3rd Quarter Results

Queen's Walk Investment Limited 06 March 2007 6 March 2007 Queen's Walk Investment Limited Financial Results for the Quarter ended 31 December 2006 Queen's Walk Investment Limited ('Queen's Walk') is a Guernsey-incorporated investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Company's investment objective is to preserve capital and to provide stable returns to shareholders in the form of quarterly dividends. To achieve this, Queen's Walk invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of subordinated tranches of asset backed securities, including the unrated 'equity' or 'first loss' residual income positions typically retained by the banks or other financial institutions which have originated the loan assets that collateralise a securitisation transaction. The Company makes such investments where its investment manager, Cheyne Capital Management (UK) LLP ('Cheyne Capital'), considers the coupon or cashflows from the investment to be attractive relative to the credit exposure of the underlying asset collateral. For more information regarding Queen's Walk, please visit www.queenswalkinv.com or call Caroline Villiers: +44 20 7153 1521. Highlights •Queen's Walk generated distributable net profit of €9.5 million and earnings per ordinary share of €0.23 for the quarter •An interim quarterly dividend of €0.23 per share has been declared, resulting in a cumulative interim dividend of €0.75 for the financial year to date •Although the majority of the Company's investments continued to perform better than or in line with expectations, the performance of certain UK assets led to an adjustment to current prepayment and default assumptions. The net effect of all adjustments was a reduction of the Company's asset portfolio and a charge to income of €2.7 million for the quarter •The Company's diversified investment portfolio totals €565.0 million as at 31 December 2006, with net indebtedness of €160.8 million, representing approximately 28.5% of the investment portfolio •NAV per share has declined marginally to €9.90 from €9.93 per share as at 30 September 2006 •The weighted average yield of new assets added to the Company's investment portfolio was 13.5% in local currency terms. After taking both new assets and valuation adjustments into account, the weighted average yield for the investment portfolio as a whole decreased slightly to 12.9% from 13.1% as at 30 September 2006 •The Company added five new assets to its investment portfolio in the quarter and Cheyne Capital continues to evaluate new investment opportunities •The Directors will seek the requisite shareholder authorities to enable the Company to buy back shares up to 9.99% of its existing share capital without requiring an offer to be made for the Company's shares by the 'concert party' Financial Highlights +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ | |Q3 - Quarter|Q2 - Quarter|Q1 - |Period from | | |ended 31 |ended 30 |Quarter |6 September | | |December |September |ended 30 |2005 to 31 | | |2006 |2006 |June 2006 |March 2006 | | | | | | | +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Operating income | €14,484,653| €15,674,473|€14,992,921| €12,480,487| +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Operating expenses | (2,658,532)| (3,349,855)|(2,813,090)| (2,455,408)| +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Finance costs | (2,317,658)| (1,772,011)|(1,182,461)| (260,052)| +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Net profit | 9,508,463| 10,552,607| 10,997,370| 9,765,027| +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Distributable net | 9,508,463| 10,583,319| 10,599,894| 9,765,027| |profit | | | | | +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Earnings per share | 0.23| 0.26| 0.27| 0.24| +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Distributable | 0.23| 0.26| 0.26| 0.24| |earnings per share | | | | | +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ | | | | | | +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Total assets | 517,883,247| 520,550,381|531,153,613| 493,842,561| +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Total liabilities | 132,475,401| 117,194,951|127,789,393| 91,773,445| |(incl. financing) | | | | | +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |Equity capital | 402,302,497| 403,355,430|403,364,220| 402,069,116| +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ |NAV per share | 9.90| 9.93| 9.93| 9.90| +--------------------+------------+------------+-----------+------------+ Third Quarter Dividend The Board of Directors has declared an interim quarterly dividend for the period ended 31 December 2006 of €0.23 payable on 9 April 2007 to shareholders of record on 16 March 2007. Conference Call A conference call to review the Company's financial results for the quarter ended 31 December 2006 will take place at 8:30 a.m. London time on 6 March 2007. All interested parties are welcome to participate on the live call. You can access the conference call by dialing +44 20 7138 0835 (or +1 718 354 1172 from the US) ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call; please reference Queen's Walk Investment Limited Financial Results. A webcast of the conference call will be available on a listen-only basis at www.queenswalkinv.com. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the site and download the necessary software required to listen to the internet broadcast. A replay of the webcast will be available for three months following the call. Company Performance In accordance with the Investment Manager's valuation methodology, adjustments were made to default and prepayments assumptions in respect of the quarter ended 31 December 2006. Generally, the curves used to value the assets were adjusted to reflect higher default rates in the UK, stable default rates in Europe and the US, and generally lower prepayment rates globally. While the Investment Manager's initial changes to asset valuations in the course of the quarter had a relatively muted impact on income and NAV, performance data subsequently received in respect of certain UK assets reflected a higher than expected upturn in prepayment rates that was not offset by an increase in income from prepayment charges. While prepayment rates appear to be slowing generally in the UK, this upturn was related to borrowers whose mortgage loans had recently reverted from a discounted (or 'teaser') mortgage interest rate to a full mortgage interest rate. This performance data led the Investment Manager to further adjust its valuations in respect of these assets. The net effect of these and all other adjustments to asset valuations was a reduction of the Company's investment portfolio and a charge to income in the quarter of €2.7 million. The Company issued a press release on 20 February 2007 to announce this charge to income and to adjust its dividend targets. As a result of the charge taken to income in the quarter, the Company's total revenues for the quarter declined by 7.6% to €14.5 million. Net profit for the quarter was €9.5 million, a decrease of 9.9% on the previous quarter. This net profit translates into distributable earnings of €0.23 per share. The Company's investment portfolio as at 31 December 2006 (including amounts receivable under total return swap agreements but excluding cash) totalled €565 million, compared to €531 million as at 30 September 2006. The Company's net indebtedness as at 31 December 2006 (including amounts payable under total return swaps and net of cash) totalled €160.8 million, compared to €126.1 million as at 30 September 2006. In percentage terms, leverage on the portfolio at the end of the quarter was 28.5%, compared to 23.7% as at 30 September 2006. The weighted average leverage ratio during the quarter was 26.5%. Five assets were added to the Company's portfolio in the quarter. As highlighted at the end of the previous quarter, the Company has sought to increase portfolio exposure to the Small-and-Medium Enterprise (SME) sector. Over the quarter ended 31 December 2006, SME residual positions totalling approximately €39.4 million were added to the portfolio. Consequently, the Company's exposure to the SME sector has increased from approximately 4% to 9.3% of the portfolio. These acquisitions were funded with proceeds from the redemption of certain investments, principal repayments and external financing. The weighted average yield of the Company's investment portfolio in local currency terms decreased slightly to 12.9% from 13.1% as at 30 September 2006. This reduction is due to a decrease in the overall portfolio yield that resulted from revising the individual booking yields for the assets in the portfolio to take account of changes to assumptions. The reduction was partially offset by the addition of new assets in the quarter, including SME residual positions. The weighted average yield of assets added during the quarter was 13.5% in local currency terms. Portfolio Overview The Company's investment portfolio as at 31 December 2006 is comprised of 28 investments in total. While the portfolio remains well diversified both geographically and by asset class, it continues to be backed predominantly by residential mortgages - the largest European asset class. As at 31 December 2006, the portfolio was comprised of: 86% RMBS (87% as at 30 September 2006); 9% (SME) (4%); and 5% ABS CDO (9%). The geographic breakdown of the portfolio as at 31 December 2006 relative to the portfolio as at 30 September 2006 (net of foreign exchange movements) is set out in the tables that follow. +----------------------------------------------------------+ |Queen's Walk Portfolio Breakdown by Jurisdiction as at 31 | |December 2006 | | | | | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |UK |54% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |US |12% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |ABS CDO |5% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |Germany |7% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |Holland |3% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |Italy |5% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |Portugal |14% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ +----------------------------------------------------------+ |Queen's Walk PortfolioBreakdown by Jurisdiction as at 30 | |September 2006 | | | | | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |UK |52% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |US |13% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |Italy |6% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |Holland |2% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |Germany |3% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |Portugal |15% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ |ABS CDO |9% | +------------------------+---------------------------------+ Buy Back of Company Shares The Directors are mindful of the need to manage the share capital of the Company for the benefit of all shareholders and have decided that they wish to have in place all necessary authorities to enable a managed programme of share buybacks of up to 9.99% of the issued share capital of the Company to commence as soon as practicable. On listing, the Directors were given authority to purchase the Company's own shares up to a maximum of 9.99% of the Company's share capital on completion of the initial public offering. However, as disclosed in the Company's prospectus, Cheyne ABS Opportunities Fund LP holds 44.1% of the Company's shares and parties deemed by the City Code on Takeover and Mergers (the 'Code') to be acting in concert with it (together the 'Concert Party') hold a further 1.7% of the Company's shares. If the Company were to repurchase shares such that the Concert Party's percentage holding were to increase, the Concert Party would, unless the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers (the 'Panel') agreed otherwise, be required by the Code to make an offer for all the shares in the Company not held by it. Following consultation with the Panel, the Company intends, at the earliest practicable opportunity, to seek the approval of shareholders, in accordance with the 'whitewash' procedures in the Code to effect repurchases of shares in circumstances where as a result of such repurchases the holdings of the Concert Party and of Cheyne ABS Opportunities Fund LP may increase. Outlook While the Company has limited exposure to US assets (which account for approximately 12% of the Company's investment portfolio as at 31 December 2006) and while those assets have performed broadly in line with expectations, recent movements in the US ABS market indicate that a negative sentiment has spread from concerns regarding particular sub-prime loan vintages to the entire US sub-prime market and to other segments of the mortgage market. These market movements reflect a wider and higher range of discount rates as well as an increase in implied future cumulative loss rates, some of which are significantly in excess of the cumulative loss rates projected for the Company's assets and historic cumulative loss rates across the entire market. As the accounting policies of the Company require valuation of the Company's assets at fair value, these higher discount rates and the increased credit risk implied by the market may have a material adverse impact on the valuation of the Company's US assets for the quarter ended 31 March 2007. Any resulting adjustment to valuations will be charged through the income statement and will reduce the net asset value of the Company (in accordance with the Company's accounting policy). As valuation changes arising from higher discount rates do not have an impact on the cash flows generated by its portfolio, the Company does not expect that any significant adjustments will be made to distributable profits or that the amount of future dividends will be affected. The Company's dividend target for the quarter ended 31 March 2007 is €0.22 to €0.25 per share. The reason for this range is that the Investment Manager is continuing to assess the significance of recent prepayment activity by borrowers reverting to full mortgage interest rates. As the level of actual prepayment activity relative to the Investment Manager's assumptions will impact the effective yield and valuation of a particular asset, the Company's earnings and target dividends may be affected. While the Investment Manager has made prudent adjustments to its prepayment assumptions in respect of the Company's UK asset portfolio, it will continue to evaluate them further as additional performance data is received. Consistent with its increased focus on SME investments in recent quarters, the Company expects to continue rebalancing its investment portfolio in order to diversify risk and to further enhance portfolio yield. While asset dispositions to effect this rebalancing may entail some minor volatility in both quarterly earnings and NAV going forward, the Company maintains its dividend target for the financial year ended 31 March 2008 of not less than €1.00 per share. For further information please contact: Investor Relations: Caroline Villiers +44 (0) 20 7153 1521 Cheyne Capital: Nicole von Westenholz +44 (0) 20 7031 7482 About the Company: Queen's Walk Investment Limited is a Guernsey-incorporated investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Company's investment objective is to preserve capital and to provide stable returns to shareholders in the form of quarterly dividends. To achieve this, Queen's Walk invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of subordinated tranches of asset backed securities, including the unrated 'equity' or 'first loss' residual income positions typically retained by the banks or other financial institutions which have originated the loan assets that collateralise a securitisation transaction. The Company makes such investments where its investment manager, Cheyne Capital Management (UK) LLP, considers the coupon or cashflows from the investment to be attractive relative to the credit exposure of the underlying asset collateral. The Company believes that its investment focus provides equity investors with exposure to a relatively new investment opportunity in this asset class. The content of this announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, 'forward-looking statements'. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms 'believes', 'estimates', 'anticipates', 'expects', 'intends', 'may', 'will' or 'should'. They include the statement regarding the target aggregate dividend. 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. The Company's actual results and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable law and regulation (including the Listing Rules). Any target dividends are 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 forecasts. There can be no assurance that these targets will be achieved or that the Company will be able to pay dividends at the target levels or at all. The payment of any target dividends is subject to the Company generating sufficient profits or having sufficient retained earnings and there can be no assurance that this will be the case. Any target dividends that the Company may announce from time to time should not be regarded as providing any guidance regarding the level of the Company's distributable net income for any period. The Company may revise its dividend policy from time to time. The following extracts from the accounts of the Company for the quarter ended 31 December 2006 are unaudited. Unaudited Consolidated Income Statement For the quarter ended 31 December 2006 Note Quarter Quarter Quarter Period from ended 31 ended 30 ended 30 6 September December September June 2006 2005 to 2006 2006 March 2006* Euro Euro Euro Euro Operating income 14,484,653 15,674,473 14,992,921 12,480,487 Operating expenses Other operating expenses (2,658,532) (3,349,855) (2,813,090) (2,455,408) Finance costs (2,317,658) (1,772,011) (1,182,461) (260,052) Total operating expenses (4,976,190) (5,121,866) (3,995,551) (2,715,460) Net profit 9,508,463 10,552,607 10,997,370 9,765,027 Distributable profits 2 9,508,463 10,583,319 10,599,894 9,765,027 Non-distributable profits 2 - (30,712) 397,476 - 9,508,463 10,552,607 10,997,370 9,765,027 Retained distributable profits at the start of the quarter 2 10,637,862 10,615,940 9,765,027 - Distributions to the Ordinary Shareholders 2 (10,561,396) (10,561,397) (9,748,971) - Distributable profits for the quarter 2 9,508,463 10,583,319 10,599,894 9,765,027 Retained distributable profits at the end of the 9,584,929 10,637,862 10,615,940 9,765,027 quarter Earnings per Ordinary Share Basic Euro 0.234 Euro 0.260 Euro 0.271 Euro 0.240 Diluted Euro 0.234 Euro 0.259 Euro 0.269 Euro 0.238 Retained distributable profits per Ordinary Share Basic Euro 0.23 Euro 0.26 Euro 0.26 Euro 0.24 Diluted Euro 0.23 Euro 0.26 Euro 0.26 Euro 0.23 Weighted average Ordinary Number Number Number Number Shares outstanding Basic 40,620,756 40,620,756 40,620,756 40,620,756 Diluted 40,661,625 40,721,759 40,852,819 41,053,527 All items in the above statement are derived from continuing operations. All income is attributable to the Ordinary Shareholders of the Company. * The Company commenced its operations on 8 December 2005. Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders' Equity For the quarter ended 31 December 2006 Share Share Other Capital Accumulated Total Capital Premium Reserve Reserve Profits Euro Euro Euro Euro Euro Euro Balance at inception - - - - - - Net profit for the period - - - - 9,765,027 9,765,027 Issuance of Ordinary Shares - 406,207,540 - - - 406,207,540 Share options issued - - - 7,672,500 - 7,672,500 Costs related to issuance of - (21,575,951) - - - (21,575,951) Ordinary Shares Cancellation of share premium - (384,631,589) 384,631,589 - - - Balance at 31 March 2006 - - 384,631,589 7,672,500 9,765,027 402,069,116 Net profit for the quarter - - - - 10,997,370 10,997,370 Over accrual of costs related to - - 46,715 - 46,715 issuance of Ordinary Shares - Distributions to the Ordinary - - - - (9,748,981) (9,748,981) Shareholders of the Company Balance at 30 June 2006 - - 384,678,304 7,672,500 11,013,416 403,364,220 Net profit for the quarter - - - - 10,552,607 10,552,607 Distributions to the Ordinary - - - - (10,561,397) (10,561,397) Shareholders of the Company Balance at 30 September 2006 - - 384,678,304 7,672,500 11,004,626 403,355,430 Net profit for the quarter - - - - 9,508,463 9,508,463 Distributions to the Ordinary - - - - (10,561,396) (10,561,396) Shareholders of the Company Balance at 31 December 2006 - - 384,678,304 7,672,500 9,951,693 402,302,497 Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheet As at 31 December 2006 31 December 30 September 30 June 2006 31 March 2006 2006 2006 Euro Euro Euro Euro Non-current assets Investments at fair value through 517,883,247 491,340,570 501,439,102 487,890,499 profit or Loss Current assets Cash and cash equivalents 6,466,179 13,557,006 20,735,431 - Other assets 10,428,472 15,652,805 8,979,080 5,952,062 16,894,651 29,209,811 29,714,511 5,952,062 Total assets 534,777,898 520,550,381 531,153,613 493,842,561 Equity and liabilities Equity Share capital - - - - Share premium account - - - - Other reserve 384,678,304 384,678,304 384,678,304 384,631,589 Capital reserve in respect of share options 7,672,500 7,672,500 7,672,500 7,672,500 Accumulated profits 9,951,693 11,004,626 11,013,416 9,765,027 402,302,497 403,355,430 403,364,220 402,069,116 Current liabilities Distribution payable - - 9,748,981 - Repurchase agreements 129,434,953 113,724,744 115,783,806 88,880,531 Other liabilities 3,040,448 3,470,207 2,256,606 2,892,914 Total liabilities 132,475,401 117,194,951 127,789,393 91,773,445 Total equity and liabilities 534,777,898 520,550,381 531,153,613 493,842,561 Notes to the Unaudited Financial Statements As at 31 December 2006 1. General information Queen's Walk Investment Limited (the 'Company') was registered on 6 September 2005 with registered number 43634 and is domiciled in Guernsey, Channel Islands. The Company commenced its operations on 8 December 2005. The Company is a closed-ended investment company with limited liability formed under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 1994 and its Ordinary Shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. The registered office of the Company is Dorey Court, Admiral Park, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 3BG, Channel Islands. 'Group' is defined as the Company and its subsidiary. At 31 December 2006, the Company's only subsidiary was Trebuchet Finance Limited. The Company's investment objective is to preserve capital and provide stable returns to Shareholders in the form of quarterly dividends. It seeks to achieve this by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of tranches of asset-backed securities ('ABS') where the Investment Manager considers that the coupon or cash flows on the tranche are attractive relative to the underlying credit. These are and will be, in most cases, below investment grade or unrated and do or will, in many cases, represent the residual income positions typically retained by the originator of a securitisation transaction as the 'equity' or 'first loss' position. The Group's investment management activities are managed by its Investment Manager, Cheyne Capital Management (UK) LLP (the 'Investment Manager'), an investment management firm authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The Company has entered into an Investment Management Agreement (the 'Investment Management Agreement') under which the Investment Manager manages its day-to-day investment operations, subject to the supervision of the Company's Board of Directors. The Company has no direct employees. For its services, the Investment Manager receives a monthly management fee (which includes a reimbursement of expenses) and a quarterly performance-related fee. The Company has no ownership interest in the Investment Manager. The Company is administered by Kleinwort Benson (Channel Islands) Fund Services Limited (the 'Administrator'). 2. Distributable and non-distributable profits Non-distributable profits relate to gains from investments which under the United Kingdom Listing Rules are prohibited from being distributed to investors. All other income is classed as distributable income. Distributable profits represent the net of this distributable income less operating expenses. 3. Subsequent Event The Company's Investment Manager believes that recent movements in the US ABS market indicate that a negative sentiment has spread from concerns regarding particular sub-prime loan vintages to the entire US sub prime market and to other segments of the mortgage market, and that these market movements reflect a wider and higher range of discount rates as well as an increase in implied future cumulative loss rates, some of which are significantly in excess of the default rates projected for the Company's assets as well as historic default rates across the entire market. As the accounting policies of the Company require valuation of the Company's assets at fair value, these higher discount rates and the increased credit risk implied by the market may have a material adverse impact on the valuation of the Company's US assets for the quarter ended 31 March 2007. Any resulting adjustment to valuations will be charged through the income statement and will reduce the net asset value of the Company (in accordance with the Company's accounting policy). As valuation changes arising from higher discount rates do not have an impact on the cash flows generated by its portfolio, the Company does not expect that any significant adjustments will be made to distributable profits or that the amount of future dividends will be affected. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
UK 100

Latest directors dealings