Companies: DNE   

First-half results from the Edinburgh-based Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust made for encouraging reading, as valuation increases for its four largest investments helped boost net asset value per share 8.5 per cent to 451.3p, during the six months to October.

The figures capped a successful period for the FTSE-listed investment trust, which also saw Dunedin sell its stake in Hayley Conference Centres to 3i, netting a 2.4 times return on investment. An even greater return of £13.6 million was then achieved against part of the trust’s holding in Davenham, an asset-based lending firm that floated on AIM in November.

Dunedin has offset these realisations with three new, and several follow-on, investments worth a combined £14 million, half of which went to fleet management business Zenith. A fourth new investment should be completed soon, hints chief executive Ross Marshall, who adds, ‘healthcare, financial services and support services are the areas we’re particularly interested in.’

Despite the recent acquisition, by trust manager Dunedin Capital Partners, of rival private equity firm Sand Aire, Marshall indicates that investment activity is unlikely to rise significantly. ‘The deal has strengthened our presence around London,’ he explains. ‘But we are unlikely to grow the portfolio too rapidly as we like to spend a lot of time working with our companies. Probably between four and six deals a year seem likely.’

Dunedin Enterprise Inv Tst	LSE	£67.91m	225.00p	2.00p
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Dunedin Enterprise			21/06/2005