9th Apr 2019 14:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - EPE Special Opportunities Ltd on Tuesday reported a drop in annual net assets as the investment company's largest holding suffered a sharp decrease in value.
At January 31, the private equity investment company's NAV per share stood at 205.19 pence compares to 234.43p the year before, a 13% decrease.
The company's net assets decreased 9.8% in the period to GBP59.8 million from GBP66.3 million.
EPE Special Opportunities said its "unsatisfactory" performance was driven by a 28% value decrease in its largest asset, Luceco PLC. The LED lighting manufacturer announced in the first half of 2018 it was reducing its trading expectations due to margin pressure and headwinds in its retail division.
Earlier this month, Luceco reported annual results, for the year ended December 31, in line with market expectations. In August last year EPE Special Opportunities acquired 5.0 million shares in Luceco. At January 31, Luceco represented about 34% of EPE Special Opportunities portfolio.
EPE Special Opportunities said due to the "uncertainty" of the UK economy, and the underperformance of Luceco, the company "de-risked" its portfolio. As a result, the company disposed of Process Components and made a partial exit of its investment in Pharmacy2U.
Chair Geoffrey Vero said: "The performance of the company in the period has been mixed; a significant number of positive developments and good financial performance across the majority of the portfolio were set against a drop in the market value of the company's largest asset, Luceco. I would like to extend my thanks to the company's shareholders for their confidence and support, and look forward to reporting further improvements at the half year point and beyond."
The company did not propose any dividends in the period, same as the year before.
Shares in EPE Special Opportunities were down 6.3% Tuesday at 150.00 pence each.
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