Schiehallion Fund Ltd on Thursday reported a weak performance over the past financial year, despite solid results from its largest investments.
Schiehallion is a Guernsey-based investment fund, focused on private business which may be publicly listed in the future.
Schiehallion said that in the year ended January 31, the net asset value per share fell 0.9% to 118.37 US cents from 119.42 cents over the year. Its share price slipped around 22% to 71.50 cents each from 92.00 cents.
The share price discount to NAV also widened to 40% from 23%, as ‘sentiment remained against growth stocks and private company investments’, Schiehallion added.
The firm said that operational performance across its portfolio remained ‘solid overall’, in particular the top 20 companies.
However, Schiehallion’s results were impacted by its investment in Convoy, a Seattle-based trucking software company, which ceased operations in October.
‘Due to the challenging capital market environment and the nature of investing in private companies, such an outcome, while disappointing, is not unexpected on occasion,’ Schiehallion said.
Other large NAV detractors included Indigo Agriculture and Solugen Inc.
Schiehallion’s investment in Indigo dropped in value to $801,000 from $15.8 million a year prior, while its Solugen investment sank to $32.3 million from $47.9 million.
Schiehallion said that, despite easing inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions and a recessionary environment continue to take their toll on the company’s performance.
However, Schiehallion remains confident that its strategy of investment into private companies‘ with transformational potential’, as well as the ‘pipeline of private companies that the investment manager has access to’.
Shares in Schiehallion were down 2.9% at $0.76 in London on Thursday.
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