Half-year results from Vietnam Enterprise and BioPharma Credit with the last interims from Downing Renewables before its sale plus transactions from Riverstone Energy and Third Point Investors.
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (VEIL) underperformed in the first half of the year with net asset value (NAV) per share rose rising just 0.9% in US dollar terms versus a 6.9% gain in the Vietnam Index as the country posted strong economic growth of 7.5%, despite the uncertainty of US tariffs. However, shareholders in the £1.2bn investment company managed by Dragon Capital reaped a 9% total return as the discount to NAV narrowed to 14.9% from 21.2%. This was in response to the company proposing a 100% tender offer in 2030 if its performance did not beat the benchmark in order to pass a continuation vote. Since 30 June VEIL says it has outperformed the VNI by around 4%. “This post-period performance highlights the resilience of VEIL’s positioning in sectors most closely tied to domestic demand and underscores the strength of the long-term investment case,” it said.
BioPharma Credit (BPCR) produced a “resilient” performance in the first half of the year in the face of US tariff uncertainty with net asset value (NAV) of the alternative income fund rising 1.12 US cents from $1.0074 to $1.0186 at 30 June and the shares stable on a 13% discount. The portfolio of mostly floating rate loans to US drugs companies generated net income of 6.33 cents per share comfortably covering two quarterly dividends totalling 4.64 cents per share. Since the half-year end a further 1.75 cent quarterly dividend and 1.5c special dividend have been paid. Its fund manager continues to evaluate a pipeline of potential new investments new for its 14.3% cash pile.
Riverstone Energy (RSE) again boosts the amouint of cash it can return to shareholders as part of its wind-down with its third asset sale in a week. The investment company sold all its shares in Solid Power, the US manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries, for $25.9m, well ahead of the $16m valuation in its accounts. This leaves RSE with net cash of $276m.
Third Point Investors (TPOU) has returned $125m to shareholders with a redemption of 4.37m shares at a price $28.56 following shareholder approval for the US hedge fund’s controversial reverse takeover of Malibu Life.
Downing Renewables & Infrastructure (DORE) thanks its shareholders as it publishes its final half-year results before its acquisition by Bagnall Energy in an 102.6p per share offer approved by shareholders last month. In the six months to 30 June net asset value (NAV) fell 5.6p to 111p per share with underlying portfolio performance offsetting some of the impact of falls in power price forecasts and changes in macroeconomic factors. Total shareholder returns leaped 35.6% taking the total return since launch in December 2020 to 24%.
Harwood Capital, manager of several smaller company investment trusts including Oryx and North Atlantic Smaller Companies, has been given another month by the Takeover Panel to finalise its possible cash offer for financial adviser Frenkel Topping (FEN), which it announced in June. The latest “put up or shut up” deadline is 20 October.
Puma VCT 13 (PU13) has invested £4.3m in a funding round by Kuai Commerce, the operating system for global brands in China that trades as YASO. Puma Alpha VCT (PUAL) invested £230,000.
Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure (EGL) has appointed David Benda, former head of corporate broking for listed funds at Numis Securities, as a non-executive director. He also sits on the board of Albion Technology & General VCT.
Seraphim Space (SSIT) will publish annual results on Monday 20 October. There will be a presentation for private investors at 11am.
