The following is a round-up of earnings and trading updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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EPE Special Opportunities Ltd - aims to provide long-term return on equity by investing between £2 million and £30 million in small and medium sized companies - NAV per share at January 31 year-end falls 1.2% to 324p from 328p year earlier. ‘The macro-economic environment has continued to be complex throughout the year ended 31 January 2024, creating headwinds for the company and its portfolio. Economic uncertainty has underpinned an adverse environment for new investments or disposals within the portfolio at acceptable pricing. As a result, the board and investment advisor have prioritised positioning the portfolio to navigate turbulent market conditions, focussing on operating improvements and liquidity, alongside progressing longer term growth strategies which will allow the company to capitalise as the trading environment begins to stabilise,’ EPE Special says. It is ‘encouraged’ by early signs of stability more recently, and is ‘cautiously optimistic of further improvement over the coming period’.
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RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd - London-based venture capital firm focused on biotechnology companies - Net asset value per share at December 31 year end rises 24% to $1.90 from $1.54 the year prior. Outperforms Russell 2000 Biotechnology Index and the Nasdaq Biotech Index which return 11% and 3.7% respectively. ‘The company’s share price has not kept pace with the strong NAV performance, however, with continued NAV outperformance in comparison to the market and peers, and with the sector’s fortunes having turned markedly in the fourth quarter of 2023, we expect the discount to narrow,’ Roderick Wong, chief investment officer of manager RTW Investments LP, adds.
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Schroders Capital Global Innovation Trust PLC - London-based investment trust focused on a portfolio of ‘highly innovative’ companies - Net asset value per share in 2023 declines 11% to 25.32p from 28.52p. December 31 NAV per share up 7.9% from 23.46p at end of September, however. ‘The negative performance during the first three quarters of the year can largely be attributed to a fall in the value of holdings in AMO Pharma, BenevolentAI, Atom Bank and the largest public holding, Oxford Nanopore,’ it adds. ‘The strong performance during the final quarter was driven by the Company’s holding in Autolus Therapeutics.’
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EJF Investments Ltd - portfolio of debt issues by US smaller banks and insurers - Says 2023 dividend maintained at 10.7 pence per share. NAV per share declines 13% to 160.0p from 184.0p.
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CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income PLC - portfolio of mining and resource equities - Net asset value total return in six months to December 31 totals 3.4%, below both the sterling adjusted MSCI World Energy Sector Index and MSCI World Metals and Mining Index, which rose 6.8% and 8.4%. Net asset value per share at half year-end up 0.1% to 204.33p from 204.16p at June 30. Half-year dividend maintained at 2.52p.
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Marwyn Acquisition Co III Ltd - eyeing acquisitions in sectors including clean technology, luxury goods, insurance, banking, entertainment, healthcare and transport - Swings to pretax profit of £237,150 in six months to December 31, from £509,128 loss a year prior. Administrative expenses contract 24% to £271,560 from £358,238. Reports £254,000 gain from movement in fair value of warrants, swinging from £254,000 hit a year prior. Company adds: ‘During the period, the directors have noted a marked increase in the volume of inbound opportunities and introductions to potential management partners, a number of whom the company has engaged in discussions with. The directors believe that in the current constrained financing environment, a listed cash shell becomes an increasingly attractive vehicle for industry-leading management partners to execute buy and build strategies.’
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Henderson High Income Trust PLC - Pure income trust investing in dividend-paying UK companies - Net asset value total return in 2023 amounts to 9.8%, beating 8.1% from benchmark. Benchmark is a composite of 80% of FTSE All-Share Index total return and 20% of ICE BofA Sterling Non-Gilts Index total return. Net asset value per share rises 3.3% to 169.58 pence from 164.24p. Annual dividend raised 2.0% to 10.35p per share from 10.15p.
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Inspirit Energy Holdings PLC - London-based waste heat recovery technology and decarbonisation engineering solutions company - Reports no revenue in six months to December 31, unchanged on-year. Pretax loss narrows to £149,000 from £158,000. Administrative expenses down 5.7%. Company adds: ‘In the period under review, our engineering team have concluded stage three out of four on the electronic updates on the waste heat recovery system. The team are aiming to complete stage four over the next few weeks. They will then continue to carry out longevity testing of the WHR system. The company is still on track to complete this task on the projected timeline between mid to end of the 2nd quarter of 2024 as per our previous announcement.’
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