RM Secured Direct Lending PLC Quarterly Update (9346B)

TIDMRMDL TIDMRMCC

RNS Number : 9346B

RM Secured Direct Lending PLC

16 January 2018

RM Secured Direct Lending Plc

("RMDL" or the "Company")

LEI: 213800RBRIYICC2QC958

Quarterly Update

RMDL, an investment trust specialising in secured debt investments, today announces an update for the quarter ended 31 December 2017. The Factsheet for the period is now available to be viewed on the Company website www.rmdl.co.uk/investor-centre/monthly-factsheets/.

The Ordinary Shares NAV as at 31 December was 98.59 pence which is 0.23 pence higher than the end of November and is made of up interest income net of expenses of 0.46 pence and a decrease in asset valuations of 0.23 pence.

RM Capital Markets Limited (the "Investment Manager") has continued to grow the portfolio of secured debt investments, with significant progress made in deploying the GBP30m raised in October 2017 through the issue of C shares. Currently GBP22m has been committed, of which GBP15m has been drawn down. The Investment Manager expects that by the end of February proceeds will be fully deployed on a cash basis.

The Company also signed a Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") of GBP10m with OakNorth Bank which will allow the Company to access additional capital in order to invest in its strong pipeline of opportunities and grow the portfolio. It is expected that the RCF will start to be drawn during February or March.

The portfolio has grown to 24 debt investments across 13 sectors with GBP93m of commitments across the Ordinary and C share classes of which approximately GBP70m has been deployed on a cash basis. Approximately 75% of the portfolio is in higher yielding private bi-lateral or private club investments with the remainder in more liquid public debt transactions.

The portfolio is well positioned to withstand the increase in the Bank of England's interest rate from 0.25% to 0.5% and any additional rate rises, which are expected to be gradual and limited. Over the period, the proportion of the portfolio linked to interest rates has risen from 22% to 39% and these investments are expected to see an increase in returns.

The fixed rate part of the portfolio is typically limited to shorter tenures, enabling greater flexibility to rapidly redeploy the proceeds into higher rate investments, as we move through the interest rate cycle.

Credit spreads have remained firm as there has been continued compression of yields within corporate credit, however the Investment Manager continues to identify opportunities which meet the Company's yield returns and risk profiles.

The Investment Manager continues to originate and review numerous opportunities. It has made a number of new debt investments to a variety of established businesses and additional investments to existing portfolio companies, supported by strong security packages.

New transactions for the quarter include:

-- Advertising: GBP7.45m participation in a private lending group for Exterion Media in its senior secured term loan. Exterion is a leading out-of-home media company with limited leverage combined with an established portfolio of billboards, hoardings both digital and non-digital. The investment is secured across all of the company assets

-- Business Services: GBP7m committed to a leading HR and payroll services firm as part of a private debt syndicate and is secured across the assets of the business on a senior secured basis. The high margin business is a clear market leader with strong customer retention, due to the nature of payroll services and a sizeable order book, giving regular and visible cashflows

-- Industrial: EUR7m private debt transaction to a German manufacturer of automotive parts to the commercial truck industry in Germany. Given the inherently cyclical nature of the industry this was a well structured transaction with significant due diligence undertaken. The investment is junior secured with limited overall leverage within the business and appropriate lender covenants and documentation are in place to protect the investment

-- Energy: GBP1.8m loan to Solarplicity, one of the leading energy providers in the UK, refinancing an operational solar park. This is RMDL's second loan to Solarplicity and is secured on a separate solar park where RMDL is the sole senior secured lender

-- Asset Finance: Additional drawdowns for Praetura Asset Finance. As the portfolio of receivables has grown, RMDL has advanced additional funds under the existing documentation

-- Additional Investments: The Investment Manager has made additional investments to existing portfolio companies, including Satcom, L'Oscar Hotel, Ardonagh Group and NewDay

-- Divestments and Maturities: Over the period the Company divested its investment in the consumer discretionary sector and three real estate bridging loans totalling GBP2.85m were repaid or matured

The Investment Manager has a healthy pipeline of active opportunities which it has taken into 2018. These opportunities are at various stages of diligence and documentation and include student property, residential property and additional asset finance opportunities. It is the expectation of the Investment Manager that this pipeline of opportunities will be used to deploy all of the remaining C share proceeds as well as utilisation of the RCF by the end of March.

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

"This has been a busy quarter for the Company. We were delighted at the response from investors to our C Share issue and we have made swift progress in identifying a strong pipeline of opportunities that meet the Company's yield targets and risk profiles. The portfolio is well balanced with good diversity across a number of attractive sectors and established businesses, supported by strong security packages. We will maintain this momentum and the quality of the portfolio by continuing to invest in further high yielding secured lending opportunities, using the additional capacity from our RCF with OakNorth."

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]

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

Anthony Lee

Trish Standaloft

Ciara McKillop

Tel: [phone]

Nplus1 Singer Advisory LLP - Financial Adviser and Broker

James Maxwell

James Hopton

Tel: [phone]

Tulchan Group - Financial PR

James Macey White

Elizabeth Snow

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://rmdl.co.uk/investor-centre/

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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January 16, 2018 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)