Time to back unloved Britain? One bit of disappointing news this week was that the UK’s economic growth in August was 2.1%, below expectations and leaving economic activity still well-below pre-pandemic levels. The apparent second wave is triggering renewed restrictions and seems set to act as a brake on growth over the winter. On top […]
There has been much debate about the future of the office, most of which has been conjecture and speculation. But finally, there is some actual concrete transactional evidence that points to a brighter future for the central London market than most have portrayed. International investors, always the bellwether for the health of the central London […]
The two listed real estate giants – British Land and Land Securities – both published rent collection figures today that sum up the division in the property market. Both companies own London offices as well as large retail portfolios. On the offices front, both received a large majority of rent billed for the final quarter […]
Secured Income Fund (SSIF) has announced its annual results for the year ended 30 June 2020, during which it says that all loans underwritten since April 2017 are performing as expected. However, the impact of Covid-19 has meant that SSIF has needed to relax some covenants, defer interest and extend the maturity of some loans. […]
Jupiter US Smaller Companies has announced that Robert Siddles (pictured), the fund manager of the Company since 2001, has, for family reasons, decided to retire with effect from April 2021. As a result of Robert’s retirement, JUS’s Board has said that it will review options for the future management of the trust and will make […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 9 October 2020: Aquila European Renewables Income Fund has announced the results of its equity raise – €127.5m before expenses. the fund is issuing 122,902,772 ordinary shares at €1.0375 per share. This represents a premium of 5.2% to the company’s NAV as at 30 June 2020. JPMorgan Multi-Asset Trust (MATE) has […]
A plethora of real estate companies have posted encouraging rent collection figures for the current quarter (payment day for which is typically on or around 29 September). Here we have rounded up the announcements. Urban Logistics REIT Urban Logistics REIT announced it had collected 99% of rent due for the quarter to December, with the remaining 1% […]
Home REIT has raised just over £240.5m from its initial public offering (IPO). The company, that will invest in a portfolio of homeless accommodation across the UK, will trade on the premium segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange on 12 October 2020. It is targeting inflation-protected income and capital returns through the […]
TR European let down by widening discount – TR European Growth has published results for the year ended 30 June 2020. Over the period it delivered a return on NAV of 3.0%, ahead of the 0.3% return posted by its benchmark (Euromoney European Smaller Companies (ex UK) Index), but the share price fell as the discount […]
Sharp widening of JPEL’s discount – JPEL Private Equity has announced results for the year ended 30 June 2020. COVID and other factors pushed the NAV down by 5.3% to $1.61, but the share price fell from $1.43 to $1.08, meaning that the discount widened from 15.9% to 32.9% and it is now 35.2%. JPEL […]
JZ Capital breaches debt covenant – JZ Capital has confirmed that it has not yet reached final agreement with its lenders as to the amended terms of its senior facility with Guggenheim Partners and is therefore in breach of its minimum asset coverage ratio and in default under the facility. The company is in discussions and […]
Investment Company has rethink – The board of The Investment Company Plc has published a circular in advance of a meeting at which shareholders will be asked to change the investment objective and investment policy of the company. New objective The current focus is on income generation. The board says “In recent years this has […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 October 2020: Schroder UK Public Private Trust (formerly Woodford Patient Capital) acknowledges the potential uplift to its NAV to come from the merger of Seedrs and Crowdcube. Like Augmentum, Schroder UK Public Private is an investor in Seedrs. Hg Capital Trust has secured a £200m multicurrency revolving credit facility. this boosts available […]
Sirius Real Estate, the owner and operator of business parks in Germany, has provided a strong trading update for the six months April to September. The highlights includes collecting 97.2% of rents in the period, letting enquiries up 17.4% on the same period in 2019, a 1.1% like-for-like increase in average rent to €6.03 per […]
Over the year to 31 August 2020, Baillie Gifford Japan’s (BGFD) NAV increased by 6.8% in total return terms, compared to a (0.1%) fall in the benchmark TOPIX index. BGFD’s shares rose by 3.7% over the year. Performance led by Softbank Approximately 33% of the portfolio is in internet-related businesses and a further 14% in automation […]
Merian Chrysalis’s (MERI) share placing raised £95m, ahead of the £50m it had initially targeted. MERI recently said that it was now substantially fully invested. The capital raised will be used to execute its investment in You & Mr Jones, announced on 1 October 2020, together with other pipeline and follow-on investments. Richard Watts, portfolio manager, commented: […]
Supermarket Income (SUPR) raised £200m in an oversubscribed issue. In the announcement this morning, it said that the initial size of the issue had been increased and that notwithstanding this, demand exceeded the proceeds raised. This resulted in the undertaking of a scaling back exercise. You can read more on the issue by accessing our […]
The private equity sector company, ICG Enterprise (ICGT), reported interim results to 31 July 2020, delivering a NAV total return of (1.0%). This was ahead of the FTSE all-share, which returned (17.8%) over the period. ICGT had a good second quarter, with the 3.2% total return coming in well ahead of the (4.1%) over the first […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 7 October 2020: Investment Company (INV), the £12.9m market cap UK equity income fund, announced annual results to 30 June 2020, delivering a NAV return of (9.5%). With respect to its future, INV’s chairman, I.R. Dighé had this to say: “In light of this volatility and the material uncertainty that surrounds the […]
Care home investor Target Healthcare REIT has reported a net asset value (NAV) total return for the year to 30 June 2020 of 7.0%. The group posted a 0.6% increase in EPRA NAV per share to 108.1p. Its dividend for the year grew 1.5% to 6.68p and it is proposing a further 0.6% increase for […]
PRS REIT has continued its good progress, despite the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting delivery on new private rented homes. The group posted a 12% increase in profit after tax to £16.4m in the year to 30 June 2020. It added 909 new rental homes in the year (2019: 768) to take the portfolio at the year […]
Alternative Income REIT (AIRE) has announced its intention to amend its investment policy following a review of the business by new investment adviser M7 Real Estate. M7’s review concluded that AIRE’s investment policy should change so that it can take advantage of investment opportunities in the market “at an attractive entry yield that are expected […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 October 2020: Augmentum Fintech says Seedrs (which was 1.2% of its portfolio at the end of March) is planning to merge with Crowdcube. Also, Tide (11.5% of the portfolio) has been awarded another £25m (on top of the £60m it got in February 2019) of the RBS Alternative Remedies Package (the […]
Tetragon providing finance to Contingency Capital – Tetragon Financial and its diversified alternative asset management business, TFG Asset Management, have entered into an agreement with Brandon Baer to invest in his newly-created company, Contingency Capital, a multi-product global asset management business that will sponsor and manage litigation finance related investment funds. Contingency Capital will have its […]
Gabelli Value Plus+ board consults on way forward – the board of Gabelli Value Plus+ has issued a long letter to shareholders, the full text of that letter is here. In brief, ACG (which is opposed to liquidating the company) has written a letter indicating that (unspecified) litigation concerning the company may be a distinct […]
Regional REIT has acquired two offices, in Swansea and Bristol, for £10.2m at a combined net initial yield of 10.1%. The group, which owns a diverse property portfolio in regional UK locations, has bought Waterside Business Park in Swansea and 2410 Aztec West in Bristol. Combined, the assets have a weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) to […]
LXI REIT has announced a 6% increase in its quarterly dividend having collected 97% of rents so far for the current quarter. The company, which owns a portfolio of long-let, index-linked property, has increased the dividend guidance to 1.44 pence per share for the quarter ending December 2020. It said the dividend is expected to […]
RTW Venture Fund (RTW), an investment company focused on identifying assets with high growth potential across the life sciences sector, noted the announcement by portfolio company, C4 Therapeutics, on 1 October of its pricing of a $182.4m IPO and admission to trading on the Nasdaq. ‘Robust pipeline in oncology’ C4T is a US‐based biotech company, described […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 5 October 2020: Tufton Oceanic (SHIP) announced the acquisition of two product tankers for an outlay of $23m, taking the fleet to 18 vessels. Both vessels have fixed-rate time charters deals for three to five years with a major commodity trading and logistics company. We also have news of a $182m […]
QuotedData’s weekly news show 2 October 2020 Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on youtube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: Jupiter UK Growth’s decision to give up Strategic Equity Capital’s new manager He then handed over to Andrew McHattie, who talked […]
