Woodford Patient Capital Trust scores 6.9% NAV increase

Woodford Patient Capital Trust climbed on Friday as it reported an increase in net asset value after a number of companies in its portfolio entered the commercialisation phase.

The FTSE 250 listed trust, which is run by fund manager Neil Woodford, reported a 6.9% increase in net assets to £0.81m for 2018, up from £0.76m the year before, while net asset value per share rose to 97.61p from 91.33p.

Susan Searle, chair of Woodford Patient Capital, said: "Last year, I commented on tangible signs that many of the companies in the Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) portfolio were making good progress and that we hoped to see this reflected in financial performance in the forthcoming year. The progress made by some of WPCT’s larger unquoted holdings has resulted, in part, in the increase in net asset value during the period of 6.9%."

Among the biggest success stories was Autolus, which completed its initial public offering and saw its shares were 90% higher than the initial $17 per share price.

Woodford holds a 10.2% stake in the business T-cell therapy developer.

"The portfolio's success stories are gradually beginning to account for a larger proportion of assets, so this has meant that the contribution from the positive uplifts was significantly greater than the contribution from the negatives," said Woodford. manager.

Others that contributed to the uplift in NAV included artificial intelligence firm Beneveolent AI, British gene analysis Oxford Nanopore and Welsh proton therapy facilities developer Proton Partners International, which entered the commercialisation phase in 2018.

"The objective of WPCT remains the same. The portfolio is well established with strength and depth, while there have been solid signs of progress this year. The Portfolio Manager has previously stated that performance should be judged on a three-to-five-year view," said Searle.

Woodford Patient Capital Trust's shares were up 2.96% at 83.40p at 1549 BST.