Impax NAV rises in 2020 after second-half rebound

(Sharecast News) - Impax Environmental Markets' value per share rose in 2020 as increased interest in environmental markets in the second half reversed an earlier slump in share prices.
The environmental investment trust's net asset value (NAV) per share rose to 411.2p from 321.8p in the year to the end of December as its share price increased to 422.5p from 333p.

Total dividends for the year fell 23% to 2.3p a share, reflecting dividend cuts at several of its investments. The company paid no final dividend.

Chairman John Scott said: "After a first half marked by extreme volatility, in which IEM lagged its global equity benchmark, the subsequent six months saw a remarkable recovery in equity markets and a period of striking outperformance by the company, reflecting a further strengthening of the investment hypothesis underpinning environmental markets."

The FTSE 250 company said its performance reflected strong fundamentals of companies it invests in and the improving global outlook for growth in environmental markets. Its NAV total return of 31% was 18.3% better than the MSCI ACWI but lagged the FTSE ET100 index by 59.3%. About two-thirds of this underperformance was caused by the company not investing in Tesla and other electric car companies.

Impax said Joe Biden's decision to take the US back into the Paris Agreement and his plans for a green economy had underlined the importance of environmental action.

"IEM's outperformance [against the MSCI ACWI] is a result of the strengthening outlook for environmental markets post-Covid, and especially for the renewable energy and energy efficiency subsectors which are particularly set to benefit from the accelerated drive towards 'net‑zero' economies," the company said.