News

08 Apr 2021

Menhaden let down by wide discount

Menhaden’s results for the year ended 31 December 2020 have been published. In NAV terms, the company made reasonable progress, with a total return of 13.2%. However, a widening discount left shareholders with a return of 3.0%. There is no dividend. The board has opted to drop the comparison with the MSCI World Total Return Index […]

08 Apr 2021

British Land pre-let 134,000 sq ft at Broadgate office

British Land has pre-let 134,000 sq ft of office space at its 1 Broadgate development in the City of London. It has signed a deal with real estate consultancy firm JLL on a 15-year term. The deal represents almost 30% of the office space in the new 546,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme. Demolition of the […]

08 Apr 2021

QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 April 2021

In QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 April 2021: Schroder UK Public Private has slashed the value of its Rutherford Health investment to £34m from £81m. The statement says “The valuation of Rutherford Health has been reduced to reflect slower than expected commercial progress and increased risk to the business outlook for equity holders.” This offsets good news […]

07 Apr 2021

Helical collects 92.9% of rent during COVID

London office developer Helical collected 92.9% of rent in the year since the lockdown was first implemented in the UK. The group said of the balance, 4.9% had been granted rent holidays – mainly on its food and beverage tenants, and 2.2% subject to ongoing discussions. Of the current quarter, to the end of June […]

07 Apr 2021

Impax Environmental reflects on a big year as China targets net carbon neutrality by 2060

It was a good year for Impax Environmental (IEM) in absolute terms with its annual results period to 31 December 2020 bringing a total NAV return of 31.0% and a total market return of 28.9%. The shares traded at an average premium to NAV of 4.6% over the period. The NAV return was ahead of the […]

07 Apr 2021

QuotedData’s morning briefing 7 April 2021

In QuotedData’s morning briefing 7 April 2021 – Urban Logistics REIT (SHED) has bought two assets for a total of £21.7m at a 6.14% net initial yield. The assets are in Warrington and Edinburgh. SHED also provided an update on its rent collection, noting that it collected 99% of rent due for the quarter to June. […]

06 Apr 2021

VH Global makes first investment

VH Global makes first investment – VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities has agreed to buy 100% of the equity interests in two operating terminal storage sites on the Texas Gulf Coast for a total purchase price of $61m. The fund has also committed further capital to develop and expand the sites before the end of the […]

06 Apr 2021

SDCL buys US district energy business

SDCL buys US district energy business – SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust has agreed to acquire a 100% equity interest in a commercial district energy system, RED-Rochester, LLC for an equity cash consideration of approximately $177m. RED is one of North America’s largest district energy systems with 117 MW of steam turbine generators plus boilers, chillers […]

06 Apr 2021

QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 April 2021

Happy New Tax Year! In QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 April 2021: NewRiver REIT says its joint venture with BRAVO Strategies III LLC (in which it holds a 10% stake) has completed the acquisition of The Moor, a 28 acre estate in Sheffield city centre, for £41.0m (a capital value of £60 per sq ft). The deal was […]

01 Apr 2021

QD view – Go West!

I moaned for ages that there weren’t enough trusts dedicated to North America, given the importance of that market within the global economy. Happily, there is more of a choice now and it is a real choice – between managers with quite different approaches and remits. However, in terms of assets, the sector is still […]

01 Apr 2021

QuotedData’s afternoon briefing 1 April 2021

In QuotedData’s afternoon briefing 1 April 2021, as a raft of investment companies seem to be getting announcements out of the way ahead of the Easter break, we bring you a one-off afternoon briefing: Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust has published a prospectus in relation to a placing programme of up to 250m new ordinary shares. The placing programme allows […]

01 Apr 2021

Irish Residential Properties REIT to internalise management team

Irish Residential Properties REIT (IRES REIT) is looking at internalising its management team, following the receipt of a notice of termination from its current investment manager. IRES Fund Management Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CAPREIT, served notice yesterday of the termination of the investment management agreement, which will take effect on 31 March 2022. The […]

01 Apr 2021

Henderson High Income held back by gearing

Henderson High Income held back by gearing – Henderson High Income Trust reported results for the year ended 31 December 2020 yesterday. In a difficult year, the trust generated a return on NAV of -11.4% and a widening discount meant that the return to shareholders was -17.6%. These returns compare to a figure of -6.3% for […]

01 Apr 2021

Stenprop continues multi-let industrial transition with series of deals

Stenprop, the UK multi-let industrial (MLI) property company, has completed several transactions which further progresses its strategic goal of becoming a fully focussed MLI REIT. It has acquired the Headlands Trading Estate in Swindon for £7.4m; disposed of the Bikemax portfolio of five German retail warehouse units for €27m; and completed the sale of the Victoria Centre retail […]

01 Apr 2021

Tritax EuroBox in €290m German double buy

Tritax EuroBox has acquired two assets in Germany for €290.9m, deploying the proceeds of its capital raise in March. The assets, a 70,000 sqm logistics facility let to a leading German sportswear manufacturer and a 94,800 sqm property let to Wayfair, have a combined rental income of €11.38m a year and were acquired for a […]

01 Apr 2021

Third Point looks to tackle discount

Third Point looks to tackle discount – Third Point Investors Limited says that, following a detailed strategic review in close partnership with the investment manager, the board is announcing several changes aimed at enhancing the strength of the company. The changes seek both to build on the manager’s track record and address the persistent discount to […]

01 Apr 2021

3i Infrastructure agrees to acquire DNS:NET

3i Infrastructure agrees to acquire DNS:NET – 3i Infrastructure plc  has agreed to invest c.€182m to acquire a 60% stake in DNS:NET and to provide additional funding for the future growth of the business. DNS:NET is a leading independent telecommunications provider in Germany.  3i Infrastructure is buying its stake from Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (“DBAG”), DBAG ECF, […]

01 Apr 2021

Aquila buys Portuguese solar plant

Aquila buys Portuguese solar plant – Aquila European Renewables Income Fund has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire 50% of the equity in an unlevered (no debt) Portuguese solar operating asset, Ourique. Closing of the transaction is expected to occur in April 2021. Ourique is located in Alentejo, Portugal, and has an installed […]

01 Apr 2021

Hipgnosis becomes an investment trust

Hipgnosis becomes an investment trust – The board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited has announced that, as noted in the prospectus dated 21 January 2021, the company applied to HMRC for approval  as an investment trust company and that such approval has been granted. Accordingly, the company’s conversion to an investment trust company will take effect […]

01 Apr 2021

Nippon Active Value reports on initial success

Nippon Active Value Fund has published its first full set of results for the period from its incorporation in October 2019 to 31 December 2020. The shares started trading on 21 February 2020. IPO subscriptions totalled £103m. By the end of the period, net assets had risen to £117m, representing a net asset value of 113.58p […]

01 Apr 2021

BB Biotech ends a turbulent first quarter in good health

BB Biotech ends a turbulent first quarter in good health BB Biotech posted a respectable performance in the first quarter of 2021, in a period that proved to be quite turbulent for biotech stocks. As of 31 March, BB Biotech stock closed at CHF82.20, up 15.4% year to date, while the NAV was CHF70.75/share, up […]

01 Apr 2021

QuotedData’s morning briefing 1 April 2021

In QuotedData’s morning briefing 1 April 2021 – no April Fools, we promise: UK Commercial Property REIT (UKCM) has sold its Kew Retail Park asset in London to a leading UK housebuilder for £41m. The sale price is marginally below the end 2020 book value. Of the complete 10 acre retail park, the trust owned 4.7 […]

31 Mar 2021

CEIBA raises €25m in convertible bond issue

CEIBA Investments, the real estate company dedicated to investing in Cuba, has raised €25m in an unsecured convertible bond issue. The 10%, five-year bond was priced at the unaudited net asset value per share at 30 June 2020 of 104.3p and will be admitted to the International Stock Exchange, Guernsey. The capital will finance the completion of […]

31 Mar 2021

Mercantile reflects on a difficult 2020 and its optimism around the UK for 2021

Mercantile (MRC), the £2.02bn UK all-companies sector fund, reported its annual results to 31 January 2021. MRC’s strategy is built around focussing on identifying tomorrow’s UK market leaders, targeting UK companies outside of the FTSE 100 index that have significant opportunities for growth and which may be overlooked by other investors. MRC’s chairman, Angus Gordon […]

31 Mar 2021

Fundsmith Emerging Equities significantly outperforms its benchmark and proposes amendment to its investment objective and policy

Fundsmith Emerging Equities’S (FEET’s) annual results to 31 December 2020 saw it deliver a total NAV return of 20.7% and a total share price return of 29.1%. FEET’s benchmark, the MSCI Emerging and Frontier Markets Index, returned 14.4%. Indian stocks feature heavily in top performers Chairman, Martin Bralsford, said: “The investee company portfolio benefitted from its […]

31 Mar 2021

Brevan Howard-managed BH Macro has a great 2020

Brevan Howard-managed BH Macro (BHMG) reported annual results spanning the 12-month period to 31 December 2020. During the year ended 31 December 2020, the NAV of the sterling shares increased by 28.09% and the NAV of the US dollar shares (BGMU) increased by 28.86%. The share price total return on sterling and US dollar shares was […]

31 Mar 2021

QuotedData’s morning briefing 31 March 2021

In QuotedData’s morning briefing 31 March 2021 – JPMorgan Multi-Asset (MATE) announced that with immediate effect, to better reflect the investment objective of providing an attractive total return of growth and income, the company will change its name to JPMorgan Multi-Asset Growth & Income. The company’s London Stock Exchange stock ticker symbol MATE will remain […]

30 Mar 2021

RTW backs Pyxis Oncology

RTW backs Pyxis Oncology – RTW Venture Fund Limited has highlighted an announcement by Pyxis Oncology, Inc. On 30 March 2021 that company completed a $152 million Series B financing round, which was co-led by RTW Investments, LP. The company, alongside other investment vehicles of the Investment Manager, confirms that it participated in the financing round together with […]

30 Mar 2021

Strategic Equity Capital scores comfortable win in continuation vote

Strategic Equity Capital scores comfortable win in continuation vote – At today’s extraordinary meeting of shareholders, shareholders approved the continuation of the trust by a margin of 38.8m to 8.4m votes or 82.2% versus 17.8%. Very few shareholders were persuaded to back the requisitionists. Richard Hills, chairman of Strategic Equity Capital, commented: “We are grateful for […]