Back in October, we highlighted some issues facing the investment companies industry related to the rules around cost disclosures – basically, investors have been presented with misleading figures for charges that include the running costs of any underlying funds. That is putting off new investors, encouraging selling by others, and has led to platforms restricting […]
This is the last of our weekly emails for 2023. We hope that you have been finding them useful. We will be publishing our annual roundup in January. Ahead of that however, I thought it might be worth pulling out a few of the year’s highs and lows. In January, China’s market shone as hopes […]
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) and Aquila European Renewables (AERI) have made announcements in relation to proposals for a merger between the two companies that could create one of the largest LSE listed diversified renewable energy investment trusts. However, in its response, AERI, says that the proposals from ORIT were unsolicited and that “together with […]
Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding between it and GLIL Infrastructure (GLIL) to form a long-term strategic partnership which commits it and GLIL to investing together into UK focused solar assets, from development through to operational plants. GLIL is a partnership of UK pension funds, investing […]
Hipgnosis Songs Fund has published its interim results for the six-months to 30 September 2023. Financial headlines Operative NAV per share decreased 9.2% to $1.7392 (31 March 2023: $1.9153), driven primarily by a reduction in the fair value of the portfolio As at 30 September 2023, Operative NAV per share in Sterling 142.49p (£:$ exchange […]
LMS Capital is buying Castle View Retirement Village, Windsor for £11.9m, of which £6.0m is being provided by LMS equity and the remaining £5.9m by a loan from the existing lenders to the scheme. Castle View is a purpose built retirement village, completed in 2018 and comprising 64 individual 1 and 2 bedroom apartments, of […]
Over the year ended 31 October 2023, BlackRock Income & Growth marginally lagged its benchmark, returning 5.2% to the All-Share’s 5.9%. A narrowing discount helped shareholders to a total return of 8.1%. To help achieve that, 568,428 shares were repurchased at an average price of 182.26p, for a total consideration (including costs) of £1,036,000. The […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 21 December 2023: HICL Infrastructure is paying £20m for a 3.1% stake in the A63 Motorway concession in France. Completion is expected in early 2024, subject to customary third-party consents. The 40-year toll-road concession covers the design, upgrade, finance, operating and maintenance of a 104km section of the existing A63 between […]
Interview with Sunil Thakor of Sands Capital, Andy Headley of Veritas and Metropolis Capital’s Jonathan Mills. Alliance Trust stock pickers – Sunil Thakor of Sands, Andy Headley of Veritas and Metropolis’s Jonathan Mills – discuss how a prolonged period of high interest rates will impact businesses and whether this will change their stock picking approach.
A new valuation report on Home REIT’s portfolio has revealed a 57.7% reduction to the price it paid for them of £977.0m. The report conducted by JLL, which was appointed by Home’s new manager AEW, valued the portfolio at £412.9m at 31 August 2023. The majority of the properties have been valued on a vacant […]
Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD) has announced that its Czech portfolio company, České Radiokomunikace (CRA), has agreed to acquire a pair of businesses from Aricoma in the data centre and cloud services market, Cloud4com and DC Lužice. The transactions represent a significant advance in both the scale and capability of CRA in the Czech Republic’s fast-growing […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 20 December 2023: International Public Partnerships (INPP) announced a series of measures to optimise the company’s portfolio and reallocate capital to improve shareholder returns and address its discount. These include: a transaction involving the realisation of its four OFTO senior debt investments worth c.£200; the full repayment of its corporate debt […]
In this video, Henderson High Income Trust (HHI) portfolio manager, David Smith, introduces the trust, explains what’s unique about its strategy and discusses the trust’s track record.
Ecofin Global Utilities (EGL) has announced its annual report for the year ended 30 September 2023. Over the period, the company’s net asset value was down 8.6% while the share price total return was down 21.9%. The company does not have a formal benchmark index, although for comparison the MSCI World Utilities Index fell 8.2%. […]
The board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG) has announced a delay to the publication of its financial results for the six months to 30 September 2023, which were expected to be published today. The valuation the company received from its independent valuer is materially higher than the valuation implied by proposed and recent transactions in […]
LondonMetric Property is in talks with LXi REIT over the possible merger of the two companies. The boards of the two companies are in discussions over the deal that would see LondonMetric acquire the entire issued share capital of LXi. A merger would create a combined company with assets worth £6.4bn and a market capitalisation […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 19 December 2023: Alternative Income REIT (AIRE) has completed the acquisition of a Virgin Active leisure club in Streatham, in South-West London for £5.1m. The price reflects a net initial yield of 9.8% and a discount to replacement cost. The acquisition of the asset redeploys the majority of the net proceeds […]
TwentyFour Select Monthly Income Fund (SMIF) has released its annual results for the year ending 30 September 2023. Over the period SMIF reported a NAV per share total return of 17.54% over the year, with its portfolio returning 12.26%. SMIF’s objective is to generate a return of 8-10% per year. The largest contributor to SMIF’s […]
Majedie Investments (MAJE) has released its annual results for the year ending 30 September 2023, and is the first set of results to be released under its new investment manager, Marylebone Partners. MAJE reported a NAV total return of 14.1% and share price total return of 26.2% for the period. MAJE appointed its new investment […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 18 December 2023: US Solar (USF) has announced that six of its Oregon projects have signed new long-term contracts to sell Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). The REC contracts and revised estimates of future REC prices are expected to increase USF’s NAV by c.$7.6m based on the 30 September NAV ($286.3 million) […]
An early Christmas present We hope that all of our readers are getting into the festive spirit, and to help with that the gracious team at JPMorgan has given us an early Christmas present. For those who are not yet aware, JPMorgan Asset Management (JPM), which runs numerous investment trusts such as JPMorgan Japan (JFJ) […]
Scottish Mortgage’s Lawrence Burns speaks to Dominik Richter, co-founder and chief executive at HelloFresh, about streamlining the journey from farm to front-door, reducing food waste and providing hassle-free meal options for consumers. As with any investment, your capital is at risk. With its innovative approach to reducing the pain of meal planning and grocery shopping, […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 15 December 2023: Gresham House Energy Storage (GRID) has announced that, on 12 December 2023, the National Grid Electricity System Operator has successfully launched its new “open balancing platform” and “bulk dispatch optimiser ” and started using it to trade battery energy storage systems in the balancing mechanism. The grid’s inability […]
abrdn Diversified Income and Growth has been talking to its shareholders. In the light of the feedback received during these conversations and the trust’s entrenched discount to NAV, the board has concluded that it is in the best interests of shareholders as a whole to put forward proposals for a managed wind-down of the company. […]
The board of Invesco Select Trust has reviewed the company and its strategy, with the objective of broadening the appeal of the company as well as improving liquidity and narrowing the discount. It intends to put forward proposals to shareholders to simplify the corporate structure and to introduce certain features that it believes will appeal […]
JPMorgan Asia Growth and Income says that over the 12 months ended 30 September 2023, it genetrated an NAV return of 6.4% and a return to shareholders of 7.3% (as the discount narrowed slightly during the review period, to 9.2% at end September 2023, from 9.6%), both better than the 1.4% return on the benchmark […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 14 December 2023: JZ Capital Partners (JZCP) is getting $62.5m in connection with the sale of Felix Storch from the portfolio of secondary investments that it sold in 2020. It had the right to share in distributions from that fund above an agreed limit. The transaction adds 19 cents to its […]
Henderson European Focus Trust (HEFT) announced its annual results for the year ended 30 September 2023. NAV total return was 24.1%, well ahead of the benchmark return of 3.6% and also outperforming the broader peer group average. Share price total return was 27.7% Major contributors to the outperformance included semiconductor capital equipment stocks BE Semiconductor […]
Polar Capital Global Healthcare (PCGH) announced its annual report for the year ended 30 September 2023. NAV total return was 4.21%, ahead of the benchmark MSCI ACWI Health Care Index which returned 1.19%. Share price total return was 1.92%. The outperformance was driven by strong stock selection, largely due to the focus on the company’s […]
Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund (SCP) announced its annual results for the year ended 30 September 2023. The company’s NAV total return for the year was 17.6%, outperforming the benchmark which produced a total return of 13.6% over the year. The share price total return was 17.4% due to a very small widening of the […]
