Candover Investments Cautions Market Volatility Hinders "Timely Exits"

LONDON (Alliance News) - Candover Investments PLC on Friday said the ability of investment manager Arle to achieve "timely exits" may be hindered by market volatility.

"The year has been particularly difficult as the decline in the oil price continued and resulted in a dramatic reduction in the value of our investment portfolio. This was a consequence of Expro's position as our largest asset at the start of the year in a highly concentrated portfolio," Chairman Richard Stone said.

Expro, an oilfield services company, had a tough year due to falling oil prices. The value of its holding Expro was written down by Candover by GBP43.6 million to about GBP500,000. Candover said its own net asset value per share was 243.0 pence on December 31, down from 545.0p the prior year, with aggregate portfolio valuation down GBP47.1 million, mainly due to Expro, to GBP82.6 million, including carried interest and accrued loan note interest.

"As we move towards the realisation of our remaining four assets, the ability of Arle to achieve timely exits may be hindered by the uncertain external outlook. Our refinancing, which was completed in 2015, gives comfort that we have the flexibility to deal with that uncertainty," Stone added. The company refinanced its debt in July.

Candover did not declared a dividend, though it will review payments in the future.

Shares in Candover were down 9.6% at 171.00 pence on Friday morning.

By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini

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