The £192.6m F&C Private Equity Trust run by Hamish McNair recorded a share price total return of 9.1 per cent for the six months to June 30, as it noted the European private equity market showed increasing activity that suggested recovery “is in general well established”.
But the half year results showed the net asset value (NAV) total return was less impressive, recording a small loss of 0.3 per cent for the six months, which the chairman Mark Tennant attributed to the strength of sterling against other currencies.
During the six months the portfolio increased investments through its co-investment partners, which resulted in “some excellent new companies entering the portfolio”, including ‘On the Beach’, a short haul packaged beach holiday company and Dahlback, one of Germany’s largest bakery chains.
While some funds had a less positive effect on the fund, with Environmental Technologies down by £0.5m, and HusCompagniet down by £0.4m, Mr McNair agreed the biggest detractor had been currency movements.
He stated: “The largest negative for the portfolio in the first half was the weakness of the major currencies against sterling which reduced the overall valuation by £5.3m, or 2.7 per cent of NAV, thus eliminating the gains made in the year to date.”
Looking ahead, however, the manager was confident the second half of the year could result in “respectable returns”.
