investment trust took out its debts in 2017 but had risen to 4%, reducing the level of distributable income. The £51m investor in long, index-linked leases trades on a 24% discount to net asset value. At 62.6p at yesterday’s close, the shares will still offer a high yield of 9% on the new target.
Vietnam Holding (VNH), the £96m flagship of Dynam Capital on an 8.5% discount, says 17.9% of its shares were validly tendered in the latest annual redemption opportunity.
Oakley Capital Investments (OCI) saw an increase in the number of shares voting against the re-election of Peter Dubens to its board. Dubens, the founder and managing partner of Oakley Capital, in whose private equity funds OCI invests, was re-elected with the support of 76.2% of shares but with votes against nearly doubling to 23.8% from 12.4% last year. The company said: “While the composition of our board complies with the independence requirements of the UK Listing Rules and the AIC Code, we understand that some shareholders have a policy of voting against the re-election of any directors who are not independent or who they do not believe to be independent. The board has engaged with these shareholders in the past to discuss their position and concerns and will continue to do so in the future.”
Aurora UK Alpha (ARR) says net asset value fell 1.1% in August to 274p a share, underperforming the FTSE All-Share which rose 0.9%. The £276m UK All Companies investment trust run by Gary Channon at Phoenix Asset Management Partners says Nintendo and Lloyds gained 6.4% and 2.2% respectively to stand at 3.8% and 12.1% of the portfolio, while 13.5% holding in housebuilder Barratt declined 3.9%. NAV has risen 6.6% this year, lagging the All-Share’s 14.4% advance by 7.8%. The shares, currently on a 9.6% discount to NAV, have done a bit better, returning 9.7%.
