VOLTA FINANCE - RESULTS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2008
NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN
OR INTO THE UNITED STATES
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Guernsey, 31 October 2008 - Volta Finance Limited has published its
results for the financial year ended 31 July 2008. The Annual Report
and Accounts 2008 is attached to this release and is available on
Volta Finance Limited's financial website (www.voltafinance.com).
A conference call for analysts and investors will be held on 31
October 2008 at 15:00 (France time) / 14:00 (UK time) to discuss the
annual results.
* Investors calling from the UK may access the conference by
dialing +44 (0) 207 153 2027
* Investors calling from France may access the conference by
dialing +33 (0) 1 70 99 35 14
* Investors calling from other countries can call either one of
these numbers.
Highlights for the Financial Year
* Net Asset Value of ¤165.5 million (¤5.57 per share) at 31 July
2008
* A recommended dividend of ¤0.25 per share for the semi-annual
period from 1 February 2008 to 31 July 2008
* Distribution Income of the company for the annual period was
negative ¤57.9 million, or negative ¤1.93 per share
* Net loss of the Company for the annual period was ¤70.6 million,
or ¤2.35 per share, taking into account the recognition of an
impairment under IFRS accounting for six UK non-conforming Asset
Backed Securities ("ABS"), the losses realised following the
liquidation of the Total Return Swap ("TRS") and the unrealised
mark-to-market losses of assets held for trading and derivative
financial instruments
* As of the end of the financial year, Volta Finance was invested
in three underlying asset classes (CDO, Corporate Credit, ABS)
following the liquidation of the Leveraged Loan TRS over the
course of the annual period
* The investments held by the Company generated ¤37.2 million of
cash over the annual period. The cash holding was ¤23.4 million
at financial year end
* Following the increase in discount margins, the Company enlarged
its investment horizon to assets that could benefit from larger
subordination and/or lower leverage and/or have exposure to
portfolios with better characteristics such as a higher average
rating factor
* Operating expenses as a percentage of average Net Asset Value for
the year ended 31 July 2008 were 2.26% (2.21% for the period
ended 31 July 2007)
The 2008 accounts of Volta Finance Limited have been audited by KPMG
Channel Islands Limited.
STATEMENT BY PETER CROOK, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD (the following is an
extract of the Chairman's Statement published in the Annual Report
and Accounts 2008)
The global financial crisis has further reduced the value of the
Company's assets during the second financial year of the Company.
The NAV has significantly declined over the period from
¤260.1 million as of 31 July 2007 to ¤165.5 million as of 31 July
2008.
This annual period was marked by significant events that have
affected the value of the Company. In addition to the impairment
announced on five UK non-conforming ABS residuals in the last
semi-annual report, which was then followed by the liquidation of the
Leveraged Loan Total Return Swap ("TRS"), further write-downs have
been recognised on all of the Company's six UK non-conforming ABS
residuals following a review of the expected cash flows of these
assets as of the end of July 2008.
Consequently, there was a loss of ¤70.6 million (or ¤2.35 per share)
for the financial year ended 31 July 2008, compared to a loss of
¤16.9 million (or ¤0.56 per share) for the previous financial year.
The Distribution Income for the financial year ended 31 July 2008 was
negative ¤57.9 million (or negative ¤1.93 per share), with two
consecutive semi-annual periods featuring negative Distribution
Income. This compares to a positive Distribution Income of
¤14.1 million (or ¤0.47 per share) for the financial period ended 31
July 2007 and reflects primarily the losses incurred following the
liquidation of the TRS and the impairments taken on all of the
Company's UK non-conforming ABS residuals.
However, in spite of the sharp reduction in the value of the
Company's assets, both in mark-to-market and expected cash flow
terms, our assets have continued to generate cash, resulting in ¤23.4
million held in cash at the financial year-end.
Dividend
The Board of Directors of Volta Finance Limited recommends a dividend
of ¤0.25 per share for the semi-annual period ended 31 July
2008, amounting to ¤7.5 million. This dividend will be paid out
of the Company's distributable reserves. Its level corresponds to the
originally anticipated net return on the Company's assets of
approximately 10% applied to the Company's performing asset base as
at 7 October 2008, the date of the Company's last Board Meeting.
Outlook
The results presented in this annual report, which covers the year
from 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2008, do not take into account
subsequent market events, among which is the bankruptcy of Lehman
Brothers Holding Inc. ("LBHI"). These subsequent events have further
negatively affected the value of the Company's assets.
The impact of these events, which have sent credit spreads to higher
levels, has been felt throughout the credit markets. For the most
part, the impact has been on the Company's three Corporate Credit
assets, all of which are junior CDO tranches referencing investment
grade names, among which is LBHI. Following this event, significant
losses will be recognised on these three assets in the results for
the semi-annual period ending 31 January 2009. As of end of September
2008, following LBHI's bankruptcy, the unaudited value of these
assets has declined to ¤23.0 million, from ¤69.3m at end of July
2008. The end of September mark-to-market value of these three assets
already priced in the probability of further defaults in the
underlying portfolios.
As reported at the end of August, and prior to LBHI's default, the
Gross Asset Value of the Company had declined to ¤159 million. As of
end of September 2008, after LBHI's default, the Gross Asset Value of
the Company was ¤111.7 million (¤3.72 per share).
At the time of writing, and after the payment of the dividend and
taking into account other commitments, the Company is expected to
have nearly ¤10 million in cash available. As for the previous
semi-annual period, considering that the present volatility and price
declines could last for several months, and taking into account the
Investment Manager's advice, the Company will aim to take time to
deploy capital in order to take advantage of stressed market
conditions.
The Company is fully committed to managing the situation in the best
interests of its shareholders in these extremely challenging
conditions.
STATEMENT BY THE INVESTMENT MANAGER (the following is an extract of
the Overview and the Outlook sections of the Invesmtent Manager's
Report published in the Annual Report and Accounts 2008)
OVERVIEW
During the last financial year, the particularly severe market
conditions and the deterioration of the global economic environment
significantly affected the Company's assets both in mark-to-market
value and in expected cash flow terms:
* the TRS has been liquidated in 2008 under the pressure of what
proved to be the first phase of an unprecedented decrease in loan
market prices. The TRS liquidation has resulted in the recovery
of ¤17 million from a total posted collateral of ¤71.25 million.
The deleveraging process of the TRS was initiated in August 2007,
resumed in January 2008 and ended in April 2008 in anticipation
of further market deterioration. This investment would have been
even more adversely affected by the second phase of price decline
in the loan markets that occurred following the default of LBHI;
and
* the continuing deterioration in UK housing prices combined with
significant changes in the prepayment rate for UK non-conforming
mortgage pools resulted in the value of six UK non-conforming
residuals decreasing dramatically from a combined value of ¤61
million as of the end of July 2007 (including one asset earmarked
at the end of the previous financial period and settled in
October 2007) to ¤9.7 million as of the end of July 2008.
(...)
As a matter of fact, given the uncertainties on the market, the
Investment Manager decided
* to overweight cash allocation throughout the financial period;
and
* to aim at identifying investment opportunities that could benefit
from increased subordination and/or lower leverage and/or have
exposure to portfolios with better characteristics such as a
higher average rating factor, thanks to global spread widening.
Since the end of July 2008, a further decline in the mark-to-market
value of all Volta's assets has been recorded. The failure of LBHI,
in September, has significantly affected all the Corporate Credit
assets held by the Company, both in mark-to-market value and expected
cash flow terms as the underlying portfolios of those assets were
exposed to LBHI. A significant part of their mark-to-market reduction
during September (from an aggregate valuation of ¤62.7 million at the
end of August 2008 to ¤22.8 million at the end of September 2008) is
the direct consequence of LBHI's bankruptcy and will be reflected in
a reduction in expected cash flows from these assets.
OUTLOOK
The significant difficulties that are facing most banks in developed
countries will continue to bring a lot of uncertainties as these
difficulties now spread to the rest of the economy. The economic
weakness expected for the coming quarters will affect most of
industries to various degrees. Defaults are expected to increase and
the uncertainty as to the level at which corporate defaults will
culminate in the coming years creates uncertainty on the different
structured markets, affecting assets both in terms of mark-to-market
value and expected cash flows.
However, given the determination of the G7 authorities to tackle this
crisis, such a challenging environment may provide investment
opportunities specifically for a company such as Volta Finance that
does not face refinancing risk. Due to the excess of sellers over
buyers in some market segments and for certain type of assets, part
of the increase in discount margin can be considered as having
overshot the increase in risk premium based on objective credit
fundamentals. Liquidity issues, as well as uncertainty about maturity
or rating methodology, are now much more priced in than they were a
few quarters ago.
The Investment Manager will continue to closely monitor the impact of
the current crisis on the Company's investments. Considering that the
volatility in the structured finance markets as well as in credit
markets is likely to last, the Company prefers maintaining cash in
its portfolio and waiting for more visibility before selecting
investment opportunities as they arise in the midst of such turbulent
market conditions.
For the full text of the Chairman's Statement and the Investment
Manager's Report, please refer to the Annual Report and Accounts 2008
PROVISIONAL FINANCIAL CALENDAR
20 November 2008 Annual General Meeting
24 November 2008 Ex-dividend date
26 November 2008 Record date
3 December 2008 Dividend payment date
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ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED
Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under the Companies
(Guernsey) Laws, 1994 to 1996 (as amended) and listed on Euronext
Amsterdam. Its investment objectives are to preserve capital and to
provide a stable stream of income to its shareholders through
dividends. For this purpose, it pursues a multi-asset investment
strategy targeting various underlying assets. Volta Finance's basic
approach to its underlying assets is through vehicles and
arrangements that provide leveraged exposure. The exposure to those
underlying assets is gained through direct and indirect investment in
five principal asset classes: corporate credits, CDOs, ABS, leveraged
loans, and infrastructure assets.
Volta Finance has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris, an
investment management company with a division specialised in
structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets.
ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management
company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection
and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based
asset managers with ¤550 billion in assets under management as of the
end of March 2007. AXA IM employs approximately 2,800 people around
the world and operates out of 19 countries.
CONTACTS
Company Secretary
Mourant Guernsey Limited
volta.finance@mourant.com
+44 (0) 1481 715601
Portfolio Administrator
Deutsche Bank
voltaadmin@list.db.com
For the Investment Manager
AXA Investment Managers Paris
Julien Laplante
julien.laplante@axa-im.com
+33 (0) 1 44 45 94 92
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This press release is for information only and does not constitute an
invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its
circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no
recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such
limitations or restrictions.
This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the
United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United
States absent registration with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission or an exemption from registration under the U.S.
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). Volta
Finance has not registered, and does not intend to register, any
portion of any offering of its securities in the United States or to
conduct a public offering of any securities in the United States.
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This document is being distributed by Volta Finance Limited in the
United Kingdom only to investment professionals falling within
article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Market Act 2000
(Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or high net worth
companies and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated,
falling within article 49(2)(A) to (E) of the Order ("Relevant
persons"). The shares are only available to, and any invitation,
offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire the
shares will be engaged only with, relevant persons. Any person who is
not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any
of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to
future performance.
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This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be,
"forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the
terms "believes", "anticipated", "expects", "intends", "is/are
expected", "may", "will" or "should". They include the statements
regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and
its impact on the long-term return of Volta's investments. By their
nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements
are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance's actual
results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially
from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. Volta
Finance does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or
revise forward-looking statements.
Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future
events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty
surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be
and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type
of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets
will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the
investment objective will be achieved.
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This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.