Crystal Amber Fund Limited Monthly Net Asset Value

 
TIDMCRS 
 
8 January 2018 
 
 
                          CRYSTAL AMBER FUND LIMITED 
 
                     ("Crystal Amber Fund" or the "Fund") 
 
                            Monthly Net Asset Value 
 
 
Crystal Amber Fund announces that its unaudited net asset value ("NAV") per 
share at 31 December 2017 was 190.69 pence (30 November 2017: 186.55 pence per 
share). 
 
The proportion of the Fund's NAV at 31 December 2017 represented by the ten 
largest shareholdings, other investments and cash (including accruals), was as 
follows: 
 
Top ten shareholdings          Pence per share Percentage of investee equity 
                                               held 
 
Hurricane Energy plc                49.9                     8.0% 
 
Northgate plc                       26.9                     5.2% 
 
FairFX Group plc                    19.0                     15.3% 
 
STV Group plc                       18.4                     14.5% 
 
NCC Group plc                       13.4                     2.0% 
 
Ocado Group plc                     13.2                     0.5% 
 
Leaf Clean Energy Co.               10.1                     29.9% 
 
Sutton Harbour Holdings plc          7.9                     29.3% 
 
GI Dynamics Inc                      4.3                     46.7% 
 
Camellia plc                         2.9                     0.9% 
 
Total of ten largest holdings       166.0 
 
Other investments                   26.1 
 
Cash and accruals                   -1.4 
 
Total NAV                           190.7 
 
Investment Adviser's commentary on the portfolio 
 
Over the quarter to 31 December 2017, NAV per share decreased by 6.1%.  Taking 
into account the 2.5p per share dividend accrued during the period, NAV per 
share decreased by 4.9%. 
 
The top contributors over the quarter were Ocado Group plc (+1.7%) and FairFX 
Group plc (+1.0%).  The main detractors were Northgate plc (-1.6%), Leaf Clean 
Energy Co. (-1.5%), GI Dynamics Inc (-1.4%) and Hurricane Energy plc (-1.4%). 
 
Hurricane Energy plc ("Hurricane") 
 
Hurricane's share price fell by 5.3% over the quarter. The Fund notes with 
regret the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Hurricane's Chairman, 
Rob Arnott. The company also announced the establishment of a Listing and 
Governance Committee and the appointment of an Interim Chairman.  The Fund has 
engaged with Hurricane's Board to improve the company's governance and to 
release value. The Fund welcomes the company's announcement in December that it 
intends to become fully compliant with UK Corporate Governance Code Provision 
B.1.2 regarding the appointment of non-executive directors and its statement 
that the director nomination processes, succession planning and Board 
evaluations are integral parts of a well-functioning, effective Board, and will 
form part of the ongoing Board strengthening activities. 
 
In December, the company published an updated Competent Person's Report, which 
acted as a positive catalyst for the stock. The report primarily covers the 
Halifax, Lincoln and Warwick assets, and raises the estimate of Hurricane's 
total 2P Reserves plus 2C Contingent Resources to 2.6 billion barrels of oil 
equivalent. 
 
Hurricane remains on track to achieve "first oil" from its Early Production 
System at Lancaster in the first half of 2019, and in December it hosted a 
visit to the floating production, storage and offloading vessel in Dubai that 
will form the basis of the development once its upgrades are complete. 
 
Northgate plc ("Northgate") 
 
At its Capital Markets Day in October, Northgate's new management team laid out 
in considerable detail its strategy to return the UK business to growth and its 
three-year growth and margin expectations for the UK and Spain. These imply 
earnings growth above analyst forecasts.  However, the share price fell by 
12.1% over the quarter following earnings downgrades after the H1 results, 
largely driven by lower forecasts of profit from the sale of vehicles, despite 
residual values having remained stable to date. 
 
The Fund is supportive of management's efforts to arrest market share losses in 
the UK, optimise the vehicle hire site network, and maximise the opportunity 
presented by the Van Monster retail network and brand. In Spain, Northgate is 
the clear leader in the LCV flexible hire market, with a strong brand, good 
geographic coverage and attractive return on assets - management expects to 
achieve >10% CAGR in vehicles-on-hire over the next three years, together with 
the consequent further growth in margins. 
 
The Fund believes that the considerable value of Northgate's Spanish business 
is not reflected in its share price and that options to release the value of 
this asset should be explored, including ways that could preserve procurement 
synergies with the UK, e.g. a partial listing in Spain. 
 
Ocado Group plc ("Ocado") 
 
The Fund's investment thesis is based on the returns arising from Ocado's 
technology investment (the Ocado Smart Platform ("OSP")) and Ocado's ability to 
monetise this through international partnerships. The Fund believes that Ocado 
offers a scalable, efficient solution to major food retailers.  In November, 
Ocado announced its first major international partnership deal for the OSP, 
with Casino in France.  Ocado's share price increased by 35.7% over the 
quarter. 
 
Sutton Harbour Holdings plc ("Sutton Harbour") 
 
On 7 December 2017, the board of Sutton Harbour recommended to its shareholders 
a partial cash offer from FB Investors LLP for up to 70% of its share capital, 
which concludes the strategic review process undertaken in conjunction with 
Rothschild. The Fund has accepted this offer. On 3 January 2018, the partial 
offer was declared wholly unconditional. Sutton Harbour's share price increased 
by 7.6% over the quarter. 
 
Transactions in Own Shares 
 
Over the quarter, the Fund bought back 322,482 of its own shares at an average 
price of 180.1p per share as part of its buyback programme.  These shares are 
held in Treasury. 
 
For further enquiries please contact: 
 
Crystal Amber Fund Limited 
 
Chris Waldron (Chairman) 
 
Tel: 01481 716 000 
 
www.crystalamber.com 
 
Allenby Capital Limited - Nominated Adviser 
 
David Worlidge/James Thomas/Liz Kirchner 
 
Tel: 020 3328 5656 
 
Winterflood Investment Trusts - Broker 
 
Joe Winkley/Neil Langford 
 
Tel: 020 3100 0160 
 
Crystal Amber Advisers (UK) LLP - Investment Adviser 
 
Richard Bernstein 
 
Tel: 020 7478 9080 
 
 
 
END
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