Foresight Solar buys Australian solar farm – Foresight Solar Fund Limited has entered into a binding contract to acquire its first asset outside of the UK with a commitment to acquire 48.5% of the share capital of Bannerton Solar Farm in Victoria, Australia. The project will have a peak capacity of 110MWp once operational. KDB Infrastructure […]
No plan to tackle Ranger’s discount – Ranger Direct Lending has published its interim statement covering the six month period ended 30 June 2017. As Christopher Waldron, the chairman, points out, the first six months of 2017 has been a difficult period for Ranger Direct Lending, which has seen its share price fall to a […]
James Carthew: Custodian captures investors’ attention A cloud still hangs over the likes of Land Securities (LAND) and British Land (BLND), whilst Intu Properties (INTU), the shopping centre specialist, is hitting new multi-year lows. However, there is a clear distinction between these older, self-managed real estate investment trusts (Reits) and the newer, externally managed Reits. […]
Syncona backs Autolus fund raise – Syncona has announced that its portfolio company, Autolus, has completed a US$80 million Series C funding round. Autolus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of next-generation engineered CAR-T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Syncona was the single largest investor in the $80 […]
Global Resources writes up Bougainville gold investment – Early this year, Global Resources Investment Trust completed an A$1,250,000 investment in Kalia Holdings Pty Ltd, a private Australian company that is the parent company of a Papua New Guinean registered subsidiary Kalia Investments Ltd. Kalia Investments Limited holds contractual rights to explore for minerals and develop […]
JPMorgan Mid Cap unloved despite beating benchmark – JPMorgan Mid Cap reported a total return on net assets of 30.4%, compared with the benchmark total return of 21.5% for the year ended 30 June 2017. However, the total return to shareholders was 23.4%, reflecting a widening by 5.1 percentage points of the discount which the chairman […]
Large cap focus restrains City of London – City of London Investment Trust has published results for the year ended 30 June 2017. Its returns fell behind those of peers and index benchmarks over the period. City of London’s net asset value total return was 14.5% which was 3.3% behind the size weighted average over […]
Warehouse REIT buys four industrial estates from Hansteen – Warehouse REIT says that, following its admission to AIM on Wednesday 20 September 2017, the board has announced its first pipeline acquisitions, which follows the initial Tilstone Portfolio purchase for GBP108.85 million. The pipeline assets described in the prospectus included four multi-let industrial estates in England which […]
Safestore buys Stork Self storage – Safestore Holdings plc has announced the acquisition of Stork Self Storage (Holdings) Limited (trading as Alligator Self Storage) for GBP56m. Highlights Exchanged contracts to acquire Stork Self Storage (Holdings) Limited (“SSSHL”), the eleventh largest self-storage portfolio in the UK with 12 stores. Consideration of GBP56m (subject to a potential working […]
Central Asia Metals (CAML) is extending the range and size of its base metal production through the proposed US$402.5m acquisition of Lynx Resources, owner of the Sasa zinc/lead mine, in Macedonia. CAML is funding the acquisition through a combination of debt (US$187m) and equity (US$195.5m). Sasa is owned by Lynx Resources, a company set up […]
CatCo updates on Hurricane Harvey Update 21 September 2017 The manager has published an NAV for 31 August 2017 of $1.2507. This includes a 6% reduction for the potential effect of Hurricane Harvey. Nothing has yet been accrued for Irma or Maria. The impact of Hurricane Irma will be assessed when setting the 30 September […]
Good news for SQN as Suniva wins trade case – SQN Asset Finance Income Fund Limited has published an update on its announcement on 19 April 2017 with regard to SQN’s holding in Suniva Inc., the U.S. based solar cell and module manufacturer. In August 2015, SQN entered into a 5-year financing arrangement with Suniva that was […]
Significant progress for Adamas Finance Asia – Adamas Finance Asia has reported interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2017. Highlights: Net loss of US$1.03 million (H1 2016: US$454,000 Unrealised fair value gain on asset portfolio of US$337,000 (H1 2016: US$280,000) Consolidated loss per share of US$0.54 (H1 2016: US$0.24) Consolidated NAV at […]
Impact Healthcare REIT on track – Impact Healthcare REIT, which has just published some figures covering the period from launch to end June 2017. They raised £160m from investors in March 2017 and started trading on 7 March 2017. The chairman says that, at the period end, they had invested the majority of the net […]
Jupiter UK Growth is growing – Jupiter UK Growth, which was recently selected as a rollover vehicle for Jupiter Dividend & Growth, has published results for the year ended 30 June 2017, the first full year since Steve Davies took on the job of managing the company. The net asset value, with dividends added back, grew by […]
Sanditon results disappointing – Sanditon Investment Trust’s annual report for the year ended 30 June 2017 says it was a disappointing year for the company with the NAV falling to 100.5p, down 4.6% from last year’s 105.3p. They say that. combined with the dividend paid in December 2016 of 1.1p, this resulted in a loss of 3.6% […]
UK Mortgages cuts management fee – The board of UK Mortgages Limited has reached agreement with TwentyFour Asset Management LLP for a reduced portfolio management fee. With effect from the financial year beginning 1 July 2017 the annual portfolio management fee payable by UKML to TwentyFour will reduce to 0.60% of the lower of the […]
F&C UK Real Estate share price recovers post referendum – F&C UK Real Estate has released results for the year ended 30 June 2017. Its NAV total return for the year was 6.1% with a NAV per share as at 30 June 2017 of 100.1p, up from 99.2p at the prior year-end. The share price […]
UIL lags benchmark – UIL achieved a NAV total return per ordinary share of 7.7% for the year to 30 June 2017, underperforming the All Share, which was up by 18.1%. The Board maintained total dividends at 7.50p. The chairman points out that the majority of the funds ‘platforms’ (the companies that it has established to make investments through) have […]
Dramatic discount narrowing leads to bumper return for JPMorgan Global Growth & Income – JPMorgan Global Growth & Income reports that, for the year ended 30 June 2017, its NAV total return was 29.0%, which compares well with the 22.2% return posted by the MSCI AC World Index. in an analysis of the contribution of different […]
Aberdeen Frontier Markets experiences teething problems as moves to direct investment – Aberdeen Frontier Markets reports that, for the year ended 30 June 2017, the NAV rose by 13.7% in total return terms with the share price rising 16.7% as the discount narrowed. This compared to a gain of 19.7% for the MSCI Frontier Markets Index, […]
Hadrian’s Wall off to slow start – Hadrian’s Wall Secured Investments has published its first set of accounts for the period ended 30 June 2017. Its shares started trading on the London Stock Exchange on 20 June 2016 following an IPO that raised a net £78.4m. In addition, a C share issue on 31 May 2017 raised a further £44.3m. […]
Standard Life Property Income sells Elstree Tower – Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust has exchanged contracts to sell Elstree Tower in Borehamwood for GBP20m. The 80,700sqft office was valued at the end of June at GBP18m and is the second largest asset in the fund, and had the largest rent roll (GBP1,320,000pa) which was […]
Bluefield Solar reports 11% jump in NAV – Bluefield Solar Income Fund has published its Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. Operational Highlights The Company delivered total underlying earnings of GBP25.1 million (2016: 20.9 million) in the year and underlying EPS of 7.32 pence (2016: […]
Custodian REIT sells three properties – Custodian REIT has announced the disposal of three properties from its portfolio. Colchester The Company has sold an 8,326 sq ft retail unit within a six unit block on High Street, Colchester for GBP4.25 million, GBP0.7 million ahead of the 30 June 2017 valuation. The unit was recently let to […]
Atlantis Japan to scrap subscription rights – Atlantis Japan Growth’s Board announced on 2 August 2017 that it was reviewing the appropriateness of continuing with the annual subscription rights mechanism following the 2017 subscription date (2 October 2017). The annual subscription rights mechanism enables shareholders to subscribe for one new ordinary share for every five ordinary shares […]
James Carthew: UK income trusts standing out from the crowd What makes an investment trust stand out from the crowd? It is a question that preoccupies many boards and it is relevant in a time when many investors are being warned off me-too funds, quasi-index trackers and even active investing. Two high-profile funds in the […]
Global Fixed Income Realisation gets cash for Indonesian asset – On 29 August 2017, Global Fixed Income Realisation Limited announced that it had been advised by the administrator of 3D Propco Limited that the underlying asset, the Bintan Lagoon Resort in Indonesia, had been sold. On 18 September 2017 the company announced that it has received […]
Ruffer returns in line with long term averages – Ruffer Investment Company has published results for the year ended 30 June 2017. Over the period, the NAV total return was 8.75%, the return to shareholders was 12.9% and the dividend fell to 2.6p from 3.4p. Ruffer’s target return is twice the Bank of England base rate. This […]
Discount narrowing boosts New Star’s returns – New Star investment Trust’s total return was 17.9% over the year to 30th June 2017. The discount narrowed from 39.5% to 29.0% and this helped push the share price up by 38.2%. By comparison, the Investment Association’s Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares index gained 16.5%. The MSCI AC World Total […]
