5th Mar 2019 10:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Apax Global Alpha Ltd saw a rise in assets in 2018 despite a slowing global economy and rising political risk leading to "volatile capital markets".
In 2018 the closed-ended investment company said its NAV total return was 7.1% with its Private Equity portfolio gaining 9.2%, offset by its Derived Equity losing 2.9%.
The investment company's adjusted NAV at the end of 2018 stood at EUR930.8 million compared to EUR912.4 million at the end of 2017.
Apax Global Alpha's adjusted NAV per share ended 2018 at EUR1.90 from EUR1.86 the year before, a 2.2% increase.
The investment company paid a final dividend of 4.12 pence per share, down 1.2% on 2017's final dividend, giving a total dividend for 2018 of 8.45p, slightly more than the 8.41p distributed in 2017.
Apax Partners Chief Operating Officer Ralf Gruss said: "AGA delivered positive returns in a year where most markets turned negative. The Private Equity portfolio had pleasing returns driven by the strong operational momentum in the portfolio companies and three lucrative exits. In Derived Investments, the quality of the Derived Debt portfolio allowed for outperformance against credit markets. Listed equity investments however disappointed and could not withstand market volatility."
The firm's assets experienced a rise in 2018 on the outperformance of technology consultant ThoughtWorks, insurance firm AssuredPartners and accounting software company Exact Software - which all saw "significant" value increases during the period.
Looking ahead, the company's investment manager, Apax Partners, said: "Despite recent corrections in equity markets, private equity valuations continue to remain frothy. Whilst valuations of the Private Equity portfolio would not be insulated from a de-rating of market valuations, we believe the Apax Private Equity Funds approach is particularly well-suited to generate value in this 'late-cycle' environment."
Shares in Apax Global Alpha were trading flat Tuesday at 145.00 pence each.
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