Honeycomb buzzing about growing NAV during challenging time
Honeycomb has hailed its “impressive half-year results” after describing the economic conditions in the first six months of 2020 as “some of the most challenging in recent memory.”
It comes as the alternative finance-focused investment trust reported a net asset value (NAV) return of 8.2 per cent for the first half of the year, which is an improvement from the 7.5 per cent it reported for the same period of 2019.
Robert Sharpe, chair of Honeycomb, said the company has focused on managing existing assets, deleveraging the portfolio and returning cash to shareholders through share buybacks.
He said the performance of the underlying credit assets has remained stable throughout the Covid-19 crisis.
Read more: What is going on at Pollen Street Secured Lending?
“The manager has worked very closely with borrowers to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the portfolio,” Sharpe said.
“Cash collections and forbearance statistics are tracked daily for both the whole loan portfolio, where the company owns loans directly, and the underlying loan portfolios of structured loan facilities.
“The company’s strong performance through the challenging environment has positioned it well for the remainder of 2020.
“The board continues to monitor the economy and the portfolio very closely but expects the group to be in a position to capitalise on some compelling new opportunities over the coming months.”
It comes as Honeycomb ruled out a new merger approach for Pollen Street Secured Lending, which is also run by the same manager Pollen Street Capital.
Honeycomb is currently trading at a discount to NAV of 11 per cent and has said it is committed to more share buybacks to get this closer to five per cent.
