REG - Schroder Br.Opps.Tst - Statement re Quarterly NAV

Schroder British Opportunities TrustAnnouncement

12/03/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 2540A  Schroder British Opportunities Tst.  12 March 2025

Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc

Net Asset Value as at 31 December 2024

Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc (the "Company") announces its
unaudited net asset value ("NAV") as at 31 December 2024 was £84.1 million or
113.76p per share (30 September 2024: £79.4 million or 107.39p per share),
following the quarterly valuation of the Company's private equity holdings.
This represents an increase of 6.37p per share (5.9%) compared with the NAV
reported at the quarter end.

The Company's daily NAV calculation re-values the public company holdings on a
daily basis, and the private equity holdings quarterly post period end. This
latest quarterly valuation of the private equity holdings will be reflected in
the daily unaudited NAV per share as of 12 March 2025, which will be published
later today.

Portfolio

As at 31 December 2024, the Company had 31 portfolio company positions
comprising 10 private and 21 public companies.

Financial performance (unaudited)

 Attribution Analysis (£m)    Public  Private  Money Market  Net (debt)/cash  Other  NAV
 Value as at 30.09.2024       21.1    51.2     8.5           0.8              (2.2)  79.4
 Investments                  -       4.6      -             (4.6)            -      -
 Realisations for cash        (0.4)   -        (4.5)         4.9              -      -
 Fair value gains / (losses)  2.5     2.3      0.1           -                -      4.9
 Costs and other movements    -       -        -             -                (0.2)  (0.2)
 Value as at 31.12.2024       23.2    58.1     4.1           1.1              (2.4)  84.1

 

The 5.9% increase in NAV, from £79.4 million at 30 September 2024 to £84.1
million at 31 December 2024, comprised:

·    Public holdings: 3.2%

·    Private holdings: 2.9%

·    Money market funds: 0.1%

·    Cost and other movements: (0.3)%

The company's public equity holdings saw an aggregate increase in fair value
of £2.1m over the quarter ended 31 December 2024. The best performing
portfolio companies over the period included travel retailer On the Beach and
vanadium flow battery manufacturer Invinity Energy Systems. The portfolio
experienced negative performance from holdings in global LED lighting brand
Luceco and software, security, and cloud services provider Bytes Technology.

The Company's private equity holdings saw an aggregate fair value increase of
£2.3 million (+4.5%) during the quarter ending 31 December 2024. This was
principally driven by upward valuations for Headfirst, Learning Curve and
Rapyd. During the quarter, Headfirst has been benefiting from its recent
merger with Impellam, resulting in a positive impact on the company valuation.
After some softening of demand during the first half of 2024 which lead to a
reduction in valuation, Learning Curve experienced a pick-up in Q4 2024,
leading to an upward revaluation. The increased valuation for Rapyd during the
quarter was a result of the progress in the acquisition of PayU. The only
negative contributor to NAV during the quarter was Cera Care, this was driven
by a capital raise which resulted in a dilution of SBOs holding. The business
is performing well and was recently named in the 2025 The Times 100 fastest
growing companies list.

Investment activity

During the period, the company made an investment into Acturis, a leading
global insurance software provider offering administration, distribution, and
underwriting capabilities.

On the public side, we exited our position in women's fashion manufacturer and
distributor Sosandar. The company has recently announced a change in strategy
which included the opening of physical stores and less focus on promotional
activity, resulting in lower predicted revenues. We exited due to having less
conviction in the new strategy.

 

Top 10 holdings

 Holding                 Quoted / unquoted  Fair value as at 30 September 2024 (£'000)   % of total investments  Fair value as at 31 December 2024 (£'000)   % of total investments
 Expana 1  (#_ftn1)      Unquoted           10,056                                       13.9                    10,088                                      12.4
 Pirum                   Unquoted           7,030                                        9.7                     7,253                                       8.9
 Cera                    Unquoted           7,605                                        10.5                    7,114                                       8.7
 EasyPark                Unquoted           5,997                                        8.3                     6,093                                       7.5
 CFC Underwriting        Unquoted           5,870                                        8.1                     6,073                                       7.5
 Waterlogic              Unquoted           5,835                                        8.1                     5,898                                       7.3
 Headfirst               Unquoted           4,224                                        5.8                     5,203                                       6.4
 Rapyd                   Unquoted           3,842                                        5.3                     4,474                                       5.5
 Acturis                 Unquoted           -                                            -                       4,412                                       5.4
 Watches of Switzerland  Quoted             2,062                                        2.9                     2,418                                       3.0

  1  Expana, formally known as Mintec, rebranded in June 2024.

 

Enquiries:

 Schroder Investment Management Limited                    020 7658 6000

 Katherine Fyfe (Company Secretarial)

 Kirsty Preston (PR)
 Peel Hunt                                                 020 7418 8900

 Liz Yong, Huw Jeremy, Luke Simpson (Investment Banking)

 Alex Howe (Sales)

 

(#_ftnref1)

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