Monthly factsheet December 2023

Geiger Counter Ltd

24 January 2024

 

 

Geiger Counter Limited Plc 

Monthly Investor Report - December 

The full monthly factsheet is now available on the Company's website and a summary can be found below. 

NCIM - Geiger Counter Ltd - Fund Page for Geiger Counter Ltd

Enquiries: 

For the Investment Manager 

CQS (UK) LLP 

Craig Cleland 

0207 201 5368 

For the Company Secretary and Administrator 

BNP Paribas S.A., Jersey Branch 

Dean Plowman/Ann-Marie Pereira 

01534 813 967/ 01534 709198 

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Fund Description 

The objective of the Geiger Counter Fund is to provide investors with the potential for capital growth through investment primarily in the securities of companies involved in the exploration, development and production of energy, predominantly within the uranium industry. Up to 30% of the value of the Company's investment portfolio may be invested in other resource-related companies from outside the energy sector.

Portfolio Managers 

Keith Watson and Robert Crayfourd 

Key Advantages for the Investor 

·      Access to mining assets in the uranium sector

·      May benefit from embedded subscription share

·      Low correlation to major asset classes

Key Fund Facts¹ 

Total Gross Assets	£100.4m
Reference Currency	GBP
Ordinary Shares:
Net Asset Value	67.07p
Mid-Market Price	54.00p
Net gearing	14.31%
Discount	(19.49%)

Ordinary Share and NAV Performance² 

	One Month	Three Months	One Year	Three Years	Five Years
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
NAV	1.21	2.44	44.02	169.03	270.35
Share Price	0.93	3.85	26.32	100.00	164.71

Commentary³ 

The spot U3O8 price ended December at $91.50/lb, up 13.3% over the month.

Symbolic of its ever more influential role in electricity generation, nuclear power received

widespread endorsement from the COP 28 conference with an international agreement to triple installed generating capacity by 2050. This boosted uranium price momentum into the calendar

year-end.

The passing of a US House vote to restrict the importation of Russian-sourced material saw the bill progress through to the Senate for consideration, potentially adding impetus to fuel prices. However, equities did not keep pace with the uranium price rise with the Fund NAV gaining 1.2% in December, similar to the Solactive Uranium Pure Play Index sterling return.

During the month, Nexgen announced that it had received its provincial environmental permits, the first company in more than 20 years to receive full provincial EA approval for a uranium project in Saskatchewan. With all necessary First Nations benefits agreements already in place, we believe the development of the project has de-risked considerably. The issue of Federal permits, which includes an official assessment of the Environmental Impact Assessment by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and which is expected to be issued later this year, represents the final step required for the project's development. Permitting progress helped lift the Nexgen share price by over 5% in sterling terms over the month. Fission Energy, which owns the neighbouring Patterson Lake project, rose by nearly 9% in sterling terms over the month.

Physically backed vehicles such as the Sprott Uranium Trust and Yellow Cake also struggled to keep pace with the uranium price rise, although both registered sterling returns of over 10% during December. The Sprott Trust share price briefly exceeded its NAV allowing it to purchase a modest 256k lbs of U3O8 during the month. The main detractors to Fund performance were Cameco and Ur-Energy, whose share prices slipped over 6.7% and 5.0% respectively in sterling terms during December.

	Gross Leverage (%)	Commitment Leverage (%)
Geiger Counter Ltd	115	115

CQS (UK) LLP

4th Floor, One Strand, London WC2N 5HR, United Kingdom

T: [phone] | F: [phone]

CQS (US), LLC

152 West 57th Street, 40th Floor, New York, NY 10019, US

T: [phone] | F: [phone]

CQS (Hong Kong) Limited

3305 AIA Tower, 183 Electric Road, North Point, Hong Kong, China

T: [phone] | F: [phone]

Tavistock Communications

18 St. Swithin's Lane, London EC4N 8AD

T: [phone] | [e-mail]

Sources: ¹R&H Fund Services (Jersey) Limited, as at the last business day of the month indicated at the top of this report. ²R&H Fund Services Limited/DataStream, as at the last business day of the month indicated at the top of this report, total return performance net of fees and expenses based on bid prices. These include historic returns and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The value of investments can go down as well as up. Please read the important legal notice at the end of this document. ³Market data sourced from Bloomberg unless otherwise stated. The Fund may since have exited some or all of the positions detailed in the commentary.

 

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