CT Healthcare (CTHT), the former Bellevue Healthcare trust, saw reduced uptake for its second quarterly 15% tender offer since Columbia Threadneedle’s Kosta Kleyman began running the portfolio on 5 March. The £62.5m company, the smallest in its sector, said 8.4% of its shares were put up for sale last month and will be bought back at 137.2829p. This eases the selling pressure on the fund after its first tender offer in May when 17.6% of shares were tendered, although just 15% repurchased. The shares have risen from 130p on 5 March and have rallied 21.4% in the past year, though that is below the 33.6% average of its Healthcare & Biotechnology sector.
James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “A better run of performance from CT Healthcare, which has outperformed Worldwide Healthcare (WWH) over the past 12 months, yet still lags Polar Capital Global Healthcare (PCGH), might be behind its undersubscribed quarterly tender offer. The discount has narrowed substantially, but this is a trust that badly needs to expand to justify its existence.”
Seraphim Space (SSIT) has issued its August newsletter.
James Carthew commented: “As usual, there is plenty of encouraging news in this month’s roundup. The statement confirms an intention to proceed with a partial conversion of C shares after the end of this quarter and the likely uplift in the ordinary share NAV as ICEYE raises money at a €10bn+ valuation. For me, though, what stood out was China’s LandSpace (which plans to IPO shortly) successfully demonstrating its reusable rocket technology. If it, and others, can become viable competitors to SpaceX, this should contribute towards lower launch costs for the SpaceTech industry, boosting its growth.”
Literacy Capital (BOOK) has appointed HgCapital (HGT) finance director Nick Latner as an independent non-executive director. He will replace Rachel Murphy, the business consultant and coach who has been on the board for five years. Chair Paul Pindar said Latner “brings a valuable combination of audit, valuation and hands-on finance experience, as well as experience of traditional private equity, that is highly relevant to Literacy as it continues to evolve”. Shares in the £182m UK private equity fund have fallen 34% over three years, derating to a 36% discount after a slowdown in the portfolio with net asset value down 1% over the same period.
Schroder Income Growth (SCF) says former Ruffer fund manager David Ballance has joined its board as an independent non-executive director. Ballance spent 15 years at Ruffer before leaving in March 2022. He is also a non-exec at Monks (MNKS) investment trust.
LondonMetric Property (LMP) has been busy trying to pick up long-dated assets being offloaded by pension funds with offers out on £140m of acquisitions offering yields over 6%. The £4.3bn real estate investment trust is looking to recycle capital after selling seven further non-core assets from its recent acquisitions for £85m since its July trading update. The disposals were made in line with 31 March book values at a 5.3% yield and take the total number of assets sold in this financial year to 32 assets, releasing £175m for reinvestment. Chief executive Andrew Jones said: “Whilst the investment market is generally quieter over the summer, we have been heavily engaged on reinvestment opportunities that have higher growth prospects, particularly those emanating from pension funds. We expect to transact on a number of these shortly.” The company will shortly close on its acquisition of Picton Property (PCTN) with Schroder REIT (SREI).
Custodian Property Income (CREI), the 7%-yielding investor in smaller regional real estate, says strong leasing activity continues to drive rental growth and support its fully covered dividend. The £372m REIT saw net asset value (NAV) edge up to 100p from 99.7p in the three months to 30 June, the first quarter of its financial year. This led to a 1.8% total investment return with the 1.5p per share dividend included. Estimated rental value rose 1% to £56.1m driven by 1.6% like-for-like growth in the industrial sector, where half of the portfolio is invested. This exceeds the current £49m passing rent by 15%, which the company is confident it can capture through five-yearly rent reviews and asset management. Fund manager Richard Shepherd-Cross said there was a “significant disconnect between the strong underlying fundamentals of UK real estate and current investor sentiment” with CREI shares at 82p standing at an 18% discount to NAV.
