26 September, 2025

LIVERMORE INVESTMENTS GROUP LIMITED

UNAUDITED INTERIM RESULTS FOR SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2025

Livermore Investments Group Limited (the "Company" or "Livermore") today announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2025. These results will be made available on the Company's website today.

For further investor information please go to www.livermore-inv.com.

Enquiries:

Livermore Investments Group Limited                                                                         +41 43 344 3200

Gaurav Suri

Strand Hanson Limited (Financial & Nominated Adviser and Broker)                     +44 (0)20 7409 3494

Richard Johnson / Ritchie Balmer

Chairman's and Chief Executive's Review

Introduction

We are pleased to announce the interim financial results for Livermore Investments Group Limited (the "Company" or "Livermore") for the six months ended 30 June 2025. References to the Company hereinafter also include its consolidated subsidiary (note 9). 

During the first half of 2025, the Company's investment portfolio recorded a modest gain of USD 1.8m while incurring operating costs of USD 1.9m. The Company also declared an interim dividend of USD 7m during the period. Excluding the dividend of USD 7m, the NAV of the Company remined relatively unchanged from the beginning of the year. NAV as at 30 June 2025 was USD 132.0m (Dec 2024: USD 139.1m; Jun 2024: USD 158.7m). Our investment in Fetcherr Ltd ("Fetcherr") continued to perform well and in July 2025 it raised capital from Salesforce Ventures and certain existing investors at a pre-money valuation of USD 530m. For the period ending 30 Jun 2025, our investment in Fetcherr was valued at USD 15.0m, implying a valuation of USD 150 million for Fetcherr. The NAV per share as at 30 June 2025 was USD 0.80. As at 30 June 2025, the Company held USD 33.3m in cash and marketable securities (June 2024: USD 52.2m).

Overall the first half of 2025 provided a relatively challenging investment environment. The euphoria of a business friendly US administration quickly gave way to despair as President Trump launched a trade war against the United States' trading partners by introducing tariffs on imports. Financial markets responded violently with US equity markets down 19% from its highs. While the markets recovered as the US administration reduced the tariff rhetoric, faith in the US Dollar declined. The US Dollar had one of its worst performances declining by 10.7% during the first half of 2025.

On the other hand, large technology companies linked to innovation and developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) continued to capture the imaginations of individuals, corporates, and governments alike and gain market capitalization. The pace of capital expenditures by large data centre companies to reposition their businesses for higher computational workloads remains unprecedented. Most corporates are keen to evaluate solutions that may bring the benefits of AI to various areas of their business.

In 2021, the Company had invested in a start-up ("Fetcherr") that focused on applying AI techniques to deliver real-time pricing and revenue enhancement solutions for the airline industry. Over the last 4 years, Fetcherr has succeeded in demonstrating its effectiveness and has acquired airline clients large and small across the globe. Their pipeline of clients willing to adopt their product continues to grow faster than they can keep pace. In July 2025, Fetcherr raised capital at a valuation of USD 530m after having done so in 2024 at a USD 250m valuation. 

In credit markets, demand for CLO debt and US Senior Secured Loans (US Loans) was strong in the first half of 2025, as higher coupons of floating rate securities and attracted income-oriented investors. US Loans have been further well supported by healthy new CLO issuance and "reset" market activity. Inflation has been generally good for credit over the last few years but the effects of tariffs and a slower economic growth may generate volatility and provide interesting opportunities to invest capital in the next few quarters.  

The CLO portfolio is currently much smaller than its peak in 2021. As the Company did not materially invest in warehouses and new CLO equity between April 2022 and Jan 2024, the CLO portfolio has amortized substantially and cashflow is expected to be lower than in the previous years. The Company had two warehouses open as of 30 June 2025. Post balance sheet, one warehouse managed by Blackstone Credit has been converted to a CLO and has generated USD 0.821m in warehouse carry for the Company.

Financial Review

The NAV of the Company as at 30 June 2025 was USD 132.0m (31 December 2024: USD 139.1m). The Loss after tax for the first half of 2025 was USD 1.2m, which represents loss per share of USD 0.01.

The overall change in the NAV is primarily attributed to the following:

Livermore's Strategy

The Company's primary investment objective is to generate high current income and regular cash flows. The financial portfolio is constructed around fixed income instruments such as Collateralized Loan Obligations ("CLOs") and other securities or instruments with exposure primarily to senior secured and usually broadly syndicated US loans.  The Company has a long-term oriented investment philosophy and invests primarily with a buy-and-hold mentality, though from time to time the Company will sell investments to realize gains or for risk management purposes.

Strong emphasis is given to maintaining sufficient liquidity and low leverage at the overall portfolio level and to re-invest in existing and new investments along the economic cycle. 

Dividend & Buyback

On 23 May 2025, the Company announced an interim dividend of USD 7.0m (USD 0.0423 per share) to members on the register as at 6 June 2025. The dividend was paid on 4 July 2025.

The Board of Directors will decide on the Company's dividend policy for 2025 based on profitability, liquidity requirements, portfolio performance, market conditions, and the share price of the Company relative to its NAV.

25 September 2025

Review of Activities

Economic & Investment Environment

Overall the first half of 2025 was a relatively challenging investment environment as markets grappled with new US trade policy and its implications. US GDP growth stalled in the first quarter of 2025 largely due to negative net exports, with firms having front-loaded imports ahead of new tariffs, though domestic private demand remained solid. The labour market stayed resilient, with the unemployment rate at 4.1%  in February and 4.2% in May, while employment continued to rise. Inflation moderated during the period with consumer price inflation at 2.8% in February and 2.4% in May. Nevertheless, inflation is expected to rise again later in the year as the effect of new tariffs feed through. The US Federal Reserve held rates steady emphasising a wait-and-see approach in view of the uncertain environment.

The Euro area had an opposite effect with large pre-tariff exports to the US driving first quarter growth to 0.6% over the previous quarter. Growth in the second quarter was a much more modest 0.1% over the first quarter as exports declined to catch up with the trend. Capacity utilisation remained below average throughout, particularly in manufacturing, while employment growth was modest. Inflation in the euro area eased further with headline consumer price inflation was 2.3% in February but dropped to 1.9% in May, aligning with the European Central Bank's target. Core inflation also moderated, from 2.6% in February to 2.3% in May in response, the ECB lowered interest rates by 25 basis points in January, March, April, and June, reducing the deposit facility rate to 2.0%. It remained cautious about future cuts, given the uncertainty surrounding trade policy. The ECB also stopped reinvesting proceeds from maturing securities under the APP (asset purchase programme) and PEPP (pandemic emergency purchase program), shrinking its portfolio by 40 to 45 billion euros per month, or around 0.7% of its total balance sheet.

US equity markets started the year strongly in anticipation of a business-friendly US administration under President Trump. The euphoria was short-lived, however, as the new administration focused on re-writing global trade in a bid to reshore manufacturing and production jobs in the US. Investors sold risk assets overall and US assets in particular with US bond yields rising in parallel with declines in the US equity markets and the US Dollar. From peak to trough the S&P 500 Index declined by 21% but subsequently closed higher the six month period by 5.5% as the US administration lowered its rhetoric and large US trade partners scored better than worst-case tariffs. US government bonds eked out a small gain with yields on the 10 year bonds declining from 4.57% to 4.23%. The brunt of the pain, however, was borne by the US Dollar, which declined by 10.7% as measured by the DXY Index.

In the first half of 2025, leveraged loans recovered from the April volatility, with average prices rising slightly to 96.48 from 96.37 and the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index delivering a 3.0% total return. Gross loan issuance was $441 billion versus $703 billion a year earlier, while net issuance was just $102 billion due to heavy refinancings and repayments; institutional loans outstanding totalled $1.5 trillion at end of June. Credit quality held firm, with the default rate at 1.11% (vs. 0.91% at year-end 2024 and a 2.57% long-term average.)

In the CLO market, gross issuance reached $100 billion in H1 2025 but net issuance was $48 billion, while resets and refinancings totalled $108 billion and $49 billion respectively. CLO AAA paydowns were $34 billion in H1 2025 with another $17 billion expected in July. Market-wide CCC exposure was 6.5% with a market average overcollateralization cushion of 3.5%. AAA CLO spreads tightened to 110 bps in April before widening to 130 bps, limiting new issue arbitrage. With loans recovering and CLO equity yet to fully benefit , upside potential exists for CLO equity investors assuming market stability. 

Sources: Swiss National Bank (SNB), European Central Bank (ECB), US Federal Reserve, Bloomberg, JP Morgan, S&P Capital IQ

Financial Portfolio and Trading Activity  

The Company manages a financial portfolio valued at USD 101.5m as at 30 June 2025, which is invested mainly in fixed income and credit related securities.

The following is a table summarizing the financial portfolio at 30 June 2025:

Senior Secured Loans and CLOs

Overall, US loans performed well in the first half of 2025 generating a total return of 3% despite the tariff-induced volatility. Strong demand from US CLO creation provided a consistent bid for US loans. Average loan prices rose to 96.48 from 96.37 at the start of the year. The new issue loan market was characterized by significant refinancing activity as new M&A activity remained relatively muted. Total loan issuance was in excess of USD 440 billion while net new money amounted to a meagre USD 102 billion. While default rates remained low by historical standards with the trailing 12 month default rate at 1.11% as of end of June 2025, spread reduction from refinancing activity cut CLO equity distributions and reduced valuations on expectations of further net income reduction. At the same time, strong refinancing activity significantly reduced the "maturity wall" and resulting default risk with less than 1.75% of the loan market maturing before 2027.

In the first half of 2025, CLO new issuance grossed approximately $100 billion tracking the same pace as in 2024. This year the high level of activity was driven by "reset" and refinancing transactions with net new CLO issuance at a moderate USD 48 billion.

In the last quarter of 2024 and in the first quarter of 2025, management reduced overall exposure and booked some gains as the market felt euphoric. Since then, overall CLO market performance and the Company's portfolio performance has been more muted as refinancings on the US loans side cut into the value of CLO equity and refinancings of CLO debt reduce income from CLO debt tranches. Post balance sheet, the Company converted one of its two warehouses into a CLO and generated USD 0.821m in net carry. Overall, the CLO and warehouse portfolio was down by USD 1.8m in the first half of 2025.

The Company's CLO portfolio is divided into the following geographical areas:

Private Equity Investments

The Company has invested in some small private companies with robust growth and potential.

The following summarizes the book value of the private equity investments at 30 June 2025:

Fetcherr Ltd ("Fetcherr"):   Fetcherr is an Israeli start-up that has developed proprietary large market AI models

for dynamic pricing systems. Fetcherr is disrupting traditional revenue systems in the airline industry and has signed-up carriers such as Delta Airlines, Virgin Airlines, Azul Air, etc. As of 30 June 2025, the Company held 11.51% of Fetcherr's issued share capital. In July 2025, Fetcherr raised capital from Salesforce Ventures and Battery Partners among other investors at a pre-money valuation of USD 530m.

Phytech Ltd ("Phytech"):  Phytech is an agriculture-technology company in Israel providing end-to-end solutions for achieving higher yields on crops and tree data. Livermore continues to hold 12.2% in Phytech Global Advisors Ltd, which in turns now holds 11.95% on a fully diluted basis in Phytech Ltd.

The following table reconciles the review of activities to the Group's financial assets at 30 June 2025.  

Litigation

The Company is not involved in any litigation.

Events After the Reporting Date

Information is provided in note 24 to the interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

Ron Baron stepped down from his role of non-executive director after over 18 years of service. The Company has started search for a new non-executive director. The Board of Directors thank Mr. Baron for his commendable service and wish him well for his future endeavours.

Going Concern

The Directors have reviewed the current and projected financial position of the Company, making reasonable assumptions about cash and short-term holdings, interest and distribution income, future trading performance, valuation projections and debt requirements. On the basis of this review, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

Livermore Investments Group Limited

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

at 30 June 2025

Livermore Investments Group Limited

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

for the six months ended 30 June 2025

The total comprehensive income for the period / year is wholly attributable to the owners of the Company.

Livermore Investments Group Limited

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

for the period ended 30 June 2025

Livermore Investments Group Limited

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

for the period ended 30 June 2025