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LONDON (Alliance News) - VPC Specialty Lending Investments PLC on Friday reported a slight decrease in annual net asset value and announced it has made interim Chair Kevin Ingram permanently.
At December 31, VPC Specialty Lending's NAV per share stood at 91.01 pence compared to 91.68p the year before.
The company's net assets attributable to shareholders decreased 3.4% in 2018 to GBP327.7 million from GBP339.4 million the year before. VPC bought back 22.5 million shares in 2018.
VPC's revenue increased 29% to GBP37.0 million from GBP28.7 million.
The lending market investor raised its total dividend for 2018 by 18% to 8.0p from the 6.8p distributed in 2017.
VPC's total NAV return for 2018 was 8.96%, a record for the investment company and in line with its IPO target.
"Overall, the portfolio delivered strong credit performance and we do not see signs of a broad-based weakening in credit fundamentals at the underlying portfolio companies in which the company is invested, despite the market volatility we saw across most asset classes during the fourth quarter of 2018," said Victory Park Capital Advisors, VPC's investment manager.
Chair Kevin Ingram added: "The market outlook for technology enabled lenders in the United States, as well as in other geographies, remains positive as it becomes broadly accepted as an institutional asset class and both lending and equity investment volumes continue to grow. Increased awareness amongst consumers and a competitive product offering are driving the demand side of the equation which has allowed the company's investments to continue to grow without sacrificing credit quality."
VPC said Friday it has appointed Ingram as permanent chair after he took over from Andrew Adcock after he fell ill. VPC has also appointed Mark Katzenellenbogen as a new independent non-executive director, taking up Ingram's old role.
Shares in VPC Specialty Lending were up 0.8% Friday at 72.20 pence each.