The story of the UK equity market over the last decade has few uplifting moments. It has lost 25% of its companies[1], retail investors have pulled out more than £50bn, it has fallen off the radar of many international investors and even domestic companies are seeking to list elsewhere. It has also been a terrible […]
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live or on YouTube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: • Henderson EuroTrust / Henderson European Focus (0:53) • GCP Asset Backed Income (5:36) • Scottish Mortgage (7:41) • Regional REIT (11:02) This week’s interview was with […]
NextEnergy Solar Fund’s (NESF’s) first two international solar co-investments alongside NextPower III ESG (NPIII ESG) have been energised, bringing an additional 260MW of generation capacity online in Europe and increasing NESF’s total installed net capacity to 979MW. The two assets are a 210MW solar project located in Santarém, Portugal (known as Santarém), and a 50MW […]
Scottish Mortgage (SMT) has announced that its board has taken the decision to make at least £1bn available for buybacks over the next two years. The trust says that its public and private portfolio is delivering strong operational results, with free cashflow from the portfolio companies having more than doubled over the past year, and […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 15 March 2024: Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9) has announced that its much publicised sale of Verne Global to funds managed by Ardian France SA for up to US$575m (approximately £450m) has completed. The sale price is variable as there is an earn out feature built in that could enhance the price […]
The boards of Henderson European Focus Trust (HEFT) and Henderson EuroTrust (HNE) have signed Heads of Terms in respect of a proposed merger of interests to form Henderson European Trust plc. HNE is being folded into HEFT using a s110 scheme. The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers is not expected to apply to the proposals. The combined […]
Empiric Student Property has delivered a strong set of results with earnings growth of 17.6% and a net asset value (NAV) uplift of 4.6%. The company’s EPRA earnings per share jumped to 4.0p (from 3.4p) in the year to 31 December 2023, allowing it to increase its dividend by 27% to 3.5p. Revenue was up […]
The board of abrdn Property Income Trust (API) has said it would not recommend the Urban Logistics REIT (SHED) proposed bid or new proposal (see details below) for the company on the current terms, reaffirming its recommendation of the Custodian Property Income REIT (CREI) bid. SHED has until the close of play on Friday (15 […]
Oakley Capital Investments has published results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2023. They show that the fund produced an NAV return of 4% for the year, matching the return on the All-Share Index. However, a narrowing discount meant that the return to shareholders was 18%. The dividend for the year is 4.5p. Once […]
The GCP Asset Backed Income board has been talking to shareholders about the way forward for the company. Feedback on the future strategic direction came from shareholders representing a majority of the total voting rights in the company. Whilst differing views have been expressed by shareholders, a majority indicated a preference for an orderly realisation or […]
AVI Japan Opportunity’s results for 2023 show it continuing to pull ahead of its benchmark. For the 12 month period ended 31 December 2023, AVI Japan Opportunity generated an NAV total return of 15.8% and a share price total return of 14.8%, both well ahead of the 6.9% return on the MSCI Japan Small Cap […]
Schroder Asian Total Return has published its final results for the year ended 31 December 2023. Returns were good, with a NAV total return of 8.8% coming in well ahead of the 1.3% return posted by the MSCI All Countries Asia ex Japan Index. Shareholders got a return of 10.3%, helped by a narrowing discount. […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 14 March 2024: Fidelity China (FCSS) is expanding by £126.6m as it issues 59m shares to abrdn China shareholders in connection with the merger of the two companies. Each abrdn China (ACIC) share rolling into Fidelity China will be exchanged for 2.06481 Fidelity China shares (although each shareholder’s total position will […]
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) has released its annual results for the 12 months ending 31 December 2023. Over the 12 month period ATT generated a NAV total return of 46.4%, and share price total return of 44.5%. Both slightly underperformed its benchmark, the Dow Jones World Technology Index, which retuned 48.2%. ATT attributes this underperformance […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 13 March 2024: Asian Energy Impact Trust (AEIT) has released its NAV for the period ending 31 December 2023. It reported a NAV per share of 48.5 cents per share, down from 50.4 cents as of 30 September 2023. This is represents a total NAV of $85.0m. NAV movements are attributed […]
Foresight Solar Fund has published results for the year ended 31 December 2023. The highlights are: Net Asset Value (NAV) of £697.9m or 118.4p per share, down from £771.5m or 126.5p Higher discount rates (used to value the fund’s future cash flows to calculate the NAV) took 6.8p off the NAV – the discount rate […]
The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) says that it has exchanged contracts for the sale of its 100% equity interest in Pallas, an onshore wind farm located in the Republic of Ireland, for a consideration of €62m. The proceeds from the sale represent a 15% premium to the last published valuation as at 31 December 2023. The […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 12 March 2024: Regional REIT (RGL) says that it is exploring a possible equity capital raise of around £75m through a rights issue that would be at a material discount to the current share price. The company adds that the rights issue is one of a range of refinancing options it is […]
We have co-signed a letter in today’s Times that calls for more urgent action on cost disclosures. You can read the letter on The Times site here Or you can see a version with the full list of signatories at the new website dedicated to this issue here James & Ed
HgCapital Trust (HGT) released its annual results for the 12 months ending 31 December 2023. HGT reported NAV returns of 11.1% over the year, ending with a NAV per share of 500.4p, and total net assets of £2.3m. HGT also reported a share price total return of 26.2%, with its market cap hitting the £2.0bn […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 11 March 2024: Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) has completed the acquisition of 25-31 James Street, Covent Garden, London for £75.1m. The properties have a contracted rent of £3.9m and comprise 21,000 sq ft of lettable area, including 12,000 sq ft of retail and 9,000 sq ft of residential and office accommodation. The company says […]
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live or on YouTube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: • Hipgnosis Songs Fund (0:26) • Alliance Trust versus F&C (5:46) • Triple Point Energy Transition (9:59) This week’s interview was with Richard Aston from CC Japan […]
Sands Capital’s Sunil Thakor looks at medical device company Dexcom – leader in the field of continuous glucose monitoring – and examines what makes it a high-quality growth business. Filmed in December 2023.
Alliance Trust and F&C Investment Trust are two of the largest investment trusts offering investors access to a global portfolio of shares. Both are well over 100 years old, with a good track record of adapting to changing circumstances. There has always been something of a rivalry between them, but it feels to me as […]
BlackRock World Mining (BRWM) has released its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2023, during which it provided NAV and share price total returns of -6.2% and -10.4% respectively. In comparison, it says that its reference index, the MSCI ACWI Metals & Mining 30% Buffer 10/40 Index (net total return), returned +2.4%, the […]
F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) has announced its results for the year ended 31 December 2023, during which it provided NAV and share price total returns of 11.3% and 8.1% respectively, both underperforming its All-Share benchmark, which it says returned 15.1%. 2023 was a good year for global equity markets after significant losses during 2022 and, […]
Chrysalis Investments is making a c.£4m investment in Smart Pension Limited, alongside certain other investors. This investment is in addition to the approximate £2m invested in Smart on 16 January 2024, as previously disclosed. The terms of this combined approximate £6m investment would likely lead to an increase of approximately 3.7p in the Chryalis’s NAV […]
Alliance Trust had a good year in 2023, returning 21.6% in NAV terms and 20.2% in share price terms, 6.3 and 4.9 percentage points ahead of the return on the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI), respectively. A 5% increase in the annual dividend to 25.2p per share makes this the 57th year of […]
Premier Miton Global Renewables Trust has published its annual report covering the 12 months ended 31 December 2023. In a difficult period for the sector that it operates in, the return on the trust’s assets was -7.5%, which was meaningfully better than the return on the S&P Global Clean Energy Index of -20.1%. Thanks to […]
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 7 March 2024: Aquila Energy Efficiency Trust (AEET / AEEE) says it didn’t receive any definitive proposal from potential buyers that it believes, at this time, could deliver greater value to shareholders than its ongoing managed run-off of the portfolio. It wants to hold back a cash buffer but plans to […]
