Aquila European Renewables (AERI), the investment company whose wind-down is being overseen by Achilles (AIC) activist Robert Naylor as chair, has issued annual results reflecting a “challenging” 2025 and warning that it may have to continue selling assets below net asset value. Disposals to Aquila Capital, the fund manager, have led to the return of €50.4m to shareholders this year in two distributions.
James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “The Aquila European Renewables results are pretty bad. Adjusting for disposals over 2025, the value of the remaining portfolio was written down from €218.8m to €142.5m (-35%). Weak power prices are cited as a factor – in Spain and Portugal too much solar generation and not enough storage meant electricity prices were negative and plants often had to be shut down. However, the big move was a jump in the discount rate used to value future cashflows from 7.3% to 10%. This is a recognition that now is not a great time to be trying to sell these assets. The board says past assumptions on a range of factors from power prices to grid outages were too optimistic. It is pressing ahead with the managed wind-down and warning that the NAV may fall again. The 52% discount on these shares may look tempting, but I would be wary.”
Riverstone Energy (RSE) has completed its £30m return of capital announced on 9 April with the compulsory purchase of over 2.5m shares representing 34.3% of its share capital. The shares were redeemed yesterday at £11.94. Proceeds will be paid to shareholders by 15 May.
Georgia Capital (CGEO) had a quiet first quarter after its 61.2% return last year. The £1.4bn investment company’s net asset value per share was flat in Georgian lari at GEL 154.82 but increased by 2.1% over the fourth quarter in sterling terms. The Georgia-focused fund said “strong value creation” in its large private companies was partly offset by the decrease in the share price of Lion Finance Group (BGEO), the £4.7bn FTSE 100 listed former Bank of Georgia in which it has a 16.9% stake, accounting for nearly half its assets.
VPC Specialty Lending Investments (VSL), the £34m debt fund approaching the third year of its managed wind-down under Victory Park Capital Advisers, sold £75.8m of investments last year. This funded a £43m return of capital, or 32.8% of net assets, with the remainder used to repay debts. Dividends of 3.05p per share were paid but the company said these will become smaller and less frequent as the number of income producing investments falls. The annual report said shareholders made a total 21.7% return in 2025. At 11.7p, down 0.7p or 5.4% today, the shares stand on a 48% discount below their net asset value per share of 22.3p at 31 December.
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