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LONDON (Alliance News) - Aurora Investment Trust PLC said Monday its interim net asset value grew ahead of its benchmark, despite struggling to find appealingly-priced investments with which to direct its cash reserves.
For the six months ended June, net asset value grew 13% to 215.74 pence per share from 191.36p the year prior. It was also 4.9% ahead of the 205.72p reported six months earlier.
Shares in Aurora closed 0.9% lower at 214.12 pence on Monday.
During the six months period, total NAV return in sterling was 6.3% with share price return being 6.7%. This This was ahead of the 1.7% total return from its FTSE All-Share benchmark over the same period.
Share price return was helped by an expansion of the share price premium to NAV to 1.5% from 1.1% six months earlier. The premium did, however, dip from the 2.4% reported the year prior.
During the period, Aurora added two new holdings: funeral service provider Dignity and collectables auctioneer Stanley Gibbons. The firm also exited its Barratt Developments investment.
The firms top holdings are supermarket chain Tesco PLC, lender Lloyds Banking Group and drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC which together comprise almost a third of its holdings.
Despite the investments, Aurora still holds a 5.6 million cash position. This is down, however, from 10.6 million the year prior but up from the GBP4.5 million reported six months earlier.
"That we have a cash position is an indicator that the UK market is not obviously cheap in absolute terms, even if it may be relative to other markets and asset classes," Steve Tetters from Aurora's investment manager Phoenix Asset Management Partners said. "If it were genuinely in overall bargain territory, then we have enough candidates in our universe to be fully invested."
"This is an interesting market to be investing in," Tetters added. "Whatever the overall level, it contains pockets of significant potential value particularly in companies that are having problems. We will do our best to make the most of it."