HgCapital Trust reported broadly stable interim results for the first half of 2025, against a backdrop of heightened macroeconomic and political uncertainty.
Net asset value per share rose 0.4% on a total return basis to £2.5bn, while the trust delivered a 3.8% share price total return, giving it a market capitalisation of £2.4bn. The portfolio recorded revenue growth of 19% and EBITDA growth of 18% over the past 12 months, with average EBITDA margins holding at 33%.
The trust committed £306mn to new investments and generated £165mn of gross realisations in the period, leaving liquid resources of £432mn at the end of June, including an undrawn £375mn credit facility. Outstanding commitments to Hg-managed funds totalled £1.4bn, expected to be drawn down over the next four to five years.
Over a 20-year horizon, an investment of £1,000 in HgCapital Trust with dividends reinvested would now be worth £15,317 — equivalent to a total return of 1,432%, compared with £3,808 for the same investment in the FTSE All-Share index.
Chairman Jim Strang said the trust had navigated a “period of considerable uncertainty”, citing the US political transition and its policy implications as exacerbating volatility. Despite this, he noted, portfolio companies continued to deliver robust growth well ahead of public market peers, though NAV progression was held back by the compression in valuations of listed comparables.
David Toms, head of research at Hg, added that the software sector’s resilience lay in its ability to generate “sustainable earnings growth through a variety of market environments”, with M&A activity continuing to underpin outperformance. Volatility, he suggested, could create further opportunities for acquisitions.