Net Asset Value(s)

RNS Number : 6407Q

Schroder UK Public Private Tst plc

22 June 2020

 

For release 22 June 2020

Schroder UK Public Private Trust plc

Announcement of Net Asset Value as at 31 March 2020

Schroder UK Public Private Trust plc (the 'Company') today announces its net asset value ('NAV') as at 31 March 2020.

Summary

· NAV of 46.12 pence per share, a reduction of 6.7% (31 December 2019: 49.46 pence per share), primarily as a result of the impact COVID-19 on valuations.

· Net debt of £105.4 million, down £5 million from 31 December 2019.

· The impact of COVID-19 on the portfolio has been varied. However, the portfolio has 58% in healthcare companies, with a number aiding in the fight to overcome the pandemic.

· Schroders (the 'Portfolio Manager') continues to provide support to the businesses in the portfolio to help them navigate the COVID-19 crisis, and continues to focus on adjusting position sizes towards a more balanced portfolio whilst reducing the debt.

Introduction

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020 has had wide-reaching implications for both public and private companies globally. The economic fallout has been felt across global markets with valuations, as evidenced by the Company's Q1 2020 NAV, reflecting the initial impact of the pandemic.

The Portfolio Managers have been actively assessing the impact of the economic downturn across the portfolio and working to ensure the Company can best support its underlying portfolio companies.  Over the quarter, as the extent of disruption from COVID-19 became evident, the Portfolio Managers have sought to protect the portfolio through active engagement with portfolio company management teams, boards and co-investors. 

The impact of COVID-19 has varied mainly by region and industry, the specific business model of a company and its financing situation. However, the portfolio has a high proportion of healthcare companies, which is a key strength at this point in time and represents 58% of gross asset value ('GAV') as at 31 March 2020. This includes a number of companies in the portfolio that are actively aiding in the fight to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

Net Asset Value

Value movements (£m)	Quoted*	Unquoted	Net Debt	Other	NAV
Value at 31.12.19	134.3	426.8	(110.7)	(1.0)	449.4
+ Investments	-	-	-	-	-
- Realisations	(0.7)	(6.5)	7.2	-	-
+/- Fair value gains/(losses)	(20.9)	(25.5)	-	-	(46.4)
+/- FX gains/(losses)	1.3	16.3	-	-	17.6
+/- Costs and other movements	-	-	(1.9)	0.4	(1.5)
Value at 31.03.20	114.0	411.1	(105.4)	(0.6)	419.1

*As in the FY2019 annual report, Rutherford Health is reported as a quoted holding despite being fair value priced by Link Fund Solutions, the company's AIFM.

The NAV as at 31 March 2020 was £419.1 million or 46.12 pence per share. This reflects a decrease of 6.7% compared with the NAV as at 31 December 2019 and falls in-line with the Company's NAV impact guidance provided in note 23 of the annual report.

The contribution to the NAV total return of -6.7% can be broken down in to:

· Quoted holdings* -4.7%

· Unquoted holdings -5.7%

· FX impact +3.9%

· Costs and other movements -0.3%

During the quarter the Company's quoted holdings saw a sharp decline of 15.6% in value mainly as a result of the COVID-19 global market sell-off. In comparison, the FTSE AIM All-Share Index declined by 28.8% (Source: LSE website) during the same period. The largest single contributor to performance in the quoted holdings was Autolus Therapeutics whose listed share price fell 55.6%, but has since recovered closer to its level as at 31^st December 2019. 

The Company's unquoted holdings were relatively less impacted over the period, decreasing in value by 6.0%. The most notable contributors to performance in the unquoted holdings was from downward valuation adjustments implemented by the AIFM to various holdings, particularly in the Financials sector, to reflect the impact of COVID-19.

During the period, the portfolio also benefited from the decline in the value of sterling relative to the US dollar by 6.4% which resulted in an appreciation of the value of the Company's dollar-denominated assets.

As part of the Portfolio Managers' previously stated intention to move the portfolio toward a greater balance of sectors, company stages and position sizes, the Company completed several realisations over the quarter. This included the partial realisation of the Company's holding in Oxford Nanopore as part of a strongly supported fundraise at an attractive valuation (see portfolio highlights below for further details). The Company also completed the full realisation of its holding in Yoyo Wallet as part of the second stage of a transaction agreed in 2019.

In line with the Board's commitment to reducing gearing over time, some of these funds were used to pay down the Company's gearing facility.  Net borrowing now stands at £105.4 million or 25.1% of NAV.  

*As in the FY2019 annual report, Rutherford Health is reported as a quoted holding despite being fair value priced by the AIFM.

Top 10

The below table outlines the Company's top 10 holdings as at 31 March 2020 and 31 December 2019. Values are provided by Link Fund Services in co-ordination with IHS Markit.

Portfolio Company	Value at 31 Mar 2020 (£'000)	Value at  31 Dec 2019 (£'000)	% of 31 March 2020 (Gross Assets)	% of 31 Dec 2019 (Gross Assets)
Rutherford Health	80,811	80,811	15.4%	14.4%
Atom Bank	73,934	80,866	14.1%	14.4%
Oxford Nanopore	68,706	74,847	13.1%	13.3%
Benevolent Al	33,507	33,507	6.4%	6.0%
Immunocore	25,676	24,032	4.9%	4.3%
Carrick Therapeutics	18,780	17,578	3.6%	3.1%
Inivata	18,006	18,006	3.4%	3.2%
Mission Therapeutics	16,718	15,648	3.2%	2.8%
Mafic	15,425	11,753	2.9%	2.1%
Industrial Heat	15,388	14,403	2.9%	2.6%

Source: AIFM, Link Fund Solutions, as at 31^st March 2020. Value changes are reflective of a combination of valuation adjustments, FX movements and realisations over the quarter. 

Outlook

As 2020 progresses, the Portfolio Managers will continue to focus on the two key objectives highlighted by the board in the Company's annual report. Namely, the Portfolio Managers will continue to provide support to businesses within the portfolio in their operational decision-making to help them navigate the COVID-19 crisis and to maximise any opportunities that the crisis has created. Secondly, there remains a focus on adjusting position sizes towards a more balanced portfolio, whilst reducing the debt. Additions to the portfolio are envisaged once the debt has been further reduced.

Portfolio Highlights

Rutherford Health: Announced progress in meeting the rising demand for proton beam therapy, the issuance of further equity and a landmark framework agreement with NHS SBS

In February 2020, Rutherford announced that its centers have treated over 100 patients with proton beam therapy and trained over 65 oncologists in the treatment of proton therapy to meet the rising demand for the pioneering treatment in the UK. Through Q1, and in order to support the company's continued scale-up, the company completed a further drawdown of £17.1m from LF Equity Income Fund (formerly LF Woodford Equity Income Fund) as part of its existing commitment.

In May 2020, Rutherford announced that it had entered into a framework agreement with NHS Shared Business Services ("NHS SBS"), under which it is able to provide cancer treatment services on demand by any NHS Trust at a pre-agreed set of prices. The agreement lasts for two years with an option to extend for a further two years and covers the complete range of services that Rutherford offers, including radiotherapy, systemic anti-cancer therapy (chemotherapy), proton beam therapy and diagnostic services.

Atom Bank: Approved for accreditation from the British Business Bank as a CBILS lender

In May 2020, Atom Bank announced that it has been approved for accreditation as a new lender by the British Business Bank to offer secured loans through the Government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Lending Scheme (CBILS). Atom has since been offering eligible businesses secured loans from £100,000 up to £5 million through the 200+ independent brokers that are registered to work with Atom.

Oxford Nanopore: Announced £157.9 million in investment and share sales, and the advanced development of LamPORE for rapid, highly scalable, low-cost COVID-19 detection

In January 2020, Oxford Nanopore Technologies announced that it had raised £29.3 million in new capital and additionally facilitated the sale of £80.2 million in secondary shares, resulting in total gross proceeds of £109.5 million. These funds were raised internationally and include both new investors and existing shareholders, from the US, Europe and Asia/Pacific.

Post 31 March 2020, Oxford Nanopore further announced that it is in advanced development of a new generation of end-to-end test (assay), known as LamPORE, for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The test is based on Oxford Nanopore's DNA/RNA sequencing technology, in combination with a simple, sample-preparation method which seeks to understand whether a sample currently contains the SARS-CoV-2 virus (rather than detecting antibodies that may indicate a previous infection). LamPORE is the first assay that the company has developed in-house with intended use in diagnostic applications, subject to relevant authorisations that are currently being pursued. Oxford Nanopore is planning to deploy LamPORE for COVID-19 in a regulated setting initially on GridION and soon after on its portable MinION Mk1C device.

In addition, the company completed a further closing of its fundraise to secure an additional £48.4 million in new capital.

BenevolentAI: Identified Baricitinib as potential treatment for 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease

In February 2020, Benevolent published two papers in The Lancet outlining how its proprietary knowledge graph, queried by a suite of AI algorithms, enabled the rapid identification of a potential therapeutic candidate for COVID-19. Its scientists re-examined the affinity and selectivity of all the drugs in its knowledge graph to identify already approved drugs with both anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. Its research suggested that Baricitinib, an already approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis developed by Eli Lilly and Incyte, could be used to inhibit both viral entry into cells and the human inflammatory response strongly associated with the terminal phase of COVID-19 infection.

Post period end, in April 2020, it was announced by Eli Lilly that Baricitinib would enter late stage phase 3 clinical trials as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

Immunocore: Secured $130 million Series B Financing and announced first clinical trial of IMC-F106C

In March 2020, Immunocore announced the completion of its Series B private financing round, led by General Atlantic, generating more than $130 million with participation from new and existing investors. The proceeds will enable Immunocore to further expand and accelerate its rapidly growing clinical stage pipeline of ImmTAX™ molecules that includes three oncology programs in MAGE-A4 (in collaboration with Genentech), NYESO-1 (in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline), and the lead program tebentafusp (IMCgp100), which is in pivotal clinical studies as a potential treatment for patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. The proceeds will also allow the company to advance two wholly owned clinical-stage internal programs for chronic Hepatitis B and for PRAME, a target expressed in a wide range of tumours.

In May 2020, Immunocore announced the start of the first-in-human clinical trial of IMC-F106C, the fourth bispecific developed using the company's innovative ImmTAC® technology platform. The IMC-F106C program is focused on targeting tumours that express PRAME, a cancer-testis antigen (CTA) that is highly expressed in a broad range of solid and hematologic malignancies. The trial is designed to study the safety and preliminary activity of IMC-F106C as a monotherapy and in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in patients with PRAME-expressing cancers.

Inivata: Announced strategic collaboration and investment from NeoGenomics

In May 2020, Inivata announced the formation of a strategic collaboration with NeoGenomics, Inc (NASDAQ: NEO), for the commercialisation of its InVisionFirst®-Lung liquid biopsy test in the United States. NeoGenomics is an established US-based cancer diagnostics and services company with significant commercial reach and scale making it a highly complementary partner to advance the commercialisation of InVisionFirst-Lung. Inivata's liquid biopsy test offers competitive sensitivity with results being delivered within seven calendar days from blood draw, and has already received reimbursement for US Medicare patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Inivata and NeoGenomics also announced that they will seek opportunities for collaboration with biopharmaceutical companies around Inivata's liquid biopsy platform. These collaborations are intended to further accelerate the roll-out across Inivata's range of leading liquid biopsy products including RaDaR™, the newly launched highly sensitive personalised assay for the detection of residual disease and recurrence. This product complements the use of other tests, including InVisionFirst-Lung, and is initially being utilised in clinical trial settings where it has the potential to increase the speed of patient recruitment through more accurate selection. 

As part of the collaboration, NeoGenomics is also making a $25 million equity investment in Inivata to take a minority shareholding with an option to buy the company outright. The new funding will be used to enable the acceleration of the company's innovative liquid biopsy products, including further development work on RaDaR.

Autolus Therapeutics: Released encouraging additional data showcasing clinical progress of programmed T Cell therapy pipeline in blood cancers and announced closing of $80m public offering

In January 2020, Autolus announced additional data regarding its ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its next-generation programmed T cell therapy, AUTO3, to treat adults with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma. In that same month, the company also completed a public offering raising gross proceeds of $80 million.

In April 2020, Autolus announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had accepted the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for AUTO1, its lead CAR T product candidate for the treatment of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.  The active IND allows initiation of the US sites in the company's first pivotal study, AUTO1-AL1. The AUTO1-AL1 study clinical trial application was approved by the MHRA in January 2020 and the first site opened in the UK in March of this year.

Evofem Biosciences: U.S. FDA Approved Phexxi™, the first and only non-hormonal prescription gel for the prevention of pregnancy

In May 2020, Evofem announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved Phexxi™ vaginal gel for the prevention of pregnancy in females of reproductive potential for use as an on-demand method of contraception. Phexxi is the first non-hormonal, on-demand, vaginal pH regulator contraceptive designed to maintain vaginal pH within the normal range of 3.5 to 4.5 - an acidic environment that is inhospitable to sperm. The company expects to launch Phexxi in early September alongside the Phexxi Concierge Experience, a comprehensive patient and healthcare provider telemedicine support system. This offering of services is designed to provide physicians with on-demand educational support and simplify women's access to Phexxi.. Through this offering, women would be able to secure a prescription, determine their insurance coverage and/or out-of-pocket costs, receive counselling support and refill reminders, and fill their prescription through their local neighbourhood pharmacy or an online pharmacy that is expected to deliver Phexxi right to their door.

Kymab: US Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejects requests filed by Regeneron

In April 2020, Kymab announced that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc has been unsuccessful in recent attempts to invalidate four of Kymab's US patents covering genetically modified mice and the human antibody therapeutics produced from these mice.

Seedrs: Identified as the UK's most active investor

In January 2020, Seedrs released its 2019 Year In Review which reported a 49% growth in investment from 2018, with a record £283 million invested into pitches on the platform. This investment coming in from 78 different countries with 250 deals completed across the year, up from 186 in 2018. During the year, Seedrs also launched two industry-firsts - its EIS100 Fund which offers investors passive exposure to the venture capital asset class at scale, and secondly the first-ever in-app investment opportunity for an early-stage company, through a new partnership with London-based firm Oval Money.

In February 2020, following the release of Beauhurst's The Deal 2019 Report mapping equity investments in the UK, Seedrs was identified as UK's most active investor in 2019, including facilitating the highest number of deals in three out of four categories: venture, growth and established businesses.

In May 2020, Seedrs announced its most successful secondary market trading update and the launch of its streamlined service in support of the UK governments' Future Fund scheme.

Reaction Engines: Begins production of PPE components for frontline NHS and healthcare workers

In April 2020, Reaction Engines announced that as part of a UK-wide initiative it had begun utilising its 3D printing facilities for production of components for protective face shields for frontline NHS and healthcare workers. Reaction Engines is in the fortunate position of being able to offer support as it uses additive manufacturing methods in various components for SABRE and has clean-room production facilities. Using six 3D printers, a team of volunteers will be printing two important components of the face shield; the headband and the bottom reinforcement. The components will be packaged and shipped to a local hub where they will be assembled into full protective face shields and distributed directly to frontline healthcare workers.

Federated Wireless: Announced commercial agreements with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, extension of its Spectrum Controller platform to enable spectrum sharing in the 6 GHz band and additional Series C funding

In February 2020, Federated Wireless announced significant commercial partnerships with both Microsoft Azure Marketplace and Amazon Web Services. Both partnerships relate to Federated Wireless' new Connectivity-as-a-Service offering that lets U.S. enterprises buy and deploy private 4G and 5G networks with a single click through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. An end-to-end managed service provided by Federated Wireless which includes discovery, planning, design, build, operation and support, enabling enterprises to reap the benefits of 5G with minimum risk and capital expenditure .

In April 2020, the company also announced it had extended its Spectrum Controller platform to enable spectrum sharing in the 6 GHz band, allowing operators and enterprises to accelerate delivery of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G services. Named an automated frequency controller (AFC) by the FCC, the new Spectrum Controller functionality is currently deployed in trials and is expected to be available for commercial use by the end of 2020.

Finally, post 31 March 2020, Federated Wireless confirmed that it had secured $13.7 million in additional Series C funding from existing investors Allied Minds and Pennant Investors - funding which will be used to accelerate expansion and adoption of the company's partnership with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure to offer Connectivity-as-a-Service, announced in February.

AMO Pharma: Announced initiation of planned pivotal clinical trial for Myotonic Dystrophy following $35 million fundraise

In January 2020, AMO Pharma announced the initiation of patient enrollment in the company's planned pivotal clinical trial for AMO-02 in the treatment of congenital myotonic dystrophy.  This follows completion of discussions on the design and outcomes measures of the trial with regulators and AMO Pharma's successful execution of a $35 million financing with new investors.

The AMO-02 clinical trial is a double-blind placebo controlled randomised study in children and adolescents with congenital onset myotonic dystrophy intended to support a future submission for marketing authorisation in congenital myotonic dystrophy.  The trial is being conducted at ten treatment centres across Canada, the US and the UK and plans to enroll a total of 56 patients.  Patients will be assessed on a range of measures of CNS features and muscle function associated with congenital myotonic dystrophy.

Enquiries:

Schroder Investment Management Limited

Benjamin Hanley (Company Secretary)  0207 658 3847 

Estelle Bibby (Press)    0207 658 3431

LEI: 2138008X94M7OVE73I77

This announcement contains Inside Information as defined under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

 

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