Apax Global Alpha NAV down slightly in third quarter

Apax Global Alpha posted its quarterly results for the three months to 30 September on Tuesday, with adjusted net asset value slightly down at €889.6m compared to €894.4m at 30 June.

The London-listed company said this was mainly due to the semi-annual dividend paid in the quarter of €22.4m

Adjusted net asset value per share was €1.81 for the third quarter, after a dividend of 4.59 euro cents per share compared to €1.82 at the start of the period.

The board said the total return in the quarter was 2.0%, although on a constant currency basis it was 2.6%, reflecting the appreciation of the euro against the US dollar and sterling.

Apax Global Alpha was 93% invested and had a cash balance of €65.6m at quarter end.

Its board claimed a “well-balanced invested portfolio” with private Equity at 51% and derived investments at 49%.

Sector exposure was spread across all of Apax Partners' focus industries, with technology and telco the most heavily weighted sector, accounting for 38% of the invested portfolio.

The company’s geographic bias remained towards North America, representing 57% of the invested portfolio.

Portfolio performance improved for the three months, with the board claiming income and unrealised gains in derived investments as the driving factors.

Total return year-to-date to 30 September was 1.3%, and total return since IPO was 7.0%.

In the third quarter, derived debt investments were up 3.3% and derived equity investments were up 9.1% .

Private Equity was largely flat during the period at -0.2%, as a result of a slowdown in underlying companies' earnings growth and a lower valuation of AGA's holding in Apax Europe VII carried interest.