TIDMBPET
RNS Number : 0096A
BMO Private Equity Trust PLC
23 May 2019
To: Stock Exchange For immediate release:
23 May 2019
BMO Private Equity Trust PLC
Quarterly results for the three months to 31 March 2019
(unaudited)
-- Share price total return for the three months of 8.4 per cent for the Ordinary Shares
-- NAV total return per Ordinary Share for the three month
period ended 31 March 2019 of (0.4) per cent.
-- NAV of 381.01p per Ordinary Share.
-- Quarterly dividend of 3.73p per Ordinary Share
Introduction
As at 31 March 2019, the net assets of the Company were GBP281.7
million, giving a Net Asset Value ("NAV") per share of 381.01p,
which taking into account the dividend of 3.58p per share paid on
31 January, gives a decrease of 0.4% over the quarter. The
portfolio has gained in value modestly, but this gain was
completely offset by currency movements with Euro weakness against
Sterling being the principal factor. At 31 March 2019, the Company
had net debt of GBP11.0 million. Outstanding undrawn commitments
were GBP121.2 million, including GBP18.0m to funds where the
investment period has expired.
In line with the Company's policy to pay dividends on a
quarterly basis, a dividend of 3.65p per share was paid on 30 April
2019 and a further dividend of 3.73p per share will be paid on 31
July 2019 to shareholders on the register on 5 July 2019 and an
ex-dividend date of 4 July 2019.
New Investments
Three new fund commitments and three new co-investments were
made during the quarter. After the quarter end a further two new
fund commitments have been made.
In the UK GBP7 million was committed to Kester Capital II, a
buy-out fund focusing on the lower mid-market. We are already
investors with Kester, an emerging private equity firm, through
their first fund and as a co-investor in Jollyes (pet shop chain)
and CETA (caravan insurance).
EUR7 million was committed to Silverfleet European Development
Fund, a new fund from the well-established firm Silverfleet, which
will focus on lower mid-market buy-outs in the size range of
enterprise value between EUR25 million and EUR75 million across
Europe. These are deals which are somewhat below the size bracket
usually targeted by Silverfleet and a dedicated team has been
created within Silverfleet to implement this extension to their
strategy. SEK 40 million (GBP3.5 million) has been committed to
Summa II, a Nordic focused buyout fund focusing on companies where
there is a sustainability angle. This follows on from our current
investment in Summa's original fund. After the quarter end two
commitments were made to Inflexion Supplemental Fund V (GBP2.7
million) and Inflexion Enterprise Fund V (GBP6.0 million), updating
and adding to this long-standing successful relationship.
The new co-investments are diverse by sector and geography.
GBP2.9 million has been invested in San Siro, a funeral services
company based in Milan in Northern Italy. The investment is led by
Augens, an Italy focused mid-market private equity firm. The
investment thesis is centred around expanding from the two initial
funeral homes in Milan to establish a small chain in Northern
Italy. Unlike in the US, UK or France the funeral services market
in Italy is highly fragmented and Augens believe that there is
scope to build San Siro into a clear market leader. EUR3.5 million
has been invested in STAXS a Netherlands based supplier of
cleanroom consumable products, selling principally to the
pharmaceutical sector. The investment is led by the lower
mid-market team at Silverfleet, noted above. This company gives
exposure to a growing niche market with high barriers to entry and
significant scope for internationalisation. Lastly, closer to home
for us, GBP2.1 million has been invested in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(UAV) company, Cyberhawk. Based in Livingston, near Edinburgh,
Cyberhawk has pioneered the use of UAVs to inspect critical energy
infrastructure and has a blue-chip customer base in the oil and
gas, wind power and utilities sectors. Not only does this allow
safer and more efficient inspections of pylons, wind turbines and
oil rigs, Cyberhawk delivers inspection results via its proprietary
cloud-based asset management software.
The component of the portfolio in co-investments is now
42.3%.
In the funds element of the portfolio a number of diverse new
investments were made during the quarter.
In the Benelux region Bencis called GBP0.7 million for
investment in two companies; Bons & Evers (metal forging) and
Medsen - Ceban (pharmacy chain and pill compounding). August Equity
IV called GBP1.0 million for Charterhouse Voice and Data (voice and
data communications, hosting and cyber security). In Germany DBAG
VII called GBP0.7 million for investment in KEF (steel and textile
cutting machines for making tyres). Apiary Capital called GBP0.4
million for a platform investment for a childrens' nursery chain in
Scotland and North West England.
Taking these co-investments and all the drawdowns for the funds
together totalled GBP15.5 million in new investments for the
quarter.
Realisations
The largest realisation in the quarter was the exit of August
Equity II's holding in UK based cyber security company, SecureData.
The company was sold after six and half years to French telecoms
company Orange SA. This excellent realisation returned GBP4.0
million with an investment multiple of 7.2x and an IRR of 35%.
Argan Capital has continued to sell down its holding in Swedish
healthcare company Humana which is listed on the Stockholm Stock
Exchange. During the quarter two tranches were sold returning
GBP1.8 million. So far the investment has yielded 5x the original
investment. Hutton Collins exited its longstanding investment in
restaurant chain Wagamama through the sale to UK listed Restaurant
Group. This yielded GBP0.9 million (2.6x, IRR 17%). Hutton Collins
also exited its holding held in both funds I and II in Healthcare
at Home through a sale to private equity group Fram. This returned
GBP0.6 million, representing 0.9x cost. Corpfin IV sold Spanish
perfume and cosmetics retail chain Arenal to listed Portuguese
company Sonae Group. This yielded GBP0.8 million, which represents
1.8x, with the potential to improve, through earn-outs and escrows,
to 2.4x and an IRR of 32%. Herkules III has exited Stamina Group AS
(Hjelp 24) a leading occupational health service provider in the
Nordic region through a sale to Norvestor. This investment had not
achieved its potential and the GBP0.7 million received represented
a return of cost. TDR Capital Fund II, which now only holds
companies comprising the modular buildings group Algeco Scotsman
continued its realisation process. During the quarter the US remote
accommodation section was spun out into a NASDAQ listed vehicle and
the fund returned GBP1.3 million. Lastly from the Italian portfolio
of secondary positions GBP0.7 million was received from the sale by
ILP III of Clouditalia, the fibre optic telecoms network. There
were a number of other realisations in the quarter with total
realisations and associated income coming to GBP12.8 million.
Valuation Changes
The largest positive influence in the quarter was the uplift of
specialist software company Dotmatics by GBP1.9 million. This SEP
led investment is making good progress against the original plan.
In the US electrical components company Sigma is growing well both
organically and through bolt on acquisitions and this is uplifted
by GBP1.7 million. August Equity IV was up by GBP1.1 million mainly
reflecting the exit of SecureData noted above. US Fund Graycliff
continues to do well with an uplift of GBP0.7 million. The Italian
portfolio is up by GBP0.4 million mainly reflecting good progress
for furniture company Georgetti. Swiss based adhesive company
Schaetti is recovering and is up by GBP0.6 million.
On the negative side cement company Calucem is slightly behind
plan and is down by GBP0.5 million. Astorg IV is down by GBP0.3
million reflecting a bumpy start to liver diagnostics equipment
company Echosens. Warburg Pincus VIII, which has a number of listed
shares which have been under pressure, is down by GBP0.3 million.
Our residual holding in Eventbrite, which was received through the
exit of Ticketscript, was realised during April once the lock-up
period expired. Share price weakness since the year end resulted in
a valuation reduction of GBP2.1m.
Financing
As noted above adverse currency movements meant that the
progress of the underlying portfolio was offset this quarter. The
Company will shortly replace its current borrowing facility with a
fresh, larger and somewhat cheaper facility. This will run for five
years and provide the Company with plenty of headroom for handling
any mismatch of drawdowns and realisations or for securing the
acquisition of assets.
Outlook
At this stage of the year, it appears that the levels of
activity within the portfolio are very similar to the same point
during 2018. There remains a very active market for private equity
exits with many of our partners noting record amounts of 'incoming'
interest in their portfolio companies. On the other side of the
equation finding attractive deals is, as always, competitive with
acquirers having to demonstrate a genuine 'edge' when winning over
vendors and management teams. This is usually far more than the
mere provision of attractively priced capital. Private equity
investment harnesses strategic, and sometimes operational,
expertise to capital improving the chance of a target company's
success being sustained. Ideally the closer the investor's
understanding of a company or sector, the more value they can add
and the less they will be required to pay to invest. Private equity
firms who take this approach can usually find good deals even when
markets are competitive. Much fresh capital has been raised for
private equity in recent years, but the increase is not out of line
with overall growth in deal value, nor is it surprising given that
private equity investment is growing in popularity with
institutional and
retail investors alike, yet at present represents only a low
single figure percentage of all equity investment. There are
clearly some 'headwinds' for investment ranging from the UK/EU
Brexit Impasse to trade tensions between the US and China, however
these are factors which are incorporated by private equity
investors into their long term investment plans and certainly do
not deter our investment partners from their value creation
activities nor should they discourage investors looking to
participate in the output from their efforts by gaining exposure to
our well diversified portfolio. At this early stage in the year we
expect further growth for shareholders.
Hamish Mair
Investment Manager
BMO Investment Business Limited
BMO PRIVATE EQUITY TRUST PLC
Statement of Comprehensive Income for the
three months ended 31 March 2019 (unaudited)
Revenue Capital Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- -----------
Income
Losses on investments held at fair value - (1,672) (1,672)
Exchange gains - 1,060 1,060
Investment income 634 - 634
Other income 31 - 31
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- -----------
Total income 665 (612) 53
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- -----------
Expenditure
Investment management fee - basic fee (68) (619) (687)
Investment management fee - performance - - -
fee
Other expenses (208) - (208)
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- -----------
Total expenditure (276) (619) (895)
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- -----------
Profit/(loss) before finance costs and
taxation 389 (1,231) (842)
Finance costs (41) (373) (414)
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- -----------
Profit/(loss) before taxation 348 (1,604) (1,256)
Taxation (66) 66 -
Profit/(loss) for period/total comprehensive
income 282 (1,538) (1,256)
Return per Ordinary Share 0.38p (2.08)p (1.70)p
BMO PRIVATE EQUITY TRUST PLC
Statement of Comprehensive Income for the
three months ended 31 March 2018 (unaudited)
Revenue Capital Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Income
Losses on investments held at fair value - (2,881) (2,881)
Exchange gains - 373 373
Investment income 448 - 448
Other income 24 - 24
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Total income 472 (2,508) (2,036)
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Expenditure
Investment management fee - basic fee (159) (476) (635)
Investment management fee - performance - - -
fee
Other expenses (188) - (188)
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Total expenditure (347) (476) (823)
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Profit/(loss) before finance costs and
taxation 125 (2,984) (2,859)
Finance costs (106) (319) (425)
---------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Profit/(loss) before taxation 19 (3,303) (3,284)
Taxation (15) 15 -
Profit/(loss) for period/total comprehensive
income 4 (3,288) (3,284)
Return per Ordinary Share 0.01p (4.45)p (4.44)p
BMO PRIVATE EQUITY TRUST PLC
Statement of Comprehensive Income for the
year ended 31 December 2018 (audited)
Revenue Capital Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
-------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Income
Gains on investments held at fair value - 36,966 36,966
Exchange gains - 35 35
Investment income 2,340 - 2,340
Other income 81 - 81
-------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Total income 2,421 37,001 39,422
-------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Expenditure
Investment management fee - basic fee (660) (1,980) (2,640)
Investment management fee - performance
fee - (2,277) (2,277)
Other expenses (760) - (760)
-------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Total expenditure (1,420) (4,257) (5,677)
-------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Profit before finance costs and taxation 1,001 32,744 33,745
Finance costs (428) (1,286) (1,714)
-------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Profit before taxation 573 31,458 32,031
Taxation (109) 109 -
Profit for year/total comprehensive income 464 31,567 32,031
Return per Ordinary Share 0.63p 42.69p 43.32p
BMO PRIVATE EQUITY TRUST PLC
Balance Sheet
As at 31 As at 31 As at 31 December
March 2019 March 2018 2018
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
--------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------------
Non-current assets
Investments at fair value through
profit or loss 296,830 259,870 295,242
--------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------------
Current assets
Other receivables 34 304 142
Cash and cash equivalents 14,789 27,893 21,335
--------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------------
14,823 28,197 21,477
Current liabilities
Other payables (4,126) (3,799) (4,267)
Interest-bearing bank loan (25,799) - (26,821)
--------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------------
(29,925) (3,799) (31,088)
Net current (liabilities)/assets (15,102) 24,398 (9,611)
Total assets less current liabilities 281,728 284,268 285,631
--------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------------
Non-current liabilities
Interest-bearing bank loan - (26,033) -
--------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------------
Net assets 281,728 258,235 285,631
Equity
Called-up ordinary share capital 739 739 739
Share premium account 2,527 2,527 2,527
Special distributable capital
reserve 15,040 15,040 15,040
Special distributable revenue
reserve 31,403 31,403 31,403
Capital redemption reserve 1,335 1,335 1,335
Capital reserve 230,684 207,187 234,587
Revenue reserve - 4 -
--------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------------
Shareholders' funds 281,728 258,235 285,631
--------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------------
Net asset value per Ordinary Share 381.01p 349.24p 386.29p
BMO PRIVATE EQUITY TRUST PLC
Reconciliation of Movements in Shareholders' Funds
Three months Three months Year ended
ended 31 March ended 31 31 December
2019 March 2018 2018
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
------------------------------ ---------------- ------------- -------------
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Opening shareholders' funds 285,631 264,144 264,144
Profit for the period/total
comprehensive income (1,256) (3,284) 32,031
Dividends paid (2,647) (2,625) (10,544)
------------------------------ ---------------- ------------- -------------
Closing shareholders' funds 281,728 258,235 285,631
------------------------------ ---------------- ------------- -------------
Notes (unaudited)
1. The unaudited quarterly results have been prepared on the
basis of the accounting policies set out in the statutory accounts
of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2018. During the year
to 31 December 2018, the management fee and bank loan interest were
allocated 75 per cent to capital and 25 per cent to revenue. In
accordance with the Board's expected long term split of returns in
the form of capital gains and income, with effect from 1 January
2019 the allocation basis has been revised to 90 per cent to
capital and 10 per cent to revenue.
2. Investment management fee:
Three months ended Three months ended Year ended 31 December
31 March 2019 31 March 2018 2018
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
------------------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Investment
management
fee - basic fee 68 619 687 159 476 635 660 1,980 2,640
Investment
management
fee - performance
fee - - - - - - - 2,277 2,277
------------------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
68 619 687 159 476 635 660 4,257 4,917
------------------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
3. Finance costs:
Three months ended Three months ended Year ended 31 December
31 March 2019 31 March 2018 2018
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
------------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Interest payable
on bank loans 41 373 414 106 319 425 428 1,286 1,714
4. Returns and net asset values
Three months ended Three months Year ended 31
31 March 2019 ended 31 March December 2018
2018
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
The returns and net asset
values per share are based
on the following figures:
Revenue Return GBP282,000 GBP4,000 GBP464,000
Capital Return (GBP1,538,000) (GBP3,288,000) GBP31,567,000
Net assets attributable GBP281,728,000 GBP258,235,000 GBP285,631,000
to shareholders
Number of shares in issue
during the year 73,941,429 73,941,429 73,941,429
Weighted average number
of shares in issue during
the year 73,941,429 73,941,429 73,941,429
5. The financial information for the three months ended 31 March
2019, which has not been audited or reviewed by the Company's
auditor, comprises non-statutory accounts within the meaning of
Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. Statutory accounts for the
year ended 31 December 2017, on which the auditor issued an
unqualified report, have been lodged with the Registrar of
Companies. The quarterly report is available on the Company's
website www.bmoprivateequitytrust.com
Legal Entity Identifier: 2138009FW98WZFCGRN66
For more information, please contact:
Hamish Mair (Investment Manager) 0131 718 1184
Scott McEllen (Company Secretary) 0131 718 1137
hamish.mair@bmogam.com / scott.mcellen@bmogam.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
QRFBXLFLKEFXBBQ
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 23, 2019 06:41 ET (10:41 GMT)
Ct Private Equity (LSE:CTPE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Ct Private Equity (LSE:CTPE)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024