First Capital S.p.A. ("First Capital" or the "Company"), a financial holding specializing in Private Investments in Public Equity and Private Equity investments, has announced that the Board of Directors has reviewed the Company's financial position as of September 30, 2023, determining the Net Asset Value ("NAV") as of that date.
First Capital's total NAV as of September 30, 2023 amounts to ?72.5 million (including ?3.3 million belonging to third parties), equivalent to ?24.6 per share in circulation. In the third quarter of 2023, First Capital's NAV Total Return recorded a variation of -1.3%, bringing the overall variation compared to December 31, 2022 to -8.0%, impacted by downward pressure on the entire segment of Italian small caps during the period, due to the lack of liquidity (low trading volumes) and significant outflows from equity funds, particularly PIR funds (FTSE Italia Small Cap -7.0% and FTSE Italia Growth -10% in the first nine months of 2023).
In absolute terms, the NAV shows a decrease of ?6.7 million compared to December 31, 2022 (when it amounted to ?79.2 million), attributable to the decrease in the value of the investment portfolio during the period and the distribution of dividends in cash and shares totaling ?1.8 million in June 2023.
Despite the volatility of stock prices, the strategic investments held by the Company's subsidiaries demonstrate their ability to react to the current extraordinarily complex macroeconomic environment, reporting, in most cases, positive and growing results for the first half of 2023 and/or the first nine months of 2023.
This confirms the strength of the First Capital Group's portfolio. It should also be noted that the main changes in the composition of the portfolio during the first nine months of 2023 involved the sale of holdings in Net Insurance and Labomar, both in response to takeover bids launched on them.
Regarding Net Insurance, the completed operation in April generated a capital gain of ?5.0 million, a cash multiple of 2.0x, and an IRR exceeding 25%. With regard to Labomar, the sale, completed in August, generated a capital gain of ?2.6 million, a cash multiple of 1.7x, and an IRR of approximately 20%.
In the balance sheet of the NAV as of September 30, 2023, assets amount to ?98.3 million, consisting of the investment portfolio, which amounts to ?79.7 million, and liquidity and cash equivalents of ?17.4 million, and other assets of ?1.3 million. Consolidated financial liabilities amount to ?23.5 million and mainly relate to the convertible bond loan "First Capital cv 2019-2026 3.75%" (?17.3 million) and the debt securities issued by V.F.
Adhesives S.r.l., the Group's investment vehicle holding the stake in the subsidiary Industrie Chimiche Forestali (?5.0 million). For more information, please refer to the Quarterly NAV Report as of September 30, 2023, which will be available on the Company's website www.firstcapital.it, in the Investor Relations/Financial Results/Net Asset Value section.
(NEWS Traderlink)