SVG’s value jumps 23% in first half

Strong performances from the suit maker Hugo Boss and German media group ProSiebenSat drove SVG’s value up 23 per cent in the first six months of the year.

That compares with a 5 per cent rise in the MSCI World Index and 8 per cent for the FTSE 350 index.

“We have invested in high-quality companies with good management,” Lynn Fordham, chief executive of the private equity investor said. She added that she was counting on their continued growth and that SVG would also be investing alongside new private equity funds.

SVG has also written up the value of its 27 per cent stake in fashion retailer New Look to £10m. Two years it wrote the value down to zero.

Ms Fordham said: “Despite the tough economic environment and the pretty extreme weather conditions New Look’s earnings improved strongly last year –mainly through cost cutting and better margins thanks to fewer sales markdowns.”

The firm returned £101m to shareholders through share buybacks in the first half and is well on target to meet its promise to return a total of £470m over the next three years.

The sale of its small equity fund management business to Swiss group Hansa will release around £18.7m of cash. SVG shares jumped 18.2p to 408.3p.