HBM Healthcare to benefit from Homology Medicines IPO Swiss-listed HBM Healthcare (HBMN) is set to receive a modest boost to its NAV following the US initial public offering last week of Homology Medicines (Nasdaq: FIXX), a US gene editing/gene therapy company developing treatments for rare disease. Homology raised a total of $165.6m from an offering of 10.35m shares at $16.00 […]
WPCT gets surprise boost up trust leaguetable from Prothena deal An unexpected recovery in Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT)’s share price last month on the back of the collaboration signed between investee Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) and Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG), has made the struggling investment trust the surprise top performer among the sector specialist funds in March, albeit amid […]
3i Infrastructure makes investment in Attero – 3i Infrastructure will invest €201m to acquire a 50% stake in Attero, one of the largest waste treatment and disposal companies in the Netherlands. 3i Infrastructure will invest alongside DWS’s infrastructure investment business (formerly Deutsche Asset Management) to acquire Attero from Waterland, a Dutch private equity fund. 3i […]
‘Experienced. Disciplined. Determined. All you want from a hero.’ – Merchants Trust outperformed the All-Share, its benchmark index over the year to the end of January 2018. Its NAV total return was +14.5% with debt at market value, outperforming the benchmark total return of +11.3%. This investment return placed the company 6 out of 25 funds in […]
BBGI plans small fund raise – BBGI SICAV results for 2017 have been published. Highlights are: NAV up 14.2% to GBP622.5 million as at 31 December 2017 (GBP545.0 million – 31 December 2016). NAV per share up 3.0% to 129.9 pence as at 31 December 2017 (126.1 pence – 31 December 2016). During the year, the Board […]
Solid absolute and relative returns for shareholders of Dunedin Income Growth – the NAV total return of 12.0% of Dunedin Income Growth (DIG) outperformed the total return of 11.3% from the FTSE All-Share Index. The chairman stated in the annual final report for the year to 31 January 2018 that this was driven by out-performance […]
Impax Environmental Markets investing firmly into the ecological zeitgeist- Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) has reported a strong year of performance, although the NAV of the company underperformed its environmental comparator index, the FTSE ET100, follows the Company’s 15.4% outperformance in 2016 In its annual financial report for the year ended 31 December 2017, the company reported that accelerated earnings growth and continuing merger […]
Hg announces acquisition of German B2B fleet leasing company Mobility Concept – HgCapital Trust (HGT) has announced the acquisition of Mobility Concept GmbH, a leading B2B* fleet leasing company, headquartered in Germany. Hg has acquired Mobility Concept from Unicredit Leasing GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UniCredit Bank AG (“HypoVereinsbank”) as well as from the founders. The closing of the […]
BB Healthcare to benefit from possible Shire takeover London-listed BB Healthcare Trust (BBH) looks likely to be the main investment trust beneficiary of a potential takeover offer for Shire Pharmaceuticals, which may come about after Takeda released a statement suggesting it was evaluating such a move. Shire, which originated in the UK but is now Irish domiciled and […]
Strong performance helps Schroder Asian TR’s NAV move to a premium – The NAV of Schroder Asian TR (ATR) rose by 34.8% on a total return basis for the 12 month reporting period to 31 December 2017. Being a total return fund, the manager is agnostic towards the performance and the make up of market indices. However, so […]
Investment Trust Insider on Starwood European Real Estate Finance James Carthew: Starwood loan fund shines after slow start Starwood European Real Estate Finance (SWEF) celebrated its fifth birthday in December. As the name suggests, it invests in debt secured against property in the EU. Its loans typically range between three and seven years with the […]
North American Income Trust delivers on its objective – As an income fund seeking to deliver an attractive and growing dividends from investing in North American companies, it is appropriate that North American Income Trust (NAIT) asks to be compared to an index equivalent to its objective. It does this by comparing itself to the Russell 1000 Value index, as well […]
Positive results for City Merchants High Yield- In his first final report the new chairman of City Merchants High Yield (CMHY), Tim Scholefield commented that high yield bonds yields and spreads over investment grade bonds had reached new lows against a backdrop of surprising economic growth and supportive central bank policy. He mirrored the caution expressed by […]
QuotedData on F&C’s 150th birthday, plus our monthly roundup featured in DIY investor magazine. The granddaddy of the investment trust sector, Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust, is rapidly approaching its 150th birthday. It is a remarkable achievement for a company to remain relevant over such a long period. What, perhaps is even more remarkable is […]
Busy year for Starwood as lending hits record levels – Starwood European Real Estate Finance generated an NAV total return of 7.2 per cent and a share price total return of 7.6 per cent for 2017. Total dividends of 6.5 pence were declared in relation to the year ended 31 December 2017. The manager says that the group […]
Henderson High Income outperforms in 2017 – Henderson High Income beat its benchmark (80% the All-Share and 20% a gilts index) by 2% in 2017. Unfortunately though, its discount widened and the return to shareholders was 8.7% against 11.4% for the benchmark. the trust expanded by £32m as it absorbed Threadneedle UK Select and also […]
Polar Capital swaps Merck for Lilly – Polar Capital Global Healthcare (PCGH) acquired a large holding, representing ~3% of its NAV, in US pharmaceutical giant Lilly in January, at the same time selling its entire holding in Merck & Co, according to an analysis by Marten & Co. Lilly appears in 14th position by size as […]
Worldwide Healthcare rejigs portfolio, adds BMS, Vertex stakes OrbiMed-managed Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) has added new large shareholdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb and Vertex to its portfolio, displacing holdings in Intuitive Surgical and Cigna from its top 10, according to the trust’s latest factsheet. The changes follow the addition of a holding in Merck & Co in January, and […]
AEW UK REIT buys Dagenham leisure park – AEW UK REIT has acquired the eastern section of London East Leisure Park, Cook Road, Dagenham and an industrial unit let to Plastipak UK Limited on Gresford Industrial Estate, Wrexham for a combined price of GBP22.5m. Dagenham Leisure Park London East Leisure Park is a purpose built leisure […]
BlackRock Emerging Europe offers 100% tender – BlackRock Emerging Europe has been out-performing its benchmark, by 5.7% in US dollar terms in the year to 31 January 2018. The NAV increased by 35.5% in US Dollar terms (19.9% in sterling terms) which compared favourably with the benchmark (MSCI Emerging Europe 10-40 Index) return of 29.8% in […]
John Laing Infrastructure propose moving domicile to UK – The NAV of John Laing Infrastructure [JLIF] rose by 9.5% the company informed shareholders in its final report for the year ending 31 December 2018. The share price, however, fell by 4.8%. The value of the portfolio value rose by 13.3% to £1,379.3 million, with the underlying portfolio growing by […]
Highcroft’s property income grows 22% in 2017 – Highcroft Investments (HCFT) delivered its final report for the calendar year ending 31 December 2017. Headlines: 22.0% increase in gross property income, which is the strongest performance over the last 5 years 16.8% increase in investment property valuation Property acquisitions of £9,480,000 (net of costs) and disposal […]
Profits growth and falling discount mean a good year for F&C Private Equity shareholders – in its final report for the year to 31st December 2017, F&C Private Equity (FPEO), the chairman commented that the portfolio continued to make progress during the year. Profits growth and falling discount Over the year, the NAV returned 5.6% (on a total […]
IBT takes profits on Nektar, buys Array SV Health-managed International Biotech Trust (IBT) saw a 2.2% fall in NAV in February, beating the 2.6% decline reported for the sterling-adjusted value of the benchmark Nasdaq biotechnology index by a small margin, one of only a handful of sector specialist trusts to do so. The main positive […]
Menhaden made some money in 2017 – Menhaden’s NAV total return for the year ended 31 December 2017 was +7.8% (2016: +1.8%) and the share price total return was +3.2% (2016: -13.8%). The MSCI World Total Return Index (in sterling) increased by 11.8% (2016: +28.2%). By way of additional comparison, the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index […]
Biotech Growth’s big-bio focus a cause of underperformance in February OrbiMed-managed Biotech Growth Trust (BIOG) saw a 3.9% fall in its NAV in February, under-performing against a 2.6% decline in the sterling-denominated value of the benchmark NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. The value of investments held by the trust were hit in the market wide sell-off in […]
Regional REIT NAV falls on dilutive share issuance and debt refinancing costs – Regional REIT has published its results for the year ended 31 December 2017. Its EPRA NAV fell to 105.9 from 106.9p, predominately due to the issuance of two tranches of new equity and debt refinancing costs. EPRA EPS rose to 8.1p from 7.7p. They declared dividends […]
India Capital Growth shareholders made 59% in 2017 – India Capital Growth had a great 2017, returning 59% to shareholders and delivering a 42.3% return on its NAV. The NAV just failed to beat its notional benchmark, the BSE Midcap, which returned 45.3%. The 3% underperformance arose in December when three significant portfolio holdings corrected […]
JPMorgan American bailed out by small caps – The year to 31st December 2017 was another positive one for investors in US equities, as the S&P 500 Index on a total return basis rose a further 21.5% for US investors, or 11.0% for UK investors once the effect of sterling’s appreciation against the US dollar […]
WPCT gets boost from Prothena-Celgene deal Shares in Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) have risen by almost 10% this morning to 78p on news of a partnership announced after US markets closed last night between its largest investee company, Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) and Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG). The partnership will develop new therapies for neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s, and […]
