Woodford trust writes down £27m in a day

Neil Woodford’s Patient Capital Trust was forced to write down more than 3pc of its value in a day this week.

On Thursday, the company released a statement showing the net asset value (NAV) of the portfolio – the sum total value of all of the holdings – had fallen from 86.9p to 83.9p.

Valuations of the portfolio’s holdings, which is conducted by a independent valuer, take place every six months.

Some 908 million shares have been issued by the trust, meaning the revaluation represents a fall of £27m.

It is the second time this year that the portfolio has been revalued down by more than 3pc in a day and the third time since the portfolio was launched in 2015. The company said: “The reduction in NAV reflects a write-down in certain smaller,

less mature unquoted assets in the company’s portfolio following the scheduled review.” The latest news, coupled with poor investments such as engineering firm Kier, loan company Provident Financial and office software provider Capita in his Equity Income fund, will again call into question the under-pressure manager’s ability to pick stocks. However, the company was quick to note that the revaluation was “not in connection with any sales by any other Woodford mandate” and that valuation changes were “a characteristic of investing in early-stage companies”. Investors trapped in the stillsuspended Equity Income fund will not be immune from the news. The fund owns 9pc of the investment trust’s shares from a deal it made earlier this year. The amount of Patient Capital Trust that is owned by investors in the suspended Equity Income fund