Performance at month end

RNS Number : 6094V

Impax Environmental Markets PLC

15 January 2013

 



IMPAX ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS plc

All information is at 31 December 2012 (unless otherwise stated) and unaudited.

DATA AND PERFORMANCE

Pricing
NAV (pence)	125.04
Share price (pence)	102.88
Premium/(discount) (%)	(17.72)
PE Ratio2	15.0x
Data1
Total fund size (NAV) ( m)		GBP 338.6
Market capitalisation (m)		GBP 278.6
Management fee (%)		1.0
Established		22nd February 2002
Fund structure		Investment Trust
Number of holdings (excluding unlisted)		73
Exchange		London
Currency		GBP
ISIN Number		GB0031232498
Sedol		3123249
Bloomberg code		IEM LN

Performance3	IEM Net Asset Value	FTSE ET50	MSCI World
1 month %	2.3%	2.1%	0.4%
3 months %	4.7%	5.4%	1.8%
YTD %	7.9%	1.2%	10.7%
1 year %	7.9%	1.2%	10.7%
3 year %	-1.2%	-28.2%	21.5%
5 year %	-2.4%	-47.9%	15.4%
10 year %	132.8%	66.7%	104.3%
Since inception	29.4%	-1.2%	54.0%

¹The company has no gearing at the present time

²Forward 12 months

³Performance data incorporates undiluted NAV until exercise of warrants on 25 June 2010. FTSE index is total return, MSCI index is net total return. FTSE ET50 launched January 2008. Data has been back tested by FTSE

Q4 Contribution to Performance (%)
Sector		Stock4
Recycling & value added waste processing	1.3	Lee & Man	0.7
Industrial energy efficiency	1.1	Coway	0.5
Water infrastructure	1.0	Clean Harbors	0.3
Water treatment equipment	0.7	Badger Meter	0.3
Hazardous waste management	0.3	Watts Water	0.3
Environmental testing & gas sensing	0.0	Rinnai	-0.2
Waste technology equipment	-0.1	Epistar	-0.3
Environmental consultancies	-0.1	Trina Solar	-0.3
Solar energy generation equipment	-0.2	RPS Group	-0.4
Buildings energy efficiency	-0.6	Nibe	-0.4

⁴Excludes unlisted investments as valuations are confidential

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

Company	Holding %	Description	Country
Kingspan	2.7	Buildings energy efficiency	Ireland
Regal-Beloit	2.7	Industrial energy efficiency	US
Watts Water	2.6	Water infrastructure	US
Nibe	2.6	Buildings energy efficiency	Sweden
Vacon	2.5	Industrial energy efficiency	Finland
Clean Harbors	2.5	Hazardous waste management	US
Spirax-Sarco	2.4	Industrial energy efficiency	UK
LKQ	2.4	Recycling & value added waste processing	US
Pall	2.4	Water treatment equipment	US
Ensyn	2.4	Biofuels	Canada
TOTAL	25.2

PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS

Geographical % North America 41 Europe 40 Asia ex Japan 12 Japan 5 Cash 2

Sectoral % Energy efficiency 33 Waste mgmt. tech 22 Water infra & tech 19 Alternative energy 11 Pollution control 8 Env support srvs 5 Cash 2

IMPAX ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS plc

MANAGER'S COMMENTARY (Q4 2012)

Among the key catalysts we have been monitoring is the state of the US construction market.  We have been pleased to see improving data here recently and this fed through to our holdings that are exposed to the construction cycle. Asian stocks performed well over the period, particularly with respect to China where the improving macro situation contributed to the performance of stocks such as Lee & Man (recycling and value added waste processing, Hong Kong), which rose following strong H1 results that showed improved margins and outlook due to recovering Chinese growth. The portfolio continued to benefit from M&A activity, with Clean Harbors (hazardous waste management, US) posting strong performance for the period following the large and complementary acquisition of Safety-Kleen at an attractive valuation. Stock specific contributors included Coway (water treatment equipment, South Korea), which recovered following underperformance in Q1 with the sale of a stake in the company to a Korean private equity firm, removing previous uncertainty surrounding ownership.

Cautious company announcements and weak Q3 results weighed on the performance of stocks such as Nibe (buildings energy efficiency, Sweden) and RPS Group (environmental consultancies, UK). Epistar (buildings energy efficiency, Taiwan) suffered from overcapacity in LED markets, although saw recovery towards the end of the quarter. The alternative energy subsector remained weak over the quarter, although with signs of improvement in December, and we maintained our underweight position versus the FTSE ET50. Geographically, our European holdings lagged following previous strong performance.

Positioning and Outlook

We continue to favour the energy efficiency, pollution control and water infrastructure/treatment sectors. We remain cautious on alternative energy in the near term due to on-going overcapacity but continue to challenge our views here. We are comfortable with our relative overweight Europe and underweight US exposures versus global indices due to relative valuations.

We see several positive catalysts ahead, including continuing improvement in US construction markets, accelerated infrastructure spending from China's 12^th 5 Year Plan, and positive policy developments both in Asia and also the US following the re-election of President Obama. We are positive on the prospects for the portfolio.

Impax Asset Management is supportive of the UK Stewardship Code. Our full Stewardship Code statement, ESG and Proxy Voting policies and the quarterly summaries of our proxy voting activities can be viewed on: http://www.impax.co.uk/en/investor-relations/governance-csr 

15 January 2013

 

END

 

 

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