Volta Finance Ld Volta Finance Limited - Net Asset Value(s) As At 31 December 2020
January 13 2021 - 12:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMVTA
Volta Finance Limited (VTA / VTAS) -- December 2020 monthly report
NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR PART, IN OR
INTO THE UNITED STATES
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Guernsey, 13 January 2021
AXA IM has published the Volta Finance Limited (the "Company" or "Volta
Finance" or "Volta") monthly report for December. The full report is
attached to this release and will be available on Volta's website
shortly (
https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=ctcgiZMdoykhgS2BiBtG9v-gCXN7fKTQ96MBmuDb4amQ2i162dY3z84XFouUEEcADpBm7g2VXs7Hv1gD6K_S4-KtTQftMuDuTCGqwVXip1Y=
www.voltafinance.com).
PERFORMANCE and PORTFOLIO ACTIVITY
In December, the monthly performance of Volta was +4.3% dividend payable
included, another strong performance following the announcements
regarding the availability of vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The performance was mainly driven once again by the CLO debt and equity
buckets. This brings the performance for the full year to -5.7%.
Whilst it is, of course, disappointing to have generated a negative
return for the year as a whole, the recovery from the lows at the end of
March has been very strong, with a gain of 41.8% in the last 9-month
period. As noted below, we anticipate a solid performance in 2021.
The monthly asset class performances** were in euro: -0.2% for Bank
Balance Sheet transactions, +9.7% for CLO equity tranches; +5.9% for CLO
Debt; +0.5% for Cash Corporate Credit deals (this bucket comprises funds
that have a one-month delay in publishing their NAV); and -0.9% for ABS.
The continuing strong performance of CLO equity positions reinforces our
conviction that we may be able to refinance or even reset some of our
CLO equity positions in 2021. This would reduce the average cost of
debt that constitutes the embedded leverage for our CLO equity
positions. As the WAS (Weighted Average Spread) of the underlying loan
pools is still increasing and might continue to increase in the coming
quarters thanks to repayments of existing loans, we can reasonably
expect that cash flows from our CLO equity positions will increase
through 2021.
In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, almost 19% of the US loans
prepaid, reducing occurrences of default and allowing CLO managers to
reinvest in loans at discount or in new loans with higher spreads. We
expect loan prepayments to be higher still in 2021, near 25% for the US
and 20% in Europe. This will further improve the performance of our CLO
equity positions.
Turning to default rates, December marked the second successive month in
which the trailing 12-month default rate declined in the US. Our view
continues to be that the COVID pandemic will continue to generate
defaults in both the US and the European loan markets, probably for a
few years, but at a manageable pace.
As in prior years, January should be a solid month for CLO equity cash
flows to Volta.
In December 2020 interest and coupons received totaled the equivalent of
EUR0.7m for Volta. On a 6-month rolling basis, Volta received the
equivalent of EUR18.1m as at the end of December, representing a 14.8%
annualised cash flow yield, based on the end December NAV (even taking
into account the strong increase in NAV). We expect this amount to
increase in the coming months.
This combination of advantageous factors for our CLO Equity positions,
which account for a total of 61% of the NAV, alongside the likelihood of
further spread compression in CLO Debt and other positions means that
the outlook for 2021 and beyond is favorable for Volta. There will, no
doubt, be ongoing bouts of volatility in markets but we are optimistic
that the NAV should reach EUR7.00 per share at some point in 2021 and
then to EUR7.50 per share in the medium term which, combined with a
dividend close to 8% of NAV represents an attractive return stream
especially when considering the discount to the NAV at which the shares
are currently trading.
As at the end of December 2020, Volta's NAV was EUR244.0m or EUR6.67 per
share after the payment of EUR0.12 dividend in December.
The month-end available cash position was EUR7.0m.
*It should be noted that approximately 8.0% of Volta's GAV comprises
investments 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 NAV on as timely a basis as possible to
provide shareholders with Volta's appropriately up-to-date NAV
information. Consequently, such investments are valued using the most
recently available NAV for each fund or quoted price for such
subordinated note. The most recently available fund NAV or quoted price
was for 3.0% as at 30 November 2020, 3.9% as at 31 October 2020, and
1.1% as at 30 September 2020.
** "performances" of asset classes are calculated as the
Dietz-performance of the assets in each bucket, taking into account the
Mark-to-Market of the assets at period ends, 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.
CONTACTS
For the Investment Manager
AXA Investment Managers Paris
Serge Demay
https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=tCHJ5aDFnZefw9XFlXDCPyjGTny9O69uz29Fq8ulqNtbqTwBH4jEbQIksDnbe1QOv5TtXTjA8kCnl2Y7-lp8GjtLcPy1gOX5jAxf4PZWR8I=
serge.demay@axa-im.com
+33 (0) 1 44 45 84 47
Company Secretary and Administrator
BNP Paribas Securities Services S.C.A, Guernsey Branch
https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=hIiLPn3EmYv304RzSjfkr_c_iTQ9jdI866Wh8pyXKaG6ZSkFUVljtKSu-cGLZ1DMoO5thfPT3fLZThEXpcpyTpfM31OS3nLcjaMuFqqwZJmP5MGT290hdDGb_dPk9lGdJKpZv4LEjsTBQiYjPxFFWn8yQQJPtmfDcJod8nF8UPAaecPN8WV_PFGJHysf8-5OwzhI0L49XSVOEdkLMEt1703jpOppzIPd5_NJ53NsCcsYD2iVvN3a0mJ5wNJEBwY48xMK_pA93fd7p_FTijdSBEpX2SJ-B2Wly9DZXUVZfiv7OgKlPGobo_UTqAXQQ4zsPoIOr51Mn0eVusC3kyn_erBpgQgckHZybg3LvvxQvTWJKRMSj_14WS_jwdZlKGUo
guernsey.bp2s.volta.cosec@bnpparibas.com
+44 (0) 1481 750 853
Corporate Broker
Cenkos Securities plc
Andrew Worne
Daniel Balabanoff
Rob Naylor
+44 (0) 20 7397 8900
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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.
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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 753 investment professionals and EUR801 billion in assets
under management as of the end of April 2020.
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This press release is published by AXA Investment Managers Paris ("AXA
IM"), in its capacity as alternative investment fund manager (within the
meaning of Directive 2011/61/EU, the "AIFM Directive") of Volta Finance
Limited (the "Volta Finance") whose portfolio is managed by AXA IM.
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. Volta Finance 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.
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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.
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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 Finance'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. AXA IM 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.
The figures provided that relate to past months or years and past
performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance or
construed as a reliable indicator as to future performance. Throughout
this review, the citation of specific trades or strategies is intended
to illustrate some of the investment methodologies and philosophies of
Volta Finance, as implemented by AXA IM. The historical success or AXA
IM's belief in the future success, of any of these trades or strategies
is not indicative of, and has no bearing on, future results.
The valuation of financial assets can vary significantly from the prices
that the AXA IM could obtain if it sought to liquidate the positions on
behalf of the Volta Finance due to market conditions and general
economic environment. Such valuations do not constitute a fairness or
similar opinion and should not be regarded as such.
Editor: AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS PARIS, a company incorporated under the
laws of France, having its registered office located at Tour Majunga, 6,
Place de la Pyramide - 92800 Puteaux. AXA IMP is authorized by the
Autorité des Marchés Financiers under registration number
GP92008 as an alternative investment fund manager within the meaning of
the AIFM Directive.
*****
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 13, 2021 12:00 ET (17:00 GMT)
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