Dunedin quoted trust reports £24m profit

Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust, a quoted investment trust managed by Dunedin Capital Partners, has reported a profit of £24.1 million (€35 million) in its preliminary results for the year ended 30 April 2006.
 
The trust generated £70 million of sales for the period, including the exits of Caledonian Building Systems, a UK modular building business, sold to trade buyer Champion Enterprises of the US for £62 million, providing a money multiple of 5.8x and an IRR of 100 percent since the original £37 million MBO in November 2003; and Letts Filofax Group, sold to Phoenix Equity Partners in a £45 million secondary buyout in March of this year, generating proceeds of £42.2 million, a 6x money multiple and an IRR of 52 percent on Dunedin’s original £7.1m investment in 2000.
 
Net asset value per share increased by 19.7 percent to 498.2 pence per share, while the company’s share price increased by 35.4 percent over the same period. Dunedin said the trust’s board has recommended a final dividend of 7.45 pence, making a total dividend for the year of 9.45 pence, a five percent increase on the previous year.
 
Dunedin’s results follow strong performances by fellow quoted private equity trusts in the UK, including HgCapital Trust, which reported 30 percent growth in net assets in 2005 and realised £52.4 million from realisations, a record for the trust, of which £35.4 million was reinvested in new and follow-on investments.
 
Graphite Enterprise, the quoted trust of Graphite Capital Management, reported a 22.6 percent increase in net assets per share and £86.2 million in realisations, representing 57 percent of the opening portfolio, compared to an average of 34 percent for the eight years prior to 2004.
 
Investments during the year for Dunedin totalled £21.6 million, including a £7.5 million investment in the buyout of fleet management specialist Zenith Vehicle Contracts in July 2005; and £4.3 million for the November buyout of Practice Plan, a provider of payment schemes for dental practices.
 
Dunedin said that the trust currently has total net assets of £151.3 million.
 
Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust has committed £75 million to Dunedin Buyout Fund II, which is understood to have a target size of £150 million. Dunedin declined to comment on current fundraising.
 
The new vehicle is the successor to Dunedin Buyout Fund I, which closed with £54 million of commitments in December 2002.