CT Private Equity says confident, well placed for exit environment

CT Private Equity Trust PLC on Friday said the portfolio is increasingly well placed for a more active exit environment, as it declared a higher dividend while being confident for capital growth.

The Edinburgh-based investment trust for private equity assets said net asset value fell 2.1% to 695.07 pence each as at June 30, from 710.33p as at December 31.

NAV total return per share was minus 0.2% for the first half of 2026, better than minus 2.5% for the first half of 2025.

The company declared a quarterly dividend of 7.10 pence per share, up 1.3% compared to 7.01p a year ago.

CT Private Equity said that the global economic backdrop remains challenging, citing geopolitical uncertainty including the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and their impact on energy markets and supply chains. These contributed to market volatility, higher energy prices, inflation and interest rate expectations.

The firm noted that the "US market contracted sharply". It said this was "a divergence that has been attributed by Pitchbook among others to Europe's structural appeal: greater fragmentation, lower entry multiples and greater opportunity for alpha versus the more mature US market. The company has long focussed on the inefficient European lower mid-market and is well positioned to benefit from increased investor focus on European private companies."

CT Private Equity added that exit markets remain challenging, with exit numbers in Europe remaining flat during the second quarter, however exit value rose nearly 30% driven by a small number of "mega deals".

Further, it said the software portfolio experienced some write-downs in the first half, reflecting compression across the sector despite strong underlying operational performance.

Investment Manager Andrew Carnwath said: "However, we believe the portfolio is well positioned given our focus on profitable businesses with proprietary data, deep domain expertise, trusted customer relationships, complex workflows and mission-critical applications.

"As software valuations increasingly differentiate between businesses that can demonstrate tangible artificial intelligence-driven benefits and those that cannot, we believe many of our portfolio companies are well placed to benefit from strong investor demand and premium valuations for high-quality software businesses with sustainable competitive advantages."

Looking ahead, Chair Tom Burnet said: "The portfolio is increasingly well placed for a more active exit environment: more than half of its value is invested in assets that have been held for over three years, creating a meaningful pipeline of potential future realisations. At the same time, the manager is seeing new opportunities at attractive entry valuations, while portfolio companies continue to deliver healthy revenue and earnings growth."

He added: "The board remains confident that the company is well positioned to deliver both capital growth and income for shareholders over the medium term."

CT Private Equity shares were 0.9% higher at 489.50 pence each on Friday morning in London.

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