17 May 2012 17:04
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION
ASHMORE GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES LIMITED (the "AGOL")
a Guernsey incorporated and registered limited liability closed-ended investment company with a Premium Listing of its US Dollar and Sterling share classes on the Official List.
Interim Management Statement
17 May 2012
Investment Objective
Ashmore Global Opportunities Limited ("AGOL") is a closed ended investment company incorporated and registered in Guernsey and listed on the London Stock Exchange. AGOL's investment objective is to deploy capital in a diversified portfolio of global emerging market strategies which will be actively managed with a view to maximising total returns. This will be achieved by investing across investment themes, including external debt, local currency, special situations (incorporating distressed debt and private equity), corporate debt and equity with a principal focus on special situations. This interim management statement relates to the period 1 January 2012 to 31 March 2012.
Performance Summary
Share Class | 3 Month | Year to date | 1 Year |
EUR | 2.06% | 2.06% | -9.27% |
GBP | 2.24% | 2.24% | -8.13% |
USD | 2.21% | 2.21% | -7.99% |
Returns are NAV to NAV, net of fees and include reinvestment of dividends paid. Returns are to 31 March 2012. Data is provided for information purposes only. Shares in AGOL do not necessarily trade at a price equal to the prevailing NAV per Share, which may be at a discount or premium.
The NAV of AGOL at the end of March was $534.28m
Portfolio Overview
The first quarter was a strong one for both equities and credit products. In the developed world, the economic data separated the US, where we saw an on-going upturn in the inventory cycle, and Europe where economic activity and business confidence were impacted by the European Sovereign debt crisis. Whilst employment numbers were encouraging in the US, the Fed remained quite sceptical about the strength of the labour market and many market participants expect 'operation twist' to be replaced by another form of stimulus upon its expiration in June. Personal consumption and manufacturing data was also encouraging. The winter rally began to stall before the quarter-end, faced with renewed concerns about debt sustainability in Spain and in the first week of April, the US reported disappointing non-farm payroll numbers. The data from emerging markets showed that economic activity was bottoming out, following a marked slowdown in Q4. A moderation in economic growth was met by policy-makers with a mix of rate cuts and administrative measures.
NAV performance over the period was impacted by both the names that have a listed component and those that don't. EMTEK (the listed Indonesian telecoms and multi-media company) performed well over the period, announcing that IDKM, its recently purchased television station, launched Nexmedia: a new pay TV platform which reported good performance at signing up new subscribers. Pacnet received a mark-up in its valuation by the third party valuation agent on the back of an upward re-rating of the listed telecoms sector. Care Hospitals, a company that operates and runs a small chain of private hospitals in South India was exited in March by all Ashmore Funds and Accounts through a sale to a private equity company. MCX, the Indian Commodities exchange, was listed on the BSE in March in an offer that was more than 54 times oversubscribed. Ashmore funds and accounts continue to hold their stake in the company.
Top 10 underlying investments as at 31 March 2012
Investment Name | Holding | Country | Business Description | Website Link |
ETH Bioenergia | 16.50% | Brazil | Renewable energy equipment company for production of ethanol & electricity from sugar cane. | www.eth.com |
AEI | 8.15% | Cayman | Owns and operates essential energy infrastructure businesses in emerging markets. | www.aeienergy.com |
EMTEK | 7.93% | Indonesia | Listed Indonesian telecom, information technology & multimedia company. | www.emtek.co.id |
Alphaland | 5.83% | Philippines | Real estate development company focussing on underdeveloped sites. | www.alphaland.com.ph |
Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) | 5.08% | India | Nationwide electronic commodity futures exchange trading in over 40 commodities. | www.mcxindia.com |
Star Energy | 4.75% | Indonesia | Oil & gas exploration & production and Geothermal energy production | www.starenergy.co.id |
Pacnet Int'l Ltd. | 4.08% | Singapore | Asia's leading independent telecommunications infrastructure and service provider. | www.pacnet.com |
Jasper Investments | 3.84% | Singapore | Listed company investing in Asian growth enterprises, but primarily oil services. | www.jasperinvests.com |
Digicable | 3.76% | India | One of the largest Cable TV service providers in India | www.digicable.in |
Bangkok Land | 3.66% | Thailand | Listed property developer in Metro Bangkok | www.bangkokland.co.th |
Total: | 63.59% | |||
Recent company events
ETH Bioenergia
ETHB's closed its first harvest season in March 2012 with all nine mills in operation for the first time, heading into a 2012/13 harvest season that is expected to boost production levels of crushed sugarcane from under 13 million tons to over 20 million. Industry-wide production is expected to edge up this coming harvest season after two seasons of weather-related production shortages. ETHB's ramp-up plan was pushed back by approximately 12 months due to these agricultural production shortfalls but given a benign supply/demand dynamic fuelling high domestic ethanol prices, ETHB's medium and long-term profitability continues to look strong.
AEI
AEI continued to execute its plan comprising i) non-core asset sales, ii) the development of existing greenfield projects and iii) concentration on its core Latin American power generation business. AEI's reduced asset base allowed for a continuation of its HQ cost reduction program. As of February 2012, as wind reverted to trend at the Amayo wind farms and as margins recovered at San Felipe, adjusted EBITDA tracked at $21 million, $4.6 million above plan.
EMTEK
EMTEK saw a slight decrease in its audience share but improved its programming mix with more foreign and sports programming, having won the UEFA League and Europa League rights for Indonesia. The largest improvement in audience share was at IDKM, under SCTV management, where audience share increased by 1% as it shifted time and spending allocations to different drama types. Nexxmedia, the PayTV platform, reached its ten thousandth customer ahead of time and budget. We expect strong growth this year.
Alphaland
The Company, with Ashmore monitoring, is now on target to complete its Balesin Island Resort 12 months ahead of schedule - this will bring membership sales and cashflow forward by a similar amount.
Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX)
In March 2012 MCX became the first Indian bourse to be listed on the Indian stock exchanges. The IPO was done through a book building process that was oversubscribed 54 times, generating bids worth $7.2bn against an offer size of $132mn on the back of strong investor demand with a listing at a 34% premium to the issue price. There is a 12 month lock up on the stock.
Enquiries:
Ashmore Investment Management Limited
Robert Hegt
Tel: +44 (0) 203 077 6147
Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited
Andrew Maiden
Tel: +44 (0) 1481 745 368