CT Private Equity Trust (LSE:CTPE)'s half-year results, published on 28 August, showed realisations more than doubling even as its discount widened to 28.9%. A 7.10p quarterly Dividend was payable on 30 October, and the latest notice was a routine voting rights statement on 2 November.

What happened

CT Private Equity Trust (LSE:CTPE) is a constituent of the FTSE All-Share index and an Investment trust in the private equity sector, managed by Columbia Threadneedle. NAV stood at 695.07p per share at 30 June, down from 710.33p at the end of December, with a total of £497.0m.

NAV total return for the six months was -0.2%, while share price total return was -9.3%. The shares ended June at 494.00p, taking the discount to 28.9% from 21.2% at the end of December.

The half-year loss was £827,000, or 1.16p per share.

Exits against valuations

Realisations and associated income came to £63.6m, up 135% from £27.1m a year earlier, and exceeded drawdowns by £23.0m. The 15 exits averaged a 32% uplift to carrying value, compared with 18% in the first half of 2025 and a long-term average of 29%.

Cyberhawk was sold to Ondas Inc. completing in August, with proceeds of £17.9m and a 7.2x return on cost. In early July, nine older European fund interests were sold for £24.7m, at a 16.1% discount to adjusted 31 December NAV.

Against that, software holdings were written down because of lower sector valuation multiples, despite solid trading. New investments totalled £40.6m, of which £12.9m went to co-investments, and five new fund commitments were made.

Why it matters for investors

The contrast between exits and the discount is the key point. In our analysis, sales above carrying value tend to support the valuations in a private equity portfolio, yet the market moved the other way, leaving the shares about 29% below stated NAV at the end of June.

The Balance Sheet also matters. Net Debt was £101.5m and gearing 17.0% at 30 June, with undrawn commitments of £170.3m. Facilities due to expire in February 2027 have an agreed three-year extension to February 2030, with final documentation in progress when the results were published.

No shares were bought back in the first half. From the period end to 26 August, 180,000 were repurchased at an average discount of 28.4%, adding 0.50p to NAV per share.

How the shares have performed

The 494.00p price at 30 June is the latest sourced figure in this report, and no current quote was retrieved. On that price, the trust's annualised Dividend Yield was 5.7%.

The 7.10p dividend had an ex-dividend date of 8 October and a Record Date of 9 October. An identical payment was made on 31 July.

Leadership and recent notices

Tom Burnet is now chair, and Andrew Carnwath has succeeded Hamish Mair as lead fund manager. The chair said the board "remains confident that the Company is well positioned", citing medium-term prospects for Capital growth and income.

Since the results, the announcement list shows Kepler research on 24 September and a Change of Adviser notice on 13 October, whose details were not read. No takeover, offer or wind-down appears in the titles reviewed.

What to watch next

Third-quarter results are the next likely marker. Last year's were published on 27 November, though no date this year has been confirmed in the items reviewed.

Investors will be looking at whether exit uplifts hold up, whether Buybacks continue, and whether the Facility extension has been finalised. The manager expects more exits from holdings owned for over three years, while describing exit markets as challenging.