Luxempart, a Luxembourg-listed investment and private equity company, has posted a consolidated net loss of 55.4 million euro for the first half as its investment income was hit by “extremely choppy” conditions in financial markets and the economy.
The loss compares to a profit of 499 million euros in the same period a year earlier. The firm said it maintained its net assets at 2.078 billion euros by the end of June, down slightly from from 2.169 billion a year earlier.
“The war in Ukraine and the effects of Covid, particularly on the Chinese economy, have created inflationary trends and scarcity of resources that have disrupted logistics and production circuits,” managing directors John Penning and Olaf Kordes said in a statement. “Our portfolio has generally held up well in this difficult environment.”
Both cautious and confident
Looking ahead, Luxempart said it approaches the second half of the year “with caution but with confidence”, also referring to a “very solid” cash position at 414 million euro.
Luxempart is a listed private equity company backed by Luxembourgish entrepreneurial families and provides flexible long-term financing solutions to entrepreneurs, families and management while supporting its portfolio companies. Its investment strategy consists of equity tickets ranging from 25 to 100 million euro with a geographic focus on German-speaking countries, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and northern Italy.
The firm’s strategy is based on two strategic pillars: managing a portfolio of direct investments and deploying commitments with private equity funds world-wide, focussing on different strategies among which buy-out, venture and growth capital.
New commitments in ten funds
During the first half of 2022, Luxempart sold three direct investments for a total amount of 119 million euro and invested in two new companies, Metalworks and Salice, for 57 million euro. It also increased our stake in some existing listed participations for a total of 7 million euro. Luxempart developed some of its existing participations, notably with the implementation of “ambitious buy and build strategies” at Evariste, iMGP and Enoflex.
In the investment funds activity, it signed new commitments for 68 million euro in ten new funds. Most of these new commitments were made in funds investing outside Europe. It received distributions of 37 million euro and invested 32 million in existing funds.
Talbot stake sold through management buy-out
As majority shareholder in the German Quip Group, Luxempart this week also announced that it has sold for an undisclosed amount its stake in its German-based railway services subsidiary Talbot to a new group of shareholders via a management buy-out led by Talbot’s CEO.
Talbot provides support services to the railway sector, offering maintenance services for manufacturers and operators. The company has continued to thrive under Quip ownership, hence securing its historical site in Aachen after the sale by Bombardier in 2013, and is now well positioned to pursue its growth story under the new ownership.
The Talbot disposal marks the completion of a new strategy decided by the shareholders of Quip Group in 2021, which will allow QUIP to focus on its strengths in temporary staffing and technical services in its key regional markets, Luxempart said.
Martin Jäger was named as new CEO at Quip in late 2021 and streamlined the management structures. The new business plan focuses on strengthening its core business across targeted regions in Germany where it continues to show above-market growth as a leading market player.
On the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, shares in Luxempart (ticker:LXMPR) on Tuesday closed at 72.5 euro after trading at a one-month high of 73.5 euro last week. Less than 500 shares were traded on Tuesday.