Woodford Patient Capital Trust releases full year results to 31 December 2017 – Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) announced its audited financial report for the year ended 31 December 2017. The Company’s NAV declined from 93.24p to 91.73p or by -2.0% on a total return basis during the year under review. The share price fell by 7.2% on the same basis. […]

Weiss Korea Opportunity underperforms but long-term record remains intact – in its report for the full year to 31st December 2018, Weiss Korea Opportunity (WKOF) reported that the NAV of the company increased by 29.4% on a total return basis.  The reference benchmark, the MSCI Korea 25/50 Net Total Return Index returned 32.6% in GBP. The share […]

Positive annual statement from ICG-Longbow Senior Secured UK Property Debt – These are the highlights from annual financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2018 from CG-Longbow Senior Secured UK Property Debt Investments (LBOW): Performance NAV of £117.98 million as at 31 January 2018 (31 January 2017: £112.33 million). NAV total return +5.3%. Share price […]

Manager change for Invesco Perpetual Enhanced Income –  Invesco Fund Managers Limited have written to the board of Invesco Perpetual Enhanced Income (IPE) telling them that it intends to stand down as manager of the fund. The investment manager is required to give twelve months notice in writing. The board has replied to the manager acknowledging its intention to withdraw […]

Continued strong performance from ICG Enterprise Trust – ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT, formerly Graphite Enterprise) is an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange with a diversified portfolio of private equity assets. The company has released its results for the year ending 31st January 2018. Here are the headlines from the companies news release: NAV […]

Hg uplift on NAV of 17p per share on disposal – Hg Capital Trust (HGT) has announced the disposal of one of its portfolio companies. Allocate Software, which is an international provider of healthcare workforce management software has been sold to Vista Equity Partners. Hg will realise estimated cash proceeds of approximately £19.9m on completion of this […]

Prothena blow-up leaves Woodford Patient Capital reeling Neil Woodford’s controversial and high-profile investment in Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) and its development programme for AL Amyloidosis has failed, costing the Woodford Patient Capital Investment Trust (WPCT) an estimated £50m based on the average $40/share acquisition cost of its large shareholding. Prothena’s US-listed stock has fallen by 68% this […]

WPCT investors nervously await key Prothena data readout Investors in Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) should watch for a key data readout from US-listed but Ireland-based Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) expected anytime in the next few weeks, which could potentially add up to 5% to the value of the trust in event of a positive result but reduce […]

Biotech Growth sells Amgen, buys Regeneron and Alexion in March OrbiMed-managed Biotech Growth Trust (BIOG) sold a large proportion of its stake in Amgen last month, while increasing its holdings in Regeneron and Alexion, according to an analysis of its top holdings disclosed in its latest factsheet. The shareholding in Amgen, which accounted for just over 10% of […]

Foresight Solar acquires five UK solar assets – Foresight Solar Fund (FSFL) has acquired a 100% interest in a portfolio of five operational solar parks located in the UK (and a 0.5MW onshore wind asset) with a total installed capacity of 53.3 MW. The company has purchased the economic benefit of all project cash flows from 1 January 2018. […]

Name change for investment adviser of Local Shopping REIT – The Local Shopping REIT (LSR) has the objective of building a portfolio of properties and letting units in the convenience shopping market. The directors of The Local Shopping REIT have announced that they have been informed by the company’s investment adviser, Internos Global Investors Limited, that […]

Bluefield Solar acquires three ground-mounted solar PV plants – Bluefield Solar Income Fund [BSIF], which is focused on the acquisition and management of a diversified portfolio of large scale solar energy in the UK, has acquired three sub-5 megawatt peak (‘MWp’) ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (‘PV’) plants, all of which are located in Dorset.  The acquisition, which occurred on 20 […]

Golden Prospect Precious Metal sees fall in mining stocks – Although precious metals had a good year in 2017, the NAV of Golden Prospect Precious Metals Limited (GPM) fell by 9.5% and the share price by 14.5%. The share price performances of mining companies, particularly small caps, lagged precious metals.  Gold and silver prices rose by 13% […]

Honeycomb raises £100 million – Honeycomb Investment Trust [HONY] has raised £100m with a placing of up to 9,523,809 ordinary shares in the company at an issue price of £10.50 per share. These shares will not be entitled to receive the interim dividend of 20.0 pence per ordinary share, also announced when the capital raising was announced but will be entitled to […]

Hammerson withdraws from its offer for Intu – On 6 December 2017, Hammerson (HMSO) announced an all-share offer for Intu Properties (INTU). HMSO has decided to with draw from the offer. HMSO had itself been subject to a take over bid from Klépierre, a French real estate investment trust and Europe’s second-biggest publicly traded mall operator, which it […]

BRSC agrees cut in management fee and to remove the performance fee– BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) has announced that, with effect from 1st March 2018 the investment managers have agreed that the management fee will be reduced. It will be 0.6% on the first £750m total assets less current liabilities. Over £750m the fee will fall to […]

NB Distressed Debt’s run-off continues- NB Distressed Debt Investment fund (NBDD), which is currently undergoing a run off program, has published its annual report and audited financial statement for the year ended 31 December 2017. The company overall has an indefinite life span. It is made up of a number of different share classes, which are currently […]

Vietnam Enterprise Investments’ NAV per share increased 46.2% in sterling terms – Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited (VEIL) delivered its annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2017. Financial highlights: •       In US dollar terms, NAV per share increased 60.1% from US$4.41 to US$7.06, outperforming the VN Index by 7.3%. •       In UK sterling terms, NAV per share increased […]

Sherborne continues its investment strategy through Electra – Sherborne Investors (SIGB), which owns 29.9% of the shares of Electra Private Equity (ELTA) as its only investment, has released its annual report for the year ended 31 December 2017. The NAV of Sherborne delivered a total return of 9.5% and the share price rose by 25.7% on the same basis. […]

WWH’s hedging of Merck-BMS data comp backfires Worldwide Healthcare Trust’s (WWH) apparent attempt to hedge its bet on the outcome of the three trials of anti-pd(L)-1 checkpoint inhibitors in first-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer that were reported simultaneously yesterday appears to have backfired, after the stock market determined the data  justified an asymmetric response. […]

Global Diversified Infrastructure IPO cancelled – On 1 March 2018, Global Diversified Infrastructure Plc (GDIV) announced the publication of a prospectus in relation to a proposed IPO that included a placing, offer for subscription and intermediaries offer and the admission of its shares to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London […]

Aberdeen Emerging Markets announces tender results – Aberdeen Emerging Markets (AEMC) has announced the results of its proposed Tender Offer on 19 February 2018 (click here). The tender is to be conducted at a price reflecting a discount of 3.5% to NAV, and so will be NAV accretive for remaining holders. AEMC’s Board says that […]

F&C Commercial Property underperforms in 2017 – the NAV total return of F&C Commercial Property (FCPT ) for the year was 8.8% and the share price total return was 3.9% for the year to 31 December 2017. The total return from the portfolio was 8.7%, whereas the MSCI Investment Property Databank (‘IPD’) Quarterly Benchmark Index returned 10.3% […]

US sanctions against Russia have minimal impact for JPMorgan Russian Securities – The board of JPMorgan Russian Securities (JRS) has put out a comment on the recent additional US sanctions against Russia. It is clear from the published statement that the latest sanctions imposed by the US on Russian companies has a limited impact on the portfolio of […]

Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies gives details of CULS conversion – Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies (AAS) has made announcements in January and February about converting its  3.5% convertible unsecured loan stock 2019 (2019 CULS). The company has announced further details in relation to the proposed restructuring of the 2019 CULS and the terms of a new class of convertible unsecured […]

Shire disposal leaves BB Healthcare stake in limbo Shire Pharmaceuticals’ announcement this morning of an agreement to sell its oncology business to Servier for $2.4bn in cash, leaves the stake in the company held by BB Healthcare Trust (BBH) – the only sector specialist investment trust to have significant exposure  – in limbo. This is because […]

New Fund Manager for Schroder UK Growth – The Board of Schroder UK Growth Fund (SDU) announced that it has terminated Schroder Unit Trusts Limited as its AIFM and has appoint Baillie Gifford & Co Limited as the company’s new manager, company secretary and administrator. The board says that the Company’s long-term investment performance is considerably […]

Share split for Mercantile – The board of Mercantile (MRC) are proposing a ten-for-one share split to help deal with the share price being so high. It makes investing in smaller amounts hard 2017 was a good year for the share price. Over the year to 31st January 2018, the Company produced a return on net assets of […]

BG-backed Orchard buys GSK rare disease portfolio Baillie Gifford-backed gene therapy company Orchard Therapeutics has acquired GlaxoSmithKline’s portfolio of investigational and approved rare disease gene therapies in exchange for a 19.9% equity stake as well as undisclosed milestones and royalties on sales. The acquired product portfolio includes Strimvelis, GSK’s EU-approved gene therapy for children with adenosine deaminase severe […]