JPMorgan Brazil, chaired by Howard Myles (pictured), has published its results for the year ended 30 April 2014. The figures make poor reading as the total return on net assets came in at -24.4% and the return to shareholders was -26.0%. The fund underperformed its benchmark, the MSCI Brazil 10/40 index, by more than 7% over […]
Vinaland has sold its 64.5% stake in the Marie Curie project (a 3,386 sqm mixed use development planned for District 3 of Ho Chi Minh City). The price they achieved was 14.3% higher than the valuation they had on the asset as at the end of March 2014. Proceeds to Vinaland are estimated at $10.9m and […]
BlackRock Throgmorton Trust has released its interim figures. These cover the six months ended 31 May 2014. Over that period the net asset value total return was 2.7% – representing a small underperformance of the fund’s benchmark (the Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index), which returned 4.1%. The discount widened as well […]
Kubera Cross-Border Fund has published its interim accounts for the six months ended 30 June 2014. The net asset value rose by 5% to $0.57 over the period but the share price was unchanged. No disposals have been made from the portfolio in 2014 and the manager’s commentary gives no indication as to how well the […]
F&C Managed Portfolio Trust has published its results for the year ended 31 May 2014. The income share net asset value total return was 6.0% and the growth share net asset value total return 9.3%. The FTSE All-Share Index returned 8.9% over the same period and the FTSE Equity Investments Instruments Index rose by 6.9%. The annual dividend […]
Polar Capital Global Financials released interims for the six months ended 31 May 2014. Over this period the fund generated a net asset value total return of 3.2% – ahead of the 1.6% return on the MSCI World Financials Index. The premium on Polar Capital Global Financial narrowed however and the return to shareholders was 0.6%. […]
Hammerson has published results for the first half of 2014. Its EPRA NAV rose by 6.8% over the period. The interim dividend has been increased by 6% to 8.8p. The property portfolio returned 6.9% – in line with the return on the IPD Retail Property Universe. The UK portfolio did better than the French one […]
McKay Securities has bought Gainsborough House in Windsor, an 18,660 sq ft, 1980s office building with 19 car parking spaces. The office is let to Regus on a deal that ends in December 2016. the rent is £512,834 (£27.48 per sq ft). McKay Securities paid £6.85m for the property – equivalent to a yield of 7.1%. […]
Herald Investment Trust has announced its interim results for the first half of 2014. Over the period the net asset value fell, total return -0.3%, this represents an outperformance of the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM ex Investment Companies and the Russell 2000 Small cap. Technology indices, both of which fell by 1.8%. The manager’s comments […]
Assura Group has bought Park Medical Services Limited for £12.3m. The company they have acquired owns a 3,300 sq m building in Middlesbrough, “The One Life Building”, which contains a GP practice, a pharmacy, a day case operating theatre, community services, mammography and x-ray services along with other outpatient services. The rent on the property is […]
Picton Property has announced its EPRA net asset value at the end of June 2014 was 58.9p – up 4.6% on the value at the end of March 2014. June was a good quarter for UK property. Picton report that, according to the IPD Monthly Index, total returns in the quarter to June 2014 were positive […]
Over the first half of 2014 Temple Bar Investment Trust, managed by Alastair Mundy (pictured), generated a total return on net assets of 0.3% – slightly behind the return on the FTSE Al-Share Index of 1.6%. the interim dividend has been increased by 3% to 15.55p. The Board has announced that, with effect from January 2015, […]
The Board of Max Property, owner of a portfolio of property that includes St. Katherine’s Dock (pictured), has announced this morning that it has received an offer for its entire portfolio. A company controlled by Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe IV has offered £414.2m in cash for Max’s portfolio – 22% more than the valuation of […]
Terra Capital has published interim figures covering the first half of 2014. Over that period the net asset value rose to $1.01 from $0.96 and the company also paid out a dividend – the total return on the net asset value was 8.6%. The Chairman says the fund is now 73% invested. New investments made […]
GCP Infrastructure Investments is lending £12.2m against a vehicle, GCP Biomass 3, which is financing two operational plants selling gas generated from the anaerobic digestion of biowaste. The projects are subsidised by the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (“RHI”) and the gas is sold to the national grid. The lending takes the form of notes with a c15 […]
Infrastructure India’s 100% owned “Vikram Logistic and Maritime Services ” saw its Nagpur terminal facility commenced domestic operations on 18 July. Initial operations are for domestic containerised cargo only but movements of export-import cargo are currently scheduled for the second half of 2014. The terminal expects to commission an automobile logistics park, liquid tank farm and […]
F&C Commercial Property Trust, managed by Richard Kirby (Pictured) has acquired a brand new 151,500 square foot production and distribution warehouse (Unit 1, The Hive, Liverpool International Business Park) for £11.9m. The property is let to Johnson Controls Automotive on a 15-year lease, at a passing rent of £812k, which represents an initial yield of 6.45%. F&C […]
Aurora Investment Trust has announced that James Barstow, manager of the fund, is considering retiring within three years. The fund, which just passed its continuation vote, will now be managed with this in mind. The Board say that from July next year the only new investments that will be permitted are FTSE100 stocks. They are […]
Scottish Investment Trust has announced that John Kennedy, manager of the fund for the last 10 years and an employee for 21 years, has left the Company on 18 July 2014 (although he will stay on as a consultant for a short period to mange the handover to his successor). The Board thanked him for contribution over this […]
JPMorgan European Smaller Companies, chaired by Carolan Dobson (pictured), is changing its fee arrangements. The old arrangement (1.3% of the company’s market capitalisation) will be replaced with a fee of 1% on net assets. The change will take effect on 1 April 2015.
Highcroft Investments has bought a freehold warehouse investment in Ash Vale, Aldershot. The 24,853 sq ft warehouse was built 2001. It sits on a 1.5 acre site (covering about 35% of it). The property is let in its entirety to Buildspan Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sheffield Insulation Group (SIG). The lease runs until 2027. The current rent is £225,000 a year […]
Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust has published its results for the year that ended 31 March 2014. Over the year the net asset value total return was 14.4%. The capital value of the underlying properties appreciated by 6.3% and, including income, the property portfolio generated a return of 13.7% – ahead of the IPD benchmark […]
Custodian REIT has acquired a freehold public house property, on Frogmore Lane, High Wycombe, for £1.625m. The property is currently let to the “Stonegate Pub Company” (the UK’s largest independent pub company whose brands include Yates’s, The Slug and Lettuce, The Living Room and Scream). The Frogmore lane property, currently trading as a Yates’s Wine Lodge, is let on […]
Vinaland has divested a number of its ‘hospitality investments’ (mostly smaller operating hotels) as well as Movenpick Hotel in Hanoi for US$ 19.9m (at a c 5% premium to their carrying value as at 31 March 2014). Since November 2012, VNL has been focused on asset realisation and the sale proceeds are to be deployed both […]
BlackRock Commodities Income , managed by Olivia Markham (pictured) with co-manager Tom Hall, has released its interim reports for the six months ended 31 May 2014. The total return on the net asset value for the period was 7.9%, whilst share the total return on the share price was 5.2%, reflecting a widening of the discount during the period. […]
Empiric Student Property acquires additional Birmigham student accomodation for £12m. Empiric Student Property has exchanged contracts to acquire an 106 bed, student accommodation property, on Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham for £12m. Located within five minutes walk of the University of Birmingham, the freehold “Mansion Brook” property is next to “Edge Apartments” that ESP has also agreed to purchase. Collegiate […]
Picton Property Income has acquired a distribution warehouse in Rushden, Northamptonshire, for £20m. The 312,000 square foot warehouse is currently leased to electrical component manufacturer Belkin, until April 2020, and the transaction represents an initial yield of 7.7%. Following this purchase, Picton has now largely deployed the proceeds, that were allocated to new asset purchases, from the £35m fundraising […]
Infrastructure India has announced proposals to raise up to $102m (c £60m) by way of a placing at a price of 18p per share (closing price on 14 July = 14.5p). An EGM is being held on 11 August to seek the necessary authority from shareholders. IIP is an AIM quoted investment company focused on investment in Indian […]
British Land has agreed to let the 4,500 square foot sixth floor of its Marble Arch House property (located on Seymour Street in the Portman Village) to Access Industries on a ten-year lease. Access will join Fulcrum Asset Management, who signed a ten year lease for the building’s 9,000 square foot fifth floor earlier this summer. […]
NextEnergy Solar Fund, has agreed to acquire a special purpose vehicle with the rights to construct a solar power plant, The Brickyard Power Plant for £3.9m. The 3.8MWp plant is located in the Midlands and was identified in NESF’s Prospectus as a ‘core shortlist’ asset, when it listed on the LSE, in April 2014. The purchase is […]
