The interim results for Henderson Opportunities Trust (for the six months ended 30 April 2014) show the net asset value total return outperforming the FTSE All-Share Index – NAV +7.0%, benchmark +2.7%. The return to shareholders was even better +14.1%. The dividend was increased by 12.1% to 3.7p. The biggest positive impacts ion the portfolio […]
Baker Steel Resources Trust has bought $2.5m of convertible loans to ZAO Argentum and 500 shares in Polar Silver Resources Limited for £ 1.32m. It is paying for this by issuing 2,259,357 new ordinary shares at 58.5p (equivalent to the latest NAV). Polar Silver is a holding company which holds 100% of ZAO Argentum, which in turn is the holder […]
Land Securities has sold the 550,000 sq ft Bridges shopping centre in Sunderland for £152m – equivalent to an initial yield of 6.9%. Land Securities bought the centre in 1993 but is selling as it says the centre does not fall within its strategic focus and so it is taking advantage of strong market conditions to sell […]
Utilico Emerging Markets has announced its results covering the year that ended 31 March 2014. The net asset value fell over the period but outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets total Return Index (which fell by 9.6% vs. UEM’s fall of 3.4%). They say Sterling strength took 14.2% off their performance for the year. Revenue declined […]
Montanaro UK Smaller Companies’ results for the year ended 31 March 2014 show the fund lagging the Numis Smaller Companies Index by some margin – generating a return on net assets of 11% vs. 23% for the benchmark. The discount did narrow however (from 16% to 13%) and so the return to shareholders was 16%. […]
Lindsell Train Investment Trust has published results for the year that ended 31 March 2014. These show that the net asset value return for the year was 13.0% vs. 4.3% for the fund’s benchmark and 9% for the MSCI World Index (in Sterling terms). The share price did even better – generating a return of 16.0% […]
Phaunos Timber Fund announced this morning that it intends to appoint Stafford Timberland Limited as managers of the fund. They want to press on with restructuring the company and stick to the planned continuation vote in 2016. Phaunos say they will not be updating the net asset value before the annual valuation date at 31 […]
Hansa Trust has published its annual results for the year that ended on 31 March 2014. It announced a the results of a strategic review in April that will, over time, change the way that the company is managed in the future. Over the year Hansa’s net asset value rose by 12.3% while the FTSE All-Share Index […]
The year to 31 March 2014 saw Aberdeen Private Equity’s net asset value little changed – generating a negative net asset value return of 0.2%. The share price total return though was -10.0%. Good performance from Thoma Bravo IX – as it exited Roadnet (vehicle routing and scheduling software) and Entrust (a digital security business); Northzone VI – on continuing progress at […]
RENN Universal Growth has published its annual accounts covering the year to the end of March 2014. Over the period the net asset value rose in US dollar terms but fell as Sterling strengthened against the dollar (up 2.1% in US dollars and down 7% in pounds). The Board directors decided to prepare the accounts on a […]
The Renewables Infrastructure Group is spending £19m buying two wind farms to add to its portfolio. Tallentire – a 12MW plant near Cockermouth in Cumbria has been operating since May 2013 and has a projected 25 year life. Meikle Carewe (pictured), near Aberdeen, has a capacity of 10.2MW, has the same operating life and has […]
Jupiter Green Investment Trust has published its results for the year that ended 31 March 2014. Over that period the fund outperformed the MSCI World Small cap. Index – the net asset value was up 16.5% compared to a 10.7% rise in the index. Shareholders also benefited from a narrowing of the fund’s discount (the […]
Alpha Real Trust has released its results for the year ended 31 March 2014. Over the year its net asset value barely moved – falling from 107.6p to 107.0p. It declared dividends of 2.1p for the period and intends to move to quarterly dividends this year. Alpha real trust made a mezzanine loan to Alpha UK […]
Globalworth Real Estate Investments has been buying land plots intended for office and retail development – spending €14.3m. Altogether they have bought about 30,000 sq m of land located next to their existing investments in the BOB/BOC office and Upground residential properties (on top of the Pipera metro station at the corner of Dimitrie Pompeiu Boulevard and George Constantinescu Street in […]
Advance Developing Markets has released its interim figures covering the six months ended 30 April 2014. The net asset value return marginally outperformed the benchmark (the MSCI Emerging Markets) falling by 7.7% vs. a 7.8% fall in the index. the fund’s discount widened however to leave shareholders with a return of -10.6%. Overweighting Russia detracted […]
Metro Baltic Horizons has published its accounts for the year that ended 31 December 2013, back then its net asset value was €0.21 . It sold its last property in April 2013 but in 2014 it got €3.6m in settlements from its previous auditor and members of its previous board Before that, in July this year, Metro […]
Origo Partners has responded to a press release put out this morning by Brooks Macdonald (one of its largest investors). The two are already in dispute about Origo’s convertible zero dividend preference shares (CZDPs – NB you won’t find these on our zeros sheet as they are a more complex beast than most zero issues). […]
DCG Iris has announced that it is planning to put proposals to shareholders to wind up the company. The Directors say that the fund was too small (£68m). Returns were in line with its original projections – annualised 4.6% at 30 April 2014. However, in our view, the fund was always likely to be vulnerable […]
Alliance Trust (headed by Katherine Garrett-Cox pictured) has secured £100m of fixed rate financing through an unsecured private placement note. The notes have a 15 year life (31 July 2014 to 31 July 2029) and pay a coupon of 4.28%. The cash raised is to be used to retire £100m of the ATST’s existing debt (currently £380m – all […]
Nimrod Sea Assets has made its first purchase – buying a share in three vessels for $6.7m. The vessels – the Swiber Elsie-Marie, the Swiber Anne Christine and the Swiber Mary-Ann are 10800 BHP AHTS / Supply vessels and are on a bareboat charter to Swiber, a Singaporean listed off-shore contractor, until 2019/20.
The interim figures published by JPMorgan Russian today cover the six months ended 30 April 2014 – a period when investors shunned Russian investments. The net asset value fell by 28.4% on a total return basis and the share price fell by 27.6% (leaving the fund on a 10% discount). The performance was a little […]
The Bankers Investment Trust, managed by Alex Crooke, has published its interim accounts for the six months that ended on 30 April 2014. The net asset value fell over the period by 2.2% while the FTSE All-Share Index rose by 1.0%. The statement attributes this to currency moves (a common complaint in many recent results announcements […]
Harbourvest Senior Loans Europe has received proceeds of loan refinancing totalling £15.7m and has decided to use that money to return 11.24p per share to shareholders. They have also announced more details of the new investment management agreement with Spire Partners – Spire will get an incentive fee on loan realisations between now and 31 December […]
Geiger Counter has published its interims – over the six months to the end of March 2014 its net asset value rose from 31.29p to 32.81p and the ordinary share price rose from 24.75p to 30.88p. Gains from holdings in Denison Mines, Fission Uranium and Cameco were offset by a fall in the value of UEC. […]
European Convergence Development Property has published its results for the year ended 31 December 2013. Its net asset value fell during that time to €0.2883 (down from €0.3010). One of its investments delisted after the year end and another was written down to zero. The Board has concluded that shareholders have no appetite for the […]