REG - Literacy Capital PLC - Final results for the year to 31 December 2025

Literacy CapitalAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 9612X  Literacy Capital PLC  25 March 2026

The information contained in this announcement is restricted and is not for
publication, release or distribution in the United States of America, any
member state of the European Economic Area, Canada, Australia, Japan or the
Republic of South Africa.

 

 

25 March 2026

Literacy Capital plc

 

Final results and audited financial statements for the year to 31 December
2025

 

Helping to build great businesses to generate superior returns

 

Literacy Capital plc ("Literacy", "BOOK", the "Fund", or the "Company"), a
listed investment trust primarily focused on investing directly into private
businesses based in the UK, today announces its final results for the year to
31 December 2025.

 

A PDF copy of the results can be viewed at:
www.literacycapital.com/investors/reports-and-results
(https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r06/___http:/www.literacycapital.com/nsAjxytwxdwjutwyx-fsi-wjxzqyx___.ZXV3MjpuZXh0MTU6YzpvOmMzNDQ0N2ZiOGFiMjhmODA5ZDI3MThkNmFiNjIxMTBmOjc6YTE2NDpkMDE4ZjY4ZDZmNjQ0YjhlYjBlNTk0MjZjYWM4NTU5YmEwZjQwMDdhMmU2ZGJmZWU2NTRjNzIyMDEyM2Q0ODYxOnA6RjpU)

 

Performance Highlights:

 

 ●    Diluted Net Asset Value (NAV) per share of 484.3p with Diluted NAV of £291.4m
      §                                         Diluted NAV per share, adjusted for the B share distribution, increased by a
                                                modest 0.3% in the twelve months to 31 December 2025
      §                                         BOOK's share price decreased 15.6% over the same period, a total shareholder
                                                return of (13.4)% inclusive of the capital return
 ●    Significant increase in cash realised in 2025, highlighting the proactive
      approach to actively manage and recycle capital to enhance returns
      §                                         £42.5m cash received by BOOK in 2025, an increase of 41.2% compared to 2024,
                                                the majority of which (£26.3m) was generated from the transaction involving
                                                Velociti Solutions. This transaction delivered a 14.8x Multiple of Money (MoM)
                                                return and an IRR of 70% for Literacy's shareholders
      §                                         The remainder of the cash was generated through four portfolio company
                                                refinancings, and distributions from third party fund interests, enabling a
                                                reduction in RCF debt and a £6m B share distribution to shareholders
 ●    Attractive opportunities to deploy capital into resilient businesses that
      offer the potential for strong returns for the Fund
      §                                         Two new platform investments completed in 2025, with both Trinitatum and Red
                                                Sky Food Group contributing strongly since investment. Red Sky demonstrated
                                                the strength of its performance by becoming a top ten holding. Follow-on
                                                capital was also provided to several portfolio companies to support and
                                                accelerate growth
      §                                         £22.7m cash invested by BOOK in 2025; materially lower than the prior two
                                                years, reflecting the focus on maximising value from existing investments
 ●    Literacy's investee companies remain prudently valued and modestly leveraged
      §                                         On 31 December 2025, the weighted average EV / EBITDA multiple for Literacy's
                                                ten largest investments (comprising 82.8% of Diluted NAV) was 9.4x, compared
                                                to 8.8x at 31 December 2024
      §                                         The average net debt / EBITDA was 2.8x (calculated on the same basis as
                                                above), an increase on twelve months ago (2.3x at 31 December 2024) following
                                                the refinancing activity during the year
 ●    Ongoing charitable donations to literacy charities, giving disadvantaged
      children across the UK the chance to thrive
      §                                         £1.5m of charitable donations provided for in 2025
      §                                         Total donations now amount to £12.7m since inception of Literacy Capital

 

Performance to 31 December 2025

 

 % total return                                    3 months  1 year   3 years  Since admission(1)  Since Inception(2)
 BOOK NAV per share(3)                             (4.5)%    +0.3%    +17.5%   +207.7%             +394.3%
 BOOK total shareholder return                     +3.1%     (13.4)%  +6.8%    +145.6%             n/a(1)
 FTSE All-Share Closed End Investment Trust Index  +3.7%     +16.1%   +32.4%   +16.8%              +73.0%
 FTSE All-Share Index                              +6.4%     +24.0%   +46.5%   +54.5%              +70.7%

 

(1) BOOK was admitted to the London Stock Exchange on 25 June 2021. Share
price data therefore starts at this point

(2) Inception date is 30 April 2018

(3) The figure presented here refers to Diluted NAV per share, adjusted for
the B share distribution

 

Comparison to prior periods

 

                                                               At 31 December 2025  At 31 December 2024
 Diluted NAV                                                   £291.4m              £296.6m
 Diluted NAV per share                                         484.3p               492.8p
 Cash returned to shareholders                                 10.0p                -
 Diluted NAV per share, adjusted for the B share distribution  494.3p               492.8p
 Total NAV return                                              +0.3%                (1.5)%

 

                              Year to 31 December 2025  Year to 31 December 2024
 Capital invested             £22.7m                    £41.1m
 Cash realised                £42.5m                    £30.1m
 Charitable donation accrual  £1.5m                     £2.7m

 

Richard Pindar, CEO of the Investment Manager and Director of Literacy Capital
plc, commented:

"At the beginning of 2025, we stated that we were optimistic that we would be
able to progress the sale of several portfolio companies, generating
significant cash for BOOK. While M&A activity remained low and completed
deals scarce, reflecting the ongoing political and economic uncertainty in the
UK and globally, it was pleasing to announce the signing of three transactions
between July 2025 and January 2026. These transactions were agreed at a
combined 39% premium to their prior carrying values, demonstrating our ability
to deliver value for shareholders during our period of ownership and execute
successful sales, despite the market backdrop.

 

We work very closely with our portfolio companies, ensuring that they are
well-led, and that we understand the challenges and opportunities that they
face, in order to help them navigate the current environment. As I mentioned
in this statement twelve months ago, ensuring that our portfolio companies are
actively managed, with appropriate leadership and complete management teams,
is a core component of our value-add and approach when it comes to making and
managing our investments, rather than just 'stock picking'.

 

Against this backdrop, whilst the sale of these three more mature holdings was
very welcome, overall NAV performance in 2025 was weaker than we would have
liked. Overall growth in NAV was suppressed primarily by weaker trading at RCI
and Grayce, resulting in reductions to their carrying values; management
changes have been made in both businesses to improve performance. It is clear
that economic growth, confidence and activity within UK businesses remains
fragile. Additional costs and continued uncertainty over the last 18 months
have had a clear impact on companies' propensity to hire or retain staff, as
well as their appetite to invest and spend. The direction in which employment
law and tax legislation have been heading recently has compounded these
issues, making full time employment less attractive for both corporates and
individuals compared to self-employment.

 

In this environment, we have remained disciplined and selective in our
investment approach. While we appraise opportunities and hold investments
across a wide range of sectors, we never endeavour to be heroic by deploying
capital into businesses facing obvious headwinds. As a result, we have been
even more selective regarding the new investments that we have appraised and
completed in 2025, as we consider these against the context of current market
conditions and uncertainty.

 

Both 2025 vintage investments, Red Sky Food Group and Trinitatum, were deemed
to have attractive

characteristics for the current environment. These include delivering,
firstly, great value and products to their customers, making switching to
alternative products or service models to reduce costs difficult;

and secondly, very attractive levels of output, revenue and profit per
employee. On top of this, demand was expected to be resilient in all market
conditions. Both investments have delivered better returns than we would
ordinarily expect from businesses we have owned for less than 12 months and
show strong promise.

 

In relation to the share price performance during 2025, we recognise that
there are several ingredients needed to improve this in 2026 and to narrow the
discount to Diluted NAV. More positive announcements and stronger NAV
performance, which we continuously strive to achieve, clearly will play an
important role. Alongside this, there are several other marketing initiatives
underway to

improve demand for BOOK's shares and strengthen the share price, and we expect
these actions to gather momentum through 2026."

 

Master Investor Show

Paul Pindar (Chair) and Richard Pindar (CEO) of Literacy's Investment Manager
will be presenting at the Master Investor Show at the Business Design Centre
on 25 April 2026.

 

More information on this event can be found here:
https://www.masterinvestorshow.com/
(https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r06/___https:/www.masterinvestorshow.com/___.ZXV3MjpuZXh0MTU6YzpvOmNmZDliYjZmZTJmOGQ2ZDIzNjM0NWIwMDZjMjNlYTBlOjc6ZmE2Mzo2MDQ4NzJhZGEwZjVhNzE0OTk5ZTc5NTRiOGVhZDRkYjBkMDMzMmU0YWM5YjQzZWY0NDQxNDQ1OTM0MTQwMTRhOnA6RjpU)

 

Investor Meet Company presentation

Paul Pindar (Chair) and Richard Pindar (CEO) of Literacy's Investment Manager
will provide a live presentation and update on 27 April 2026 at 14:00 BST.
This will follow the publication of BOOK's Q1 2026 factsheet.

 

The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions
can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until
26 Apr 2026 09:00 BST, or at any time during the live presentation. Investors
can sign up for free at the following link:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/literacy-capital-plc/register-investor
(https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r06/___https:/url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/xdhDg4HcT5Fy3u3ntkvMvosSA?itrfns=nsAjxytwrjjyhtrufsD.htr___.ZXV3MjpuZXh0MTU6YzpvOmNmZDliYjZmZTJmOGQ2ZDIzNjM0NWIwMDZjMjNlYTBlOjc6ZThkODplODY3NDZjNmE5MjVlOWFlNmIwOTdmZWZhMzU4MTgzYzNiMzM3YTBhMzFjMTAxODYxMjJjNmZjYmM4MzZlOTllOnA6RjpU)

 

-ENDS-

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Literacy Capital plc / Book Asset Management LLP

Richard Pindar / Aasha Tailor

+44 (0) 20 3960 0280

 

MHP Group

Reg Hoare / Ollie Hoare / Matthew Taylor

book@mhpgroup.com

+44 (0) 7817 458 804

 

Deutsche Numis

Hugh Jonathan / George Shiel

+44 (0) 20 7260 1000

 

About Literacy Capital plc

 

Literacy Capital (BOOK.L) is a closed-end investment company that was
co-founded by Paul Pindar and Richard Pindar in 2017 with £54m of capital.
Literacy listed on the London Stock Exchange in June 2021, before gaining
Investment Trust status on 1 April 2022. The Company focuses on opportunities
to invest for the long-term in growing private businesses where a clear route
to creating additional value can be seen with its support.

 

It also has a unique charitable objective, to donate 0.5% of annual NAV to
charities focused on improving UK literacy in children. £12.7m has been
donated or reserved for donation to charities since the trust's creation in
2017. For more information, please visit our website: www.literacycapital.com
(https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/___http:/www.literacycapital.com___.bXQtcHJvZC1jcC1ldXcyLTE6bmV4dDE1OmM6bzphNjUwYWQxZDUwODhlOWQ3MmI2NDdhYTkzOTJmNjA0Mzo2OmViNjk6ZTY1ZGRjZjU4MjE2YTJmMjU5YmYzMWZjOTYwMDBjMTI4MzY0YTIxYzQ1YzZkODczYzMwNzQ1YzM1YzI0NTg5YTpwOlQ6Tg)
.

 

A copy of this announcement will be available on the Company's website at
www.literacycapital.com
(https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/___http:/www.literacycapital.com___.bXQtcHJvZC1jcC1ldXcyLTE6bmV4dDE1OmM6bzphNjUwYWQxZDUwODhlOWQ3MmI2NDdhYTkzOTJmNjA0Mzo2OmViNjk6ZTY1ZGRjZjU4MjE2YTJmMjU5YmYzMWZjOTYwMDBjMTI4MzY0YTIxYzQ1YzZkODczYzMwNzQ1YzM1YzI0NTg5YTpwOlQ6Tg)
.

 

The information contained in this announcement regarding the Company's
investments has been provided by the relevant underlying portfolio company and
has not been independently verified by the Company. The information contained
herein is unaudited.

 

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not an offer to
invest. All investments are subject to risk.  Past performance is no
guarantee of future returns.  Prospective investors are advised to seek
expert legal, financial, tax and other professional advice before making any
investment decision.  The value of investments may fluctuate.  Results
achieved in the past are no guarantee of future results. Neither the content
of the Company's website, nor the content on any website accessible from
hyperlinks on its website for any other website, is incorporated into, or
forms part of, this announcement nor, unless previously published by means of
a recognised information service, should any such content be relied upon in
reaching a decision as to whether or not to acquire, continue to hold, or
dispose of, securities in the Company.

 

LEI: 2549006P3DFN5HLFGR54

 

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