Frustrating year for EPE Special Opportunities – The poor performance of the company’s largest asset has brought down the NAV and share price of EPE Special Opportunities (ESO), it reports in its annual statement for the year to 31st January 2018.  However, moves are in place to improve performance. The NAV at 31 January 2018 was […]

SQN will hand back £40m – While the board is pleased with the performance of the underlying investments made to date in SQN Asset Finance Income‘s C Share portfolio and the investment discipline in developing the portfolio, the speed of deployment has been slower than anticipated. At the date of this letter, approximately GBP66 million of the […]

INPP increases Cadent stake – International Public Partnerships Limited has agreed to acquire an additional interest in the Cadent gas distribution network. In March 2017, the Company announced that the Quadgas consortium of which INPP is part had acquired a 61% interest in National Grid’s gas distribution networks. INPP invested £274 million to get a 4.4% stake […]

Africa Opportunity held back by hedging and C Share meger costs – Over the course of 2017, Africa Opportunity’s net asset value per share (for its ordinary shares) rose by 16.9%. Superficially, this looks like a good return but, to provide some basis for comparison, South Africa rose 34%, Nigeria rose 30%, Kenya rose 35%, […]

Ranger opts for Ares Management – Ranger Direct Lending announced on 29th January 2018 that its investment management arrangements were under review. Twenty investment management firms engaged in the process and a shortlist of six met with the Board in March and April. The criteria applied to selection, inter alia, were: a desire to produce for […]

OrbiMed-managed trusts benefit from Alexion’s rise Shares in trust favourite Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN) put on 12% last week on the back of a strong financial first quarter with upgraded guidance and positive top-line results from a  phase III study of ALXN1210, the company’s longer-acting follow-up to its blockbuster Soliris in the ultra-rate disease of […]

Stock selection down for British & American – British & American Investment Trust (BAF) has released its final annual report. Performance In it, the company reports that the NAV at the year end 31 December 2017 were £15.5m (2016:  £22.7m), a decrease of 31.5%. This compares to increases in the FTSE 100 and All Share indices of […]

BlackRock Smaller Companies’ 15 years record of strong performance continues – in its final report to 28 February 2018, the NAV of  BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) increased by 20.8% to 1,506.78 pence per share, compared with its benchmark, the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index, which increased by 8.3%. During the financial year, the share […]

Hg agrees sale of Teufel to Naxicap Partners – HgCapital Trust (HGT) has announced the sale of one of its portfolio companies, Teufel to Naxicap Partners. Hg will realise estimated cash proceeds of approximately £15.2m on the completion of this transaction. This would represent an uplift of £5.4m (56%) or 15 pence per share over the carrying value […]

HICL Infrastructure sells Highland Schools stake – HICL Infrastructure Company Limited has entered into an agreement to divest its 100% equity and subordinated debt interest in the Highland Schools PPP2 Project (“Highland Schools”) for GBP56.2m. The disposal is expected to complete during July 2018. The Group sought and received offers for its interest in Highland […]

Ranger reports on disappointing and frustrating year – Embattled Ranger Direct Lending has published its annual report for the year ended 31 December 2017. As its chairman points out, 2017 was a disappointing and frustrating year for the company. Total NAV returns fell by 2.95% in US dollar terms, but a sharp decline in the […]

Honeycomb beats its dividend target – Honeycomb Investment Trust has released its accounts covering the year ended 31 December 2017. Over the year the NAV increased to 1018.4p from 1014p. The £105m fund raising that they carried out last May, which was done at a premium to asset value, benefitted ongoing shareholders and added 1.03% to […]

GRIT focused on three key investments – Global Resources Investment Trust (GRIT) has published its annual results. The NAV has slipped to 19.7p from 22.4p but there is the potential for an uplift in this figure if its Kalia deal is agreed – see below. “In the Interim Report, we advised that Siberian Goldfields had […]

IBT tops up Shire and Celgene in  March SV Health-managed International Biotech Trust (IBT) recorded a 3.2% fall in NAV in March, slightly under-performing the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, which was down by 2.9% in sterling terms. The manager reported that the main positive contributors of NAV in the month were Shire Pharmaceuticals, Nektar Therapeutics and […]

Phoenix Spree Deutschland reports a strong 2017 – Phoenix Spree Deutschland (PSDL), the UK listed investment company specialising in Berlin residential real estate, has reported EPRA NAV per share grew by 50.5% to €4.11 (£3.65) at 31 December 2017 (31 December 2016: €2.73 (£2.33)). Highlights of the company’s full year results for the year ended 31 December 2017 […]

Third Point Offshore reports its full results for 2017 – Third Point Offshore (TPOG) is a feeder fund and invests all of its capital (net of expenses and short term working capital requirements) in Class E Shares of Third Point Offshore Fund Ltd (the “Master Fund”). The Master Fund’s investment objective is to achieve attractive returns […]

P2P recognises 2017 as a year of change – P2P Global Investments (P2P) has announce a change of management structure in its 12 months results to 31 December 2017. In the report it can be noticed that the NAV per share fell from last year but the discount reduced and the dividend rose, despite being uncovered. Performance The company […]

UK Mortgages gives acquisition update UK Mortgages (UKML) and its investment manager, TwentyFour Asset Management LLP have announced that heads of terms have been agreed for the purchase of a recently originated pool of mortgages. The transaction is expected to complete in the coming months and the likely size is expected to deploy the company’s current […]

UK Commercial Property Trust on the final furlong to REIT status – UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) has released its final results for the year ended 31 December 2017. REIT conversion UK Commercial Property Trust has been seeking to convert to a REIT. It has now received an irrevocable undertaking from its largest shareholder, Phoenix Life Limited, […]

Subdued performance for Blackstone/GSO but asset quality maintained – Blackstone/GSO Loan Financing Limited (BGLF / BGLP) has released its final results for the year ended 31 December 2017. Performance was somewhat subdued in 2017, after a strong year in 2016. This was mostly due to market conditions and in particular asset spread compression*. However, the underlying […]

Hg agrees sale of Radius to Vistra – HgCapital Trust (HGT) has announced that it has sold one of its investments, Radius to Vistra. The company will realise estimated cash proceeds of approximately £18.8m on completion of this transaction. In terms of investment returns, based on the NAV of HgCapital Trust at 31 March 2018, this […]

A fair year for Witan Pacific and an asset allocation switch – in its annual report for the year to 31st January 2018, Witan Pacific (WPC) reported modest underperformance and a switch of investment managers within its multi-manager structure. Performance The NAV total return of Witan Pacific (WPC) was 17.3% and the share price total return was 22.1%, compared […]

Summit Germany reports more than doubling of net profit – Summit Germany (SMTG) released its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2017  Summit Germany is focused on building a substantial portfolio of commercial properties. The company’s investments are primarily made in multi-let commercial office, retail and logistics properties situated mainly in Germany’s main financial […]

EJF Investments released results from IPO to 31 December 2017 – since EJF Investments (EJFI) IPO’ed in 2017,  Total Net Asset Value return per ordinary share has risen by 23.47%.  This allowed for cash dividends of 2.4 pence per ordinary share to be announced in April, June and October 2017 and an increased cash dividend of 2.5 pence per share […]

Ranger Direct Lending responds to Oaktree’s wind-down proposal – Ranger Direct Lending (RDL) has published its response to a letter from Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., proposing a wind-down of the company. Click here to see a copy of the text of the letter from Oaktree and a copy of Ranger Direct Lending’s response: 180425 Oaktree letter and Ranger […]

Infrastructure India increases its bridging loan Infrastructure India (IIP) has agreed a US$2.0m increase of the existing US$26.0m unsecured bridging loan facility. The enlargement of the bridging loan will provide the group with additional capital whilst it continues to progress its ongoing financing discussions with a third party in relation to a potential financing. The company says […]

DP Aircraft 1 releases its final report for the year ended 31 December 2017 – DP Aircraft 1 (DPA)’s investment objective is to obtain income returns and a capital return for its shareholders by acquiring, leasing and then, when the Board considers it is appropriate, selling aircraft. DP Aircraft I Limited owns two Boeing 787-8 aircraft, […]

One year extension for BECAP Fund- Better Capital (BCAP) has announced that it has consented to an extension of BECAP Fund (the 2009 fund) of one further year to 17 December 2019. The board considers that a further extension to the 2009 fund will help to provide an appropriate time frame in which the general partner of the […]

Baker Steel Resources’ share price rises 63.5%, discount narrows from 40% to 5.5% – Baker Steel Resources (BSRT) released its final report for the full year to 31st December 2017.  The chairman noted that commodity prices consolidated on the gains made the previous year and then moved forward again towards the end of the year on the […]