LONDON (Alliance News) - Electra Private Equity PLC on Wednesday reported a net asset value total return of 15% in the first half of its financial year, beating the 4% return of the FTSE All-Share.
Chairman Kate Barker said the "strong" results were driven by "excellent progress" in the FTSE 250 investment trust's portfolio of investments and supported by a high level of asset realisations.
Electra declared an interim dividend of 44 pence per share for the six months ended March 31, up 16% from a year earlier, in line with its policy of returning to shareholders a targeted 3% of NAV per annum.
"We have successfully deployed GBP158 million of capital in growth assets as well as in lower-risk, cash-yielding assets that support Electra's distribution policy," Alex Fortescue, managing partner of Electra Partners, said in a statement.
"The total investment return of GBP299 million, or 18% on the opening portfolio, once again reflects our success in buying attractive assets well and then driving performance with operational heavy-lifting and M&A strategies," Fortescue said.
Shares in Electra were up 4.3% at 3,756.00 pence Wednesday morning.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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