Volta Finance Limited (VTA) - October 2016 monthly report
NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES
***** Guernsey, 21 November 2016
Volta Finance Limited (the "Company" or "Volta Finance" or "Volta") has published its monthly report. The full report is attached to this release and is available on Volta's website (www.voltafinance.com).
PERFORMANCE and PORTFOLIO ACTIVITY
In October, Volta's Estimated NAV 1 performance was 2.0%, in line with modest positive performance in most credit markets.
As at the end of October, the YTD NAV performance was 10.9%, adjusting for the April and September dividend payments. After 12.4% in 2014 and 10.0% in 2015, 2016 is so far another good year for Volta and its shareholders.
In October, Volta purchased two CLO Equity positions in the secondary market (one USD and one Euro tranche) for a total of the equivalent of €4.3m and sold two positions (one ABS Debt asset and one emerging market credit CDO) for a total of the equivalent of €6.1m. On average and based on standard market assumptions, the purchases were executed with an average expected yield close to 10.5% and the sales were traded with an average expected yield of close to 5%.
At the end of October 2016, Volta's Estimated NAV 1 was €300.1m or €8.21 per share. The GAV stood at €342.3m.
In October, mark-to-market variations 2 of Volta's asset classes were: -0.4% for Synthetic Corporate Credit deals; +3.0% for CLO Equity tranches; +0.4% for CLO Debt tranches, +1.9% for Cash Corporate Credit deals; and, -0.1% for ABS.
In October, Volta generated the equivalent 3 of €6.0m in interest and coupons net of repo costs, bringing the total cash amount generated during the last six months in terms of interest and coupons during the last six months to €15.8m.
Cash holdings or cash equivalent instruments at the end of October totaled €10.6m and the Company can be considered as almost fully invested. Considering the significant rally that occurred on CLO Debt tranches during the summer, AXA IM expects to continue selling some of its old positions and buying more recently issued deals in order to increase the projected yield of the portfolio.
Since the end of October, the US Dollar appreciated somewhat against the Euro which was beneficial to Volta as the US Dollar exposure was in the area of 30%. US mid and long term rates have increased toward levels unseen for some time and Volta added some duration in mid-November through the US 5YR Note Future. AXA IM believes that fixed rate exposure (at a reasonable level) can provide a good hedge against further potential economic disappointments.
AXA IM continues to see opportunities in several structured credit sectors including mezzanine and equity tranches of CLOs, RMBS tranches and tranches of Cash Corporate Credit and Synthetic Corporate Credit portfolios.
Volta announced its next quarterly dividend payment: €16 cents per share to be paid on 22 December 2016, bringing the total dividend payments for 2016 to €62 cents per share (a yield of 8.7% based on the end of October 2016 share price.
1 It should be noted that approximately 10.9% of Volta's GAV comprises investments in funds for which the relevant NAVs as at the month-end date are normally available only after Volta's NAV has already been published. Volta's policy is to publish its own NAV on as timely a basis as possible in order to provide shareholders with Volta's appropriately up-to-date NAV information. Consequently, such investments in funds are valued using the most recently available NAV for each fund. The most recently available fund NAV was as at: 30 September 2016 for 7.5% of Volta's GAV and as at 31 August 2016 for 3.4% of Volta's GAV.
2 "Mark-to-market variation" is calculated as the Dietz-performance of the assets in each bucket, taking into account the Mark-to-Market of the assets at month-end, payments received from the assets over the period, and ignoring changes in cross currency rates. Nevertheless, some residual currency effects could impact the aggregate value of the portfolio when aggregating each bucket.
3 N on-euro amounts translated into euro using end-of-month cross currency rates.
CONTACTS
For the Investment Manager AXA Investment Managers Paris Serge Demay Serge.demay@axa-im.com +33 (0) 1 44 45 84 47
Company Secretary and Portfolio Administrator Sanne Group (Guernsey) Limited voltafinance@sannegroup.com +44 (0) 1481 739810
Corporate Broker Cenkos Securities plc Alan Ray Oliver Packard Sapna Shah +44 (0) 20 7397 1916
***** ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities. Volta's home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands.
Volta's investment objectives are to preserve capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its shareholders through dividends. Volta seeks to attain its investment objectives predominantly through diversified investments in structured finance assets. The assets that the Company may invest in either directly or indirectly include, but are not limited to: corporate credits; sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt; residential mortgage loans; and, automobile loans. The Company's approach to investment is through vehicles and arrangements that essentially provide leveraged exposure to portfolios of such underlying assets. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets.
***** ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with €679 billion in assets under management as of the end of June 2016. AXA IM employs approximately 2,399 people around the world.
***** This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer for sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are "U.S. persons" for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or otherwise in circumstances where such offer would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration from the Securities Act. The company does not intend to register any portion of the offer of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States.
***** This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.
***** This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "anticipated", "expects", "intends", "is/are expected", "may", "will" or "should". They include the statements regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and its impact on the long-term return of Volta's investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance's actual results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. Volta Finance does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements.
Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved.
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