British & American swings to interim loss, NAV falls on Geron slump
British & American Investment Trust PLC on Monday said it swung to a loss in the first half of 2025, as its net asset value fell sharply on the back of a slump in its largest US holding, Geron Corp.
Shares in British & American Investment lost 16% at 12.20 pence in London on Monday.
The London-based investment firm reported a pretax loss of £172,000 in the six months to June 30, compared with a profit of £412,000 a year earlier. Earnings per share fell to a loss of 1.33 pence from earnings of 1.00p.
Net asset value per ordinary share dropped to 5.0 pence at June 30 from 17.0p at December 31, 2024. Total net assets fell to £1.6 million from £6.0 million over the same period.
The company said the decline was mainly due to a 50% fall in February in the share price of Geron, despite the biotechnology company winning US and European approvals for its oncology drug. Chair David Seligman called the half-year ‘a most disappointing and unexpectedly bad six-month period’ for the trust.
British & American declared no interim dividend, compared with a 1.75p payout a year earlier, and said it intends to resume distributions once Geron’s valuation returns to 2024 levels.
Looking ahead, the trust warned that the global backdrop remained highly uncertain. Seligman cited ‘massive uncertainties’ linked to US trade tariffs, inflation, political instability and what he described as ‘anti-business and economically disruptive policies’ in both the US and the UK.
‘It is therefore impossible to make any worthwhile predictions of likely market developments going forward,’ Seligman said.
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