Oryx International Growth (OIG) has announced “with great sadness” the death of its chairman Nigel Cayzer. Cayzer, 71, was a former chair of Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies, now Aberdeen Asia Focus (AAS), and served as a non-executive director on Caledonia Investments (CLDN) in the 1980s. The board of the £256m UK smaller companies trust managed by Chris Mills at Harwood Capital said it would make arrangements for the appointment of a new chairman in due course.

Ceiba Investments (CBA), the £44m Cuban commercial property fund struggling with the impact of US sanctions, is seeking shareholder approval to issue 20% more shares to raise capital for a €5m bond repayment due on 31 March. It warned that the issue price may be below the investment company’s net asset value per share. It has published a circular for the meeting in St Peter Port, Guernsey on 14 April.

Regional REIT (RGL), the £148m office investor operating outside London, has cut its dividend target to 8p per share this year, down from 10p last year, to provide funds for essential capital expenditure on its portfolio. Annual results showed the company strengthened its balance sheet with a £72.4m debt refinancing, £51.6m of disposals at 1.3% above book value which helped reduce the loan to value of its debt LTV to 40.4%. In a “testing” market the company let 64 properties at 3.9% above their estimated rental value in 2024. Fund manager Stephen Inglis said the lack of supply of good, energy‑efficient offices was positive for the medium‑term outlook. In the short term, however, the leasing market remained subdued “against a prolonged downturn in the property cycle and with the war in the Middle East adding to geopolitical and economic uncertainty”. The shares fell 1.5% to 91.2p.

Foresight Solar (FSFL) has defied expectations that it could follow rival NextEnergy Solar (NESF) into a dividend cut. The £345m renewables fund has held this year’s dividend target at 8.1p per share which leaves the heavily discounted shares on a 13.4% yield. Annual results showed the 8.1p pay-out was covered 1.3 times by earnings last year with the cover forecast to fall to 1.1 times this year. Chair Tony Roper said the board remained committed to a progressive dividend but holding the target “gives us more flexibility to allocate surplus cash” to share buybacks, repaying debt and re-investing in the portfolio of solar parks and battery storage installations. As previously announced, net asset value fell to 99.2p from 112.3p, a reduction of 13.1p of which 9.1p related to the need to pay more tax following a review with HMRC. Shares that stand on a 39% discount firmed 0.8% to 61.1p.

CVC Income & Growth (CVCG), the top-performing London-listed loan and bond fund over five years, saw returns moderate last year in response to interest rate cuts and higher credit prices. The sterling CVCG shares returned 7.3% underpinned by an underlying 6.5% return on net assets. The euro CVCE shares returned 9% on the back of a 4.8% net asset value total return. The net 5.5% portfolio return comprised of 3.8% from “performing credits” and 2.9% from more distressed “credit opportunities”. This followed two strong years that has seen the share classes notch up three-year total returns of 66.3% and 64% respectively. Confident that the largely floating rate portfolio is well positioned if interest rate cuts are delayed by the inflationary impact of the Iran war, the company has held its dividend forecasts at 9.25p and 7.25c per share which offer yields of around 8% and 7% at the current share price. Investor concern about a possible spillover from problems in private credit has seen CVCG fall to a rare 1.9% discount. Last week it sought to reassure investors saying it had just 3% in loans to software companies where the risk of defaults are seen to be rising due to the competitive pressures from low-cost software coders using artificial intelligence (AI).

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