Honeycomb sees 13pc growth in assets in third quarter

THE HONEYCOMB Investment Trust reported strong growth in the third quarter, with investment assets rising by 13 per cent to £562m thanks to originations of £130m.

The alternative lending-focused investment fund said on Tuesday that it generated a 0.67 per cent net asset value (NAV) return per share in September under the new IFRS 9 accounting rules, flat from August’s figure.

Third-quarter returns were 1.97 per cent, Honeycomb said, bringing total returns since inception to 23.13 per cent on an IFRS 9 basis.

The London-listed fund said its portfolio has shown broadly consistent growth across all three sectors – consumer, property and small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) – with consumer and property making up the majority of its investments.

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“The company believes the portfolio is well positioned with over 75 per cent of the credit assets benefiting from either credit enhancement or being purchased portfolios with seasoning,” it said in its monthly update.

“Notable transactions in the quarter include providing senior financing against a pool of secured SME loans, and the acquisition of a pool of well seasoned small balance mixed residential and commercial mortgages.”

Honeycomb recently revealed that it plans to boost its SME exposure as it sees an “attractive opportunity” in this area.

Its latest update showed that 52 per cent of its portfolio is in consumer loans, 35 per cent is in property and 12 per cent is in SME debt.