Neuberger Private Equity Partners (NBPE), previously NB Private Equity, sold $150m of investments in the first half of the year, lifting realisations from $86m a year ago. With $68m of exits expected to close in the coming months, the company said it was making good progress refreshing the portfolio and supporting share buybacks, which it doubled to $240m in June to tackle its now 30% share price discount. The £547m company is a co-investor in unquoted companies available to it through Neuberger Berman’s global private equity platform in New York. Half-year results showed portfolio companies’ operating performance was “strong” with last twelve-month revenue and earnings growth of 11.1% and 12.1% respectively. Nevertheless, the total underlying investment return was just 1.9% with falls in its minority of quoted holdings weighing on performance. This lifted net assets to $1.1bn with net asset value (NAV) per share of $28 (£21.10) at 30 June. NAV per share has since grown to $28.13 (£20.75) at 31 August, with a total dollar return of 1.7% last month.
F&C (FCIT) investment trust has said it cut its exposure to US equities by £240m in the first half of the year, shifting most of the money into emerging markets and “global quality-growth” assets. Fund manager Paul Niven said: “The US remains the largest geographical component of the portfolio, but it is no longer leading global markets as it did over the previous decade. The Magnificent Seven have also lagged the wider market so far this year. This does not mean the US is performing poorly in absolute terms, quite the reverse, but the opportunity set is beginning to widen beyond the market leaders of recent years.” This left the £6.5bn global trust with 55.2% in North America equities at the end of August. It highlighted this trend in its half-year results to 30 June showing a 12.4% total investment return just behind its benchmark’s 12.6%.
Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD) has reported a positive start to its financial year with portfolio revenue rising 20.2% and operating profits up 2% on a constant currency basis in the three months to 30 June with construction of Czech subsidiary CRA’s Prague Gateway data centre begun last month. Chair Shonaid Jemmett-Page said: “The structural forces reshaping our sector, such as AI-driven demand, the scarcity of secured power and Europe’s focus on data sovereignty, are playing directly to the strengths of the company’s platforms.” There was no update to net asset value.
