Craven House Capital NAV falls on Pressfit write-down

Merchant bank Craven House Capital posted a drop in net asset value for the year to the end of May, as the company took a hit from the write-down of Pressfit Holdings.

Net asset value fell to £4.7m at year end from £5.5m last year, mostly due to the write-down of Pressfit, which was listed on the AIM market and then de-listed during the period after failing to find a new nominated adviser within the deadline set by stock exchange rules.

Craven House said the message this sent to suppliers and customers was not helpful and demoralised both management and the workforce.

In addition, the company said the emerging and frontier markets in which it operates have suffered over the past year, adding that this trend has yet to run its course.

“In fact, we believe capital will continue to flee the emerging markets. This trend will be reinforced when the US interest rates begin to climb. Carry trades will be unwound and the landscape where capital was recently abundant will now be barren. A flood of liquidity will soon turn to drought,” said acting chairman Mark Pajak.

At 1027 GMT, shares were down 41% to 0.4150p.