Caledonia Investments hit the £3 billion mark for its net asset valuation today, in a boost for the money manager set up by Cayzer shipping magnate family.
The FTSE 250 wealth manager revealed that the milestone was passed in an update issued to the City before its full results for the financial year to the end of March, which are due out in May.
NAVs are a closely tracked benchmark for investment firms. Caledonia’s rose by over 7% to hit £3 billion.
The Cayzer family owns just under 50% of Caledonia, which began life as their shipping business and was for a while the world’s biggest cargo line. It is now a self-managed investment trust, known for backing mid-market companies in the UK. It also owns north American listed equities and private equity funds in Asia.
It said: “all three investment pools contributed to growth, delivering a return of 8.7% in the year, despite foreign exchange headwinds” of around £39 million.
Caledonia is famous throughout the City for its commitment to upping dividends, which it has done for almost six decades. The interim payout for the year, issued in January, went up 4% to 18.93p per share.
Among firms in which Caledonia boosted its holdings in the year were cigarette maker Philip Morris chemicals firm Croda International and Diageo, the maker of Guinness and premium branded spirits. It also took a new position in business information provider Relx.
Mat Masters, Caledonia’s chief executive, said:
“We remain focused on using long-term thinking to invest in high-quality companies with strong market positions, and funds with track records of success. This has resulted in long-term outperformance and enabled us to deliver 57 years of increasing dividends.”
Shares in the company added 60p to 3319p, a rise of 1.8%.
Caledonia sold Seven Investment Management to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for £450 million in 2023. Net proceeds, it said today, were £256 million, generating a “lifetime return” of 2.3 times its original investment.
