Performance at month end

RNS Number : 1581R

Impax Environmental Markets PLC

16 August 2010

 



IMPAX ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS plc

All information is at 31 July 2010 (unless otherwise stated) and unaudited.

DATA AND PERFORMANCE

Pricing NAV (pence) 122.59 Share price (pence) 111.25 Premium/(discount) (%) (9.25) Performance IEM Net Asset Value* MSCI World Global Small Cap** 1 month % +1.5 +2.8 3 months % -10.8 -9.5 1 year % +12.6 +27.9 3 year % -3.6 +7.7 5 year % +39.0 +27.1

Data Total fund size (NAV) ( m) 397.3 Market capitalisation (m) 359.0 Management fee (%) 1.0 Established 22nd February 2002 Fund structure Investment Trust Number of holdings (including unlisted) 94 Exchange London Currency GBP ISIN Number GB0031232498 Sedol 3123249 Reuters RIC code IMPX.L Bloomberg code IEM LN

* Performance data is for undiluted NAV ex income

** Total return

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

Company	Holding %		Description	Country
Pall Corp	2.7		Water treatment equipment	US
Chloride Group	2.5		Power network efficiency	UK
LKQ	2.3		Value added waste processing	US
Clean Harbors	2.2		Hazardous waste	US
Abengoa	2.1		Biofuels	Spain
China Everbright	2.1		Value added waste processing	China
Ormat	2.1		Geothermal	Israel/US
Horiba	2.1		Environmental testing & gas sensing	Japan
Itron	2.1		Automated meter reading	US
Nalco	2.0		Water treatment	US
TOTAL	22.2

PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS*

Geographical		Company Size
US and Canada	35%	>$2bn	34%
EU and EFTA	40%	$200-2bn	53%
Rest of the World	20%	<$200m	8%
Cash	5%	Cash	5%
Sectoral		PE ratios
Energy	45%	PER >20x	31%
Water	24%	PER  15-20x	36%
Waste	26%	PER <15x	25%
Cash	5%	Unprofitable	3%
		Cash	5%
* of funds invested as of 31 July 2010

IMPAX ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS plc

MANAGER'S COMMENTARY (July 2010)

During the month the Company NAV rose 1.5% compared to the MSCI World Small Cap which rose 2.8%. In Alternative Energy & Energy Efficiency recovering investor appetite for Spanish equities helped Abengoa (biofuels) and Telvent (utility software) contribute to positive performance. US solar company Renesola also performed well on preannounced strong Q2 earnings. UK company Kingspan (insulation) was weak due to negative construction activity data points which triggered profit taking. Ricardo (automotive consultancy, UK) also contributed to negative performance due to a profit warning. In Water Treatment and Pollution Control, Nalco (water treatment chemicals, US) produced strong results that beat market expectations, and benefitted from a positive US Environmental Protection Agency statement on the lack of toxicity of the Company's oil spill dispersant. Japanese testing and monitoring company Horiba underperformed due to concerns over the strength of the capex cycle in the semi-conductor markets as well as the strength of the yen.  In Waste Technologies and Resource Management, Tomra (recycling infrastructure, Norway) performed well on strong Q2 results and Transpacific (waste management, Australia) outperformed on news that Goldman Sachs acquired 5% of the company. We took profit on US hazardous and medical waste companies Clean Harbors and Stericycle. Daiseki (hazardous waste management, Japan) has been de-rated as investors are not confident of the future despite recent positive data points. In Europe Britain's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government said it would cut funding to green advisory bodies and released its first ever annual Energy Statement which is a commitment by the new government to the various environmental targets that it inherited and includes saving energy through the Green Deal and managing UK energy legacy responsibly and cost-effectively. Ministers from Germany, France and the UK called for the EU to slash emissions by 30% by 2020, instead of the current 20% target. In the US Senate Leader Harry Reid unveiled the "Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Spill Accountability Plan." The bill which is unlikely to pass before the summer recess contains no provision for increasing renewable energy or carbon pricing despite months of effort by Democrats. Instead the bill focuses on the responsibility of oil companies to pay for clean up and prevention of future oil spills, encourages conversion of vehicles to natural gas and electricity and energy efficiency rebates to homeowners. In renewable energy news Obama announced $2 billion in US loan guarantees to solar companies resulting in the creation of as many as 5,000 green jobs. The Indian government issued new guidelines for the National Solar Mission requiring modules used in solar PV projects to be made domestically while also requiring solar thermal project developers to ensure domestic content accounted for at least 30% of each plant. In Japan utility firms will be required to buy fixed rate electricity generated from renewable sources of energy from as early as 2012. China is drafting a research and development plan through 2015 to include smart grid technology to develop transmission and connection of wind and solar power to the grid.  The US Senate approved a $2 billion program that aims to put 400,000 electric cars on the road in three years. The US EPA signed a final rule that adds four new sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the list of those industrial sources that must report their emissions annually to the agency, underground coal mines, industrial wastewater treatment facilities, industrial waste landfills, and magnesium production facilities. In water news Governor David A. Paterson announced that municipalities across New York State will receive $67 million in grants from the New York Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) for clean water infrastructure projects. Desalination plants will underpin southeast Queensland's future water needs and more recycled water could be used under a new 50-year plan.

Latest information available at: http://www.impax.co.uk/impax/funds/listed_funds/environmental_plc/

Impax Asset Management Limited

16 August 2010

 

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