18 July 2023

UIL LIMITED

(LEI Number: 213800CTZ7TEIE7YM468)

Publication of monthly factsheet

The latest monthly factsheet for UIL Limited ("UIL" or the "Company") will shortly be available through the Company's website at:

https://www.uil.limited/investor-relations/factsheet-archive

Monthly commentary

PERFORMANCE

UIL's NAV total return was 2.9% in June, outperforming the FTSE All Share total return Index which rose by 1.0% over the same period.

Equity markets were mostly positive in June. The Federal Reserve didn't raise interest rates at its June meeting, although indicated that it was likely that additional increases in the benchmark interest rate would be appropriate in the coming months. The European Central Bank did raise interest rates by 25bps to 4.0% in June and the Bank of England surprised markets with its 50bps rise to the benchmark rate of 5.0%. The 25bps rise in Australian interest rates in June was also largely unexpected.

The S&P 500 Index was up 6.5% over the month, while in Europe the Eurostoxx rose by 4.3%. In Australia, the ASX-200 advanced by 1.6%.

China continues to experience a cooling of export demand and consumer confidence remains fragile, particularly driven by concerns about the real estate market.

In the currency markets, the Australian Dollar, Sterling and the Euro strengthened in response to interest rate rises. The US Dollar weakened with the DXY (US Dollar) Index falling by 1.4% in the month and the US Dollar down 2.5% against Sterling. Sterling declined 0.3% against the Australian Dollar and gained 0.2% against the Euro. The Chinese Renminbi was noticeably weaker, declining by 4.7% against Sterling.

Commodities were mixed in June, with gold and silver prices falling by 2.2% and 3.3% respectively. Copper recovered some of May's weakness, rising by 2.9% in June, but Nickel remained weaker, ending the month 0.4% cheaper than at the end of May. Oil prices also recovered some of May's declines with the Brent crude oil price gaining 3.1% in June.

PORTFOLIO

There was one change to the top ten constituents of the UIL portfolio in June, with Arria NLG replacing Carebook Technologies on relative performance.

Somers' valuation declined by 3.9% in June, reflecting the Resimac share price which fell by 2.2% due to ongoing concerns over net interest margins and the competitive nature of the Australian mortgage market. Resimac is also a top ten direct shareholding for UIL.

Zeta Resources' NAV rose by 1.3% in June and the discount narrowed, with the share price rising by 8.9%. Hudbay Minerals completed the share-based acquisition of Copper Mountain, creating the third largest copper producer in Canada and becoming Zeta's second largest holding. Hudbay's share price rose 9.1% in June.

The valuation of Allectus Quantum was increased by 214.1% due to continued progress against the business strategy by Diraq, its principal holding. However, Allectus Capital's carrying value was reduced by 19.9% over the month.

DEBT

Bank and other debt increased over the month to £42.7m drawn in Sterling and US Dollars. There were no foreign exchange hedges as at the end of June 2023.

ZDP SHARES

The share prices of the 2024 and 2026 ZDP shares was unchanged over the month at 123.50p and 114.50p respectively, while the price of the 2028 ZDP shares appreciated by 2.7% to 96.50p.

OTHER

UIL's ordinary share price increased by 1.0% to 145.00p in June and the discount to NAV widened slightly to 27.2% from 26.6%. 

UIL's third quarterly interim dividend of 2.00p per ordinary share in respect of the year ending 30 June 2023, was paid on 26 June 2023 to shareholders on the register on 2 June 2023.

Name of contact and telephone number for enquiries:

Charles Jillings

ICM Investment Management Limited                                 +44(0)1372 271486