Altin AG Annual Financial Report

 
TIDMAIA 
 
 

ALTIN: 2013 Results and Annual Report

 
 
    -- +24.65%1 share price performance in 2013 
 
    -- +10.37%2 NAV performance in 2013 
 
    -- Positive outlook for 2014: share price is up +4% YTD3, 

NAV is up +2.76% YTD4

Baar, 27 March 2014 - ALTIN AG (SIX: ALTN, LSE: AIA), the Swiss alternative investment company, published its 2013 audited annual results today5. As market conditions improved in 2013, ALTIN progressively increased its market exposure and recorded a share price rise of +24.65%1 and an NAV increase of +10.37%2 in 2013. This positive trend has continued in 2014 (share price +4% YTD3, NAV +2.76% YTD4). As announced on 15 January 2014, the Board of Directors has linked further share buybacks to share price performance, with a clear commitment to conduct further buybacks should the shares fail to achieve a 10% to 12% return over the calendar year. The Company has also announced that it will no longer pay a dividend out of tax-free reserves, which will improve the long-term value of its capital structure.

2013 annual results

2013 was a good year for hedge funds and ALTIN's NAV increased by +10.37% in 2013 (including dividend), compared to the HFRX index and the HFRI FoF index, which were up by +6.72% and +8.72% respectively. A stronger performance of the share price (+24.65% in 2013) meant the discount of the SIX share price to NAV narrowed from 32.64% at the end of 2012 to 23.93% at the end of 2013. As the market environment improved significantly, ALTIN's portfolio profile also changed rather substantially during the course of the year, as the allocation to Protection Strategies was reduced and risk levels were raised. Weightings to risk-seeking strategies were increased and investments in more aggressive uncorrelated strategies were also implemented, in order to balance the equity beta and allow for less correlated returns. There was also a measured shift towards less liquid strategies to take full advantage of ALTIN's stable and permanent capital base. This favourable trend has continued during the first months of 2014 with a YTD NAV performance of +2.76%4 and the share price rising by +4%3 leading to a further narrowing of the discount. The positive NAV performance of January (+0.68%) in a difficult month is also noteworthy. The discount of share price (SIX) to NAV stood at 20.58% as of 26 March 2014.

 
                             ALTIN AG  ALTIN AG           HFRI FoF 
                             NAV       Share Price (SIX)  Index 
YTD as at 28 February 2014   +2.76%    +4.00%             +1.29% 
2013                         +10.37%   +24.65%            +8.72% 
Cumulative since Dec. 1996   +191.90%  +140.31%           +135.60% 
Annualized since Dec. 1996   +6.47%    +5.27%             +5.14% 
 
 

No dividend distribution in 2014

As announced on 15 January 2014, the Board has concluded that distributing dividends out of tax-free reserves is not in the best long-term interests of investors. Consequently, the Company does not intend to distribute capital in the form of a tax-free dividend/repayment of nominal value in 2014. Capital reductions will be limited to years when the share price increase fails to meet the 10%-12% range which, whilst a high discount prevails, the Board of Directors deems to be an appropriate return target in all but the most adverse market environments. Eventual capital reductions would be conducted exclusively through the repurchase of own shares, either via the issuance of put options or via second line buybacks. By boosting NAV and in the case of repurchases via put options, transferring intrinsic value to shareholders, these capital reductions should prove an effective compensatory measure in case of disappointing share price performance, whilst avoiding to undermine the Company's capital base.

No changes in the Board of Directors

No new Board members will be proposed at the AGM and shareholders will be invited to re-elect the current directors.

For further information, please contact:

 
Tony Morrongiello - Chief Executive Officer   Kinlan Communications 
José Galeano - Investor Relations Manager     David Hothersall 
Tel. [phone]                      Tel. [phone] 
[e-mail]                                 [e-mail] 
 
 

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR THE MEDIA

ALTIN AG is an investment company that functions like a closed-end fund of funds. As a consequence, the analysis of its annual financial statements cannot be conducted in the same way as with most companies that produce goods or services (i.e. balance sheet, income statement, net profit, etc...). In particular, the performance of the company cannot be accurately measured through the change in net profit, which does not reflect the portfolio's investment performance. The results of the company should thus preferably be assessed through the evolution of the NAV and the analysis of the investment portfolio, as found in the "Business activity" section of the annual report. A detailed list of the holdings is also available in Note 4 of the report.

In order to avoid any possible misinterpretation, please contact us if you have any questions regarding these results.

Note to Editors

About ALTIN AG

ALTIN AG was launched in 1996 and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange as well as on the London Stock Exchange. It ranks among Switzerland's leading alternative investment companies. Currently, ALTIN is invested in more than 40 hedge funds representing diverse investment strategies. Its objective is to generate an absolute compound annual return in USD terms with lower volatility than equity markets. Thanks to these characteristics and a low correlation with equity markets, ALTIN shares provide an ideal complement to all diversified portfolios.

www.altin.ch

1 Based on SIX share price performance as at 31 December 2013

2 2013 audited NAV performance including dividend (CHF 2.35)

3 SIX share price performance as at 28.02.2014

4 NAV performance as at 28.02.2013 (final, YTD)

5 The annual report is available on the company's web site www.altin.ch ("About ALTIN / Reports & Publications", "Annual Reports" page) or by using the following link https://www.altin.ch/n/CNTP_452710_EN.

 
 
 
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