REG - Life Settlement - Final Results

Life Settlement AssetsAnnouncement

28/04/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 7833X  Life Settlement Assets PLC  28 April 2023

Life Settlement Assets PLC

(the "Company" or "LSA")

 

Results for the year ended 31 December 2022

 

 

LSA, a closed-ended investment trust company which invests in, and manages,
portfolios of whole and fractional interests in life settlement policies
issued by life insurance companies operating predominantly in the United
States, is pleased to announce its results for the year ended 31 December
2022, and the publication of its 2022 Annual Report.

 

The highlights of the year were as follows:

 

Finalisation of MBC litigation

·    Formal acceptance on 2 March 2023 by the US Court of the southern
District of Florida, Miami Division, of the sale of life policies portfolio to
Acheron Portfolio Trust ("APT"), on behalf of the Company.

·    Mitigation of operational risk with fractional interests in policies
now able to be consolidated into policies 100% owned by APT.

·    More cost-effective operations in the future with a significant
reduction in future legal costs.

·    Reduced need to retain cash following the life policies portfolio
purchase, together with a resumption of dividends payable by the Company.

Net Asset Value

·    USD 109.9 million, representing an uplift of USD 0.6 million during
the year.

 

Maturities

·    Maturities totalling USD 27.2 million were declared - of these, USD
20.9 million were non-HIV policies, and USD 6.3 million were HIV policies.

 

Costs

·    Decrease in total ongoing charges ratio from 7.6% to 7.1% of NAV in
2022.

·    Decrease in ongoing charges ratio excluding policy servicing fees and
legal costs from 3.6% to 3.0% of NAV.

·    The Company has agreed a reduction of the Investment Manager
performance fee from 20% to 10% of the total distributions made by the Company
over the agreed hurdle rate.

 

Dividend

·    Since the year end, following the initial indication of the ruling of
the US Court, LSA announced on 2 February 2023, the declaration of a special
dividend of 6.0209 cents per share totalling approximately USD 3.0 million,
which was paid to Shareholders on 24 February 2023.

 

Michael Baines, Chairman, commented:

"The successful conclusion of your Company's long running litigation against
MBC marks a significant development in our strategy of unlocking value for
Shareholders.  It removes an important area of risk, builds value, and
unlocks alternatives for the deployment of funds arising on the maturity of
policies. It also means that the Board's attention can focus solely on the
broader risk issues in the portfolio, including that of HIV mortality.

 

The Board is acutely aware of the impact that last year's cash retention
policy has had on the level of discount at which LSA's shares trade.
Therefore, in addition to the announcement of a special dividend and a return
to the previous approach to dividend payments generally, the Board is actively
considering further options to reduce this discount, which will be
communicated to Shareholders at the appropriate time.

 

Given that the non-HIV portfolio is now expected to mature faster than the HIV
portfolio, we will continue to closely monitor research on mortality in
general to guide future decisions.  The past track record of assessing risk
across the portfolio gives the Board confidence that outcomes should be
achieved which will continue to underpin the value proposition for
Shareholders."

 

The Directors are pleased to attach the Company's annual report and financial
statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.

 

Click on the following link, or paste it into your web browser, to view the
associated PDF document:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7833X_1-2023-4-27.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7833X_1-2023-4-27.pdf)

The annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022
may also be downloaded from the Company's website at

 https://www.lsaplc.com/investor-relations/company-reports/published-reports/
(https://www.lsaplc.com/investor-relations/company-reports/published-reports/)

 

For further information contact:

 

Acheron Capital Limited (Investment Manager)

Jean-Michel Paul

020 7258 5990

 

Shore Capital (Financial Adviser and Broker)

Robert Finlay

020 7408 4090

 

ISCA Administration Services Limited

Company Secretary

Tel: 01392 487056

 

DISCLAIMER

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website
accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is
incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

NATIONAL STORAGE MECHANISM

A copy of the 2022 Annual Report and Accounts will be submitted shortly to the
National Storage Mechanism ("NSM") and will be available for inspection at the
NSM, which is situated at:

https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism
(https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism)

 

Notes to Editors

Life Settlement Assets PLC is a closed-ended investment trust company which
invests in, and manages, portfolios of whole and fractional interests in life
settlement policies issued by life insurance companies operating predominantly
in the United States. The Company seeks to generate long-term returns for
investors by investing in the life settlement market, through each of the
separate Share Classes. The Company aims to manage its investment in
portfolios of life settlement products so that the realised value of the
policy maturities exceeds the aggregate cost of acquiring the policies,
ongoing premiums, management fees and other operational costs.

 

 

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