Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust - Valuation opportunities in quality UK small caps

Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust (HSL) is managed by Neil Hermon, who has been at the helm for more than 20 years. While FY23, ending 31 May, was a difficult year as growth stocks derated in an environment of rising interest rates and bond yields, this should be put into context as the manager has outperformed the trust’s benchmark in 16 of the last 20 years. Hermon believes that there is a disconnect between portfolio companies’ valuations and the strength of their operations as, fa

Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust - Weak sentiment outweighing operational strength

Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust (HSL) has been managed by Neil Hermon for the last 20 years. He explains that small-cap stock price weakness in 2022 was due to valuation compression and was not a reflection of lower earnings; in essence macroeconomic events outweighed business trends at the micro level. However, the manager believes the interest rate cycle is close to peaking given that inflation is rolling over and the UK economy is relatively weak. Hermon considers the valuations

Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust - No light at the end of the tunnel yet

In our Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust (HSL) initiation note in June, we highlighted the strong features the company brings to investment in UK small and mid caps, notably an experienced manager and team, an efficacious process and competitive fees. So far, 2022 has been the second most difficult year that the lead manager, Neil Hermon, has experienced in his near 20-year tenure at HSL and in his 33-year small-cap investing career overall (the most difficult being during the global

Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust - A compelling option for UK small and mid-caps

Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust (HSL) aims to maximise shareholders’ total returns by investing in UK mid- and smaller-cap companies. Macroeconomic and stylistic events have conspired to make this a challenging task over the past year, but HSL has strong fundamental pillars in place for long-term outperformance. It is managed by the experienced Neil Hermon together with his established team of Indriatti van Hien and Shivam Sedani at Janus Henderson Investors (JHI), who utilise a rep

Henderson Smaller Companies - Overview

Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL) invests in UK small- and mid-cap companies, seeking to generate total returns. Managed since 2002 by Neil Hermon of Janus Henderson Investors, HSL typically owns around 100 companies which the manager and his analyst team believe offer superior growth potential at a reasonable valuation. Neil builds his portfolio primarily through bottom-up stock analysis, looking for companies which are attractive on his ‘4 Ms’: Model, Management, Money and Momentum (which we

Henderson Smaller Companies - Overview

Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL) aims to maximise shareholder returns over the longer term by investing in a diversified portfolio of UK companies listed on the FTSE 250, FTSE Small Cap and FTSE AIM indices. The manager, Neil Hermon, is a bottom-up stock picker, following a ‘growth at a reasonable price’ (GARP) investment process. This means that the manager considers himself a growth investor, but applies value principles so as not to overpay for the above-average earnings growth he is lookin

Efficiency is everything

Over the last few years, fees and costs have become a lightning rod in the investment world, attracting the scrutiny of regulators, the media and the public alike. Investment trusts, with their independent boards acting partly on the views of shareholders, have been quick to respond. We review the changing fee landscape among investment trusts in 2018 through proprietary analysis, and discuss those which boards have done most to reduce costs for investors.

Morning Note – 22 April 2024

Benefits of scale set to materialise

Frenkel Topping - Resilient with strong growth potential

FY 2023 was a challenging year for Frenkel with higher interest rates encouraging clients to place money into lower margin money market funds. Despite this, sales grew +32% (supported by recurring revenue +9% and +51% in non-recurring), EBIT margins remained strong at 22% and adj. EPS grew +17% (taking into account the higher number of shares). FY 2024 has seen a solid start to transactional business and there is a strong pipeline of new FUM opportunities both of which support further growth. Wi

S&U - PBT ahead, encouraging volume trends

S&U reported FY24 PBT of £33.6m, down from £41.4m in FY23 on higher funding and regulatory costs and higher impairments in Advantage in H2. PBT was 2% ahead of our forecast as stronger revenues – up 12% to £115.4m – and better costs offset higher-than-expected impairments. Net receivables grew to a record at both Advantage and Aspen and management noted particular strength in Q4 and a good trading environment in the current year. Having absorbed a significant rise in funding cost as well as addi

Hardman & Co Insight: 2023 was an annus horribilis for Quoted UK Infrastructure and Renewable Energy

The focus of Hardman & Co Research is on the nine quoted Infrastructure Investment Companies (IICs) and on the 22 Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs): the stocks analysed are all members of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). We are updating our publication of January 2023, assessing both the lacklustre share price performances during 2023 and the key issues, including interest rates, inflation and power prices. As a 31-strong group, its combined market capitalisation is no

Foresight Solar Fund - Termination of coverage

Edison Investment Research is terminating coverage on ABC Arbitrage (ABCA), paragon (PGN), Foresight Solar Fund (FSFL), Kendrion (KENDR), Lithium Power International (LPI), Triple Point Energy Transition (TENT), 4iG (4IG), e-therapeutics (ETX), Pharnext (ALPHA) and Shield Therapeutics (STX). Please note you should no longer rely on any previous research or estimates for this company. All forecasts should now be considered redundant. Previously published reports can still be accessed via our web

International Public Partnerships - Consistently and responsibly delivering

International Public Partnerships’ (INPP’s) FY23 results show that it continues to deliver consistent and predictable returns for investors, while delivering environmental and social benefits for the individuals and communities that are served by its assets. Despite this strong performance and a substantial need for private infrastructure funding, the macroeconomic environment has weighed on INPP’s share price, in common with the wider sector. Regardless, attractive returns are available from th

Regional REIT - Performing as expected ahead of refinancing

In a challenging market, Regional REIT’s (RGL’s) FY23 operational and financial performance was robust, in line with expectations and previous guidance. Investor focus remains on the company’s loan to value (LTV) reduction and bond refinancing plans, explored in detail in our previous note and RGL will provide an update on this in due course.

LIBERUM: PayPoint: On track for £100m of EBITDA in FY 26

LIBERUM: Speedy Hire: Weakness in FY 24 but recovery in FY 25

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 22 April 2024

22nd April 2024 * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: Reverse Takeovers: 16 April 2024: Electric Guitar (ELEG.L) Concurrent with its Admission to trading on AIM, Electric Guitar is proposing to acquire the entire issued share capital of 3radi

Witan

Business as usual for WTAN’s executive team, while the board reviews investment management arrangements…

Foxtons Group (FOXT LN) - 1Q24 IMS shows real momentum

Foxtons Group plc first quarter revenue rose 9% to £35.7m (1Q23: £32.9m) with growth delivered across all business segments. Trading is in line with management's expectations.

The Hardman & Co Monthly: April 2024

Feature article: Steady as she goes, but could be better: A review of investment company liquidity since 2016 Liquidity is the lifeblood of equity markets. The measurement of liquid asset availability to a market or company is a way of gauging a market’s health. This article builds on our previous work, which analysed the liquidity data for non-financial trading companies, by applying the same analytical techniques to the investment companies (IC) space. We analyse liquidity for ICs as a whol

H&T Group (HAT): Core franchise build, short-term retail noise

In our 15 March 2023 initiation, 'Pawnbroking royalty, with strong, profitable growth', and subsequent notes, we have highlighted the strong market for pawnbroking and why H&T, as the market leader, is uniquely placed to take advantage of these opportunities. These results reconfirmed both, with the pledge book up 28% and net pawnbroking revenue up 36%. Like many in the retail space, H&T faced the challenge of customers focusing on lower-value, lower-margin items in the key run-up to Christmas 2