Shares in Woodford Patient Capital slide after latest revaluation
Woodford Patient Capital Trust has seen its net asset value decline after the valuation of its holding in a controversial technology company was cut.
The trust said that a "delay in operational progress" at IH Holdings International had led to a downward revaluation, which would reduce NAV by around 5.0p per share.
IH Holdings - also known as Industrial Heat - specialises in cold fusion, an unproven process the company believes could achieve nuclear reaction at low temperatures. It is WPCT’s sixth-largest holding and this is the second time it has been marked down this year.
Link Fund Solutions, the fund’s administrator, also revalued another business in the portfolio. The business - which was not named - had been written down in September because of a "challenging" fundraising environment but had since secured funding.
It has therefore been upwardly revalued, which will increase NAV by around 0.7 per share, bringing the total net NAV fall to 4.3p per share.
Shares in the listed trust have been hit hard by the fallout surrounding disgraced stockpicker Neil Woodford. They fell especially sharply last month, when Woodford announced he would close Woodford Investment Management following months of controversy.
The stock had made but a partial recovery but Monday’s update weighed heavily and by 1145 GMT, the shares were trading 7% lower at 35.10p.
Woodford resigned as manager of the trust in October. Schroders has been lined up to take over managing WPCT from the end of the year.