RM Secured Direct Lending PLC Quarterly Update (6178T)

TIDMRMDL

RNS Number : 6178T

RM Secured Direct Lending PLC

16 October 2017

16 October 2017

RM Secured Direct Lending Plc

("RMDL" or the "Company")

LEI: 213800RBRIYICC2QC958

Quarterly Update

RMDL, an investment trust specialising in secured debt investments, today announces its quarterly update, having continued to deploy funds and grow its portfolio of higher yielding secured lending opportunities. The Factsheet for the period to 30 September 2017 is now available to be viewed on the Company website https://rm-funds.co.uk/rmdl/investor-reports/.

As at 30 September 2017, the NAV per share was 99.51p and Total Net Assets were GBP57.02m. A dividend of 0.2p was paid during the month of September for the period from 1 April 2017 to 30 June 2017.

The Company's portfolio now comprises a total of 21 Loans across 10 sectors, with an average yield of 8.26% and a weighted-average life of 3.74 years.

The Company now has GBP68m of commitments of which GBP51m has been deployed on a cash basis. Approximately 75% of the portfolio is invested in private bi-lateral loans or private club loans with the remainder in public debt transactions. Over the period there have been two divestments, one pre-payment and one loan maturity.

New transactions during the quarter include:

-- Asset Finance Business: GBP5.5m loan to a specialist asset finance business. The investment is secured over a portfolio of c. 500 discrete assets (including plant, equipment and associated cash flows).

-- Energy: GBP3m investment to Solarplicity refinancing an operational solar park. This is RMDL's fourth investment into UK renewable companies meaning the Company has financed 105MWs of renewable energy generation, equivalent to powering over 35,000 homes. A second drawdown by Solarplicity is expected in October.

-- Food Manufacturer: Participation of GBP3m as part of a larger refinancing to Valeo Foods. The lower cost of Valeo's products offers a less cyclical investment exposure with stable and growing earnings, coupled with strong cashflow generation which makes it an attractive opportunity.

-- Property: GBP4.9m investment with a day one drawdown of GBP2.6m to Strawberry Star, a property development company. The proceeds will purchase and develop a mixed-use site in Wandsworth into 77 residential units, flexible work space and restaurant accommodation.

Pre-payment of Facilities:

-- Energy & Waste: Early repayment of two debt facilities which totalled GBP5.15m. In order to pre-pay the loan the borrower was charged a pre-payment fee of GBP531,000 which is of immediate benefit to the Company.

Divestments

-- Two divestments with a face value of GBP5m have been made within the more liquid lower yielding part of the portfolio in order to raise cash to deploy into soon to be closed, higher yielding opportunities. This is consistent with the investment strategy as outlined to investors and has increased the average yield on the portfolio to 8.28%.

Fundraise Update:

As previously announced, the Investment Manager is seeking to raise additional capital for the Company to satisfy a healthy pipeline of active opportunities. A number of investor meetings were held towards the end of September and early October. Further announcements will be made in due course.

James Robson, Chief Investment Officer of RM Capital Markets Limited, said:

"During the last quarter RM have continued to find excellent opportunities for the Company and have deployed capital to investments of varying sizes, that meet our strict credit criteria, and that enable us to continue to deliver value to shareholders. The portfolio has begun to mature and the strategy of rotating out of lower yielding more liquid investments into higher yielding private investments has seen the overall portfolio yield increase during the period.

We are delighted to see benefits flow through to shareholders from the pre-payment fee achieved in August which demonstrates the robustness of the RM lending approach. Q4 is exciting as we look to close our pipeline of exciting opportunities and grow the Company size to increase liquidity for shareholders and broaden the investments within the portfolio"

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For further information, please contact:

RM Capital Markets Limited - Investment Manager

James Robson

Pietro Nicholls

Tel: [phone]

International Fund Management - AIFM

Chris Hickling

Shaun Robert

Tel: [phone]

PR Enquiries

Tel: [phone]

PraxisIFM Fund Services (UK) Limited - Administrator and Company Secretary

Anthony Lee

Ciara McKillop

Tel: [phone]

Nplus1 Singer Advisory LLP - Financial Adviser and Broker

James Maxwell

James Hopton

Tel: [phone]

About RM Secured Direct Lending

RM Secured Direct Lending Plc ("RMDL" or the "Company") is a closed-ended investment trust established to invest in a portfolio of secured debt instruments.

The Company aims to generate attractive and regular dividends through loans sourced or originated by the Investment Manager with a degree of inflation protection through index-linked returns where appropriate. Loans in which the Company invests are predominantly secured against assets such as real estate or plant and machinery and/or income streams such as account receivables.

For more information, please see https://rm-funds.co.uk/rmdl/investor-relations/

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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October 16, 2017 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)