Profits crumble 63 per cent at investment firm SVG Capital
INVESTMENT manager SVG Capital’s distributions soared in 2014 despite slow growth, the firm said yesterday.
SVG offered shareholders a company record of £330m in distributions for the year, up over £25m since 2013. SVG’s partial selldown of Hugo Boss shares and selling of ProSiebenSat.1 Media contributed to the gains.
However, SVG’s 2014 pre-tax profit of £110.4m plummeted 63 per cent from last year’s profits of over £300m.
Total returns were also lukewarm. While 2014 enjoyed returns of 10 per cent, the SVG’s fifth consecutive year of double digits, 2013 saw returns of 28.9 per cent.
“The significant headwinds of foreign exchange” hampered total returns this year, according to chief executive Lynn Fordham.
Net asset value (Nav) growth slowed to 14 per cent in 2014, while 2013 posted 31.59 per cent Nav growth.
Despite the mixed results, the company’s investment portfolio developed steadily in 2014. SVG’s top ten companies only make up 66 per cent of its 2014 portfolio, falling 22 percentage points since 2013.