Quarterly trading update and NAV announcement

Literacy Capital PLC

24 April 2026

 

The information contained in this announcement is restricted and is not for publication, release or distribution in the United States of America, any member state of the European Economic Area, Canada, Australia, Japan or the Republic of South Africa.

24 April 2026

Literacy Capital plc

Quarterly trading update and NAV announcement for Q1 2026

Significant cash proceeds received in 2026, with BOOK materially reducing financing costs

Literacy Capital plc ("Literacy", "BOOK" or the "Company"), a listed investment trust primarily focused on investing directly into private businesses based in the UK, today announces its quarterly trading and NAV update for the three months ending 31 March 2026 (Q1'26).

Q1 Highlights:

●	Q1'26 Net Asset Value ("NAV") of £289.6m, equating to NAV of 481.3 pence per share. Overall, despite a modest valuation uplift across the portfolio, this represents a 0.6% decrease in NAV per share (after all expenses and donations) in the quarter.
●	Bright Ventures was the largest positive contributor in the period, with Q1 seasonally a very busy trading period for the business and strong growth year-on-year. TechPoint also contributed strongly, reflecting its momentum since opening its new manufacturing site in Basingstoke.
●	Cash inflows totalled £16.0m in Q1'26, largely due to proceeds received from the sale of Tyrefix in February. A further £15.0m was received in April, following completion of the sale of Wifinity, resulting in BOOK's balance sheet being in a net cash position for the first time since 2021, thereby reducing financing costs.
●	Cash outflows totalled £3.7m in Q1'26, predominantly funding growth initiatives within the existing portfolio. Bolt-on acquisitions are expected to remain a priority in 2026, whilst remaining open to, but selective, regarding new investments.
●	Total charitable donations since the inception of Literacy now amount to £13.1m, including a charitable donation provision of £364k in Q1'26.

Commenting on the Q1 performance, CEO of BOOK's investment manager, Richard Pindar, said:

"It has been a reasonably eventful start to the year, although there has been relatively little change in the value of individual portfolio companies, and the portfolio overall.

The highlight was the sale of two holdings, with £31.0m of cash proceeds received by early April. This put Literacy's balance sheet in a net cash position for the first time since 2021, giving BOOK greater financial flexibility and reducing financing costs.

Externally, there has been significant turbulence in equity markets, driven by the conflicts in Iran and the Middle East, as well as fears of widespread value destruction caused by artificial intelligence ("AI").

Importantly, these factors have had limited direct impact on the underlying performance and fundamentals of BOOK's portfolio companies.

Despite this, BOOK has not been immune to the sell-off and currently sits on its widest ever discount to net asset value. A series of marketing and investor education initiatives are taking place over the next few weeks to broaden awareness, as we actively look to address and reduce this discount."

Net Asset Value

The Company announces that, as at 31 March 2026, the NAV per ordinary share was 481.3 pence. NAV per share decreased 0.6%, or 3.0p per share, since 31 December 2025.

	At 31 Mar 26	At 31 Dec 25	At 31 Mar 25
Net asset value (£m)	289.6	291.4	307.8
NAV per share (pence)	481.3	484.3	511.5
Cumulative cash returned to shareholders (£m)	6.0	6.0	-

The above NAV calculation is based on the Company's issued ordinary share capital as at 31 March 2026 of 60,175,000 ordinary shares of £0.001 each. This NAV calculation includes the cost to ordinary shareholders of the 597,500 warrants in issue. This cost is accrued on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the warrants.

Portfolio company performance

Bright Ventures was the largest positive contributor to NAV in the period, with Q1 seasonally being a very busy trading period for the business. Performance and profitability in the quarter showed strong improvement year-on-year.

TechPoint was the next largest positive contributor in Q1, driven by the continued trading momentum since opening its state-of-the-art facility in Basingstoke. This has had a substantial impact on the value of orders from customers and operational efficiencies, with the business showing promising signs to contribute materially to NAV uplift in the medium term.

Moreover, the two 2025 investments, Red Sky and Trinitatum have maintained a strong upwards trajectory. It is likely that both businesses will be in the top ten holdings as at 30 June 2026, less than 18 months since Literacy's original investment. Both these companies demonstrate the value in BOOK's selective and focused approach to appraising new opportunities that will be resilient in the current environment.

RCI and amplify5 were the largest, albeit modest, detractors in the quarter, with both businesses experiencing customers taking longer to make decisions and commit to contracts, which has impacted growth and therefore valuations. Despite this, the overall portfolio saw a modest valuation uplift before all expenses and donations, demonstrating our businesses durability in difficult market conditions.

Transactions and investments

No new investments were completed in Q1'26 but £3.7m of cash was deployed, primarily provided to fund growth initiatives within the existing portfolio.

Cash & liquidity

Cash inflows in Q1 were £16.0m, mostly relating to the exit proceeds from Tyrefix. This was supplemented by £0.1m of distributions from Literacy's fund investments and other cash inflows from the rest of the portfolio.

Literacy's RCF was £15.5m drawn as at 31 March 2026 (£25.0m on 31 December 2025), with £1.6m held in cash. Following the receipt of cash from the sale of Wifinity in April 2026, the Company's balance sheet was in a net cash position for the first time since 2021. This gives BOOK significantly more financial flexibility and reduces financing costs.

Activity since the period end

As stated above, in April 2026, BOOK received £15.0m of proceeds from the sale of Wifinity (5.2x MoM; 22% IRR). The carrying value achieved on the sale of this asset was reflected in the Q4'25 net asset figures and has been maintained for Q1'26.

Factsheet

The Company's factsheet for the three months to 31 March 2026 is now available on the Company's website: www.literacycapital.com/investors.

Master Investor Show

Paul Pindar (Chair) and Richard Pindar (CEO) of Literacy's Investment Manager will be presenting at the Master Investor Show at the Business Design Centre on 25 April 2026.

More information on this event can be found here: https://www.masterinvestorshow.com/

Investor Meet Company presentation

Paul Pindar (Chair) and Richard Pindar (CEO) of Literacy's Investment Manager will provide a live presentation and update on 27 April 2026 at 14:00 BST.

The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 26 Apr 2026 09:00 BST, or at any time during the live presentation. Investors can sign up for free at the following link: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/literacy-capital-plc/register-investor.

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact:

Literacy Capital plc / Book Asset Management LLP

Richard Pindar / Aasha Tailor

[phone]

MHP Group

Reg Hoare / Ollie Hoare / Matthew Taylor

[e-mail]

[phone]

Deutsche Numis

Hugh Jonathan / George Shiel

[phone]

About Literacy Capital plc

Literacy Capital (BOOK.L) is a closed-end investment company that was co-founded by Paul Pindar and Richard Pindar in 2017 with £54m of capital. Literacy listed on the London Stock Exchange in June 2021, before gaining Investment Trust status on 1 April 2022. The Company focuses on opportunities to invest for the long-term in growing private businesses where a clear route to creating additional value can be seen with its support.

It also has a unique charitable objective, to donate 0.5% of annual NAV to charities focused on improving UK literacy in children. £13.1m has been donated or reserved for donation to charities since the trust's creation in 2017. For more information, please visit our website: www.literacycapital.com.

A copy of this announcement will be available on the Company's website at www.literacycapital.com.

The information contained in this announcement regarding the Company's investments has been provided by the relevant underlying portfolio company and has not been independently verified by the Company. The information contained herein is unaudited.

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not an offer to invest. All investments are subject to risk.  Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.  Prospective investors are advised to seek expert legal, financial, tax and other professional advice before making any investment decision.  The value of investments may fluctuate.  Results achieved in the past are no guarantee of future results. Neither the content of the Company's website, nor the content on any website accessible from hyperlinks on its website for any other website, is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement nor, unless previously published by means of a recognised information service, should any such content be relied upon in reaching a decision as to whether or not to acquire, continue to hold, or dispose of, securities in the Company.

LEI: 2549006P3DFN5HLFGR54

 

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