The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Value of Souter’ s investments rose by £70m last year
Stagecoach cofounder Sir Brian Souter’s investments rose in value by more than £70 million last year.
The Perth-born entrepreneur keeps the majority of his wealth within Souter Investments Limited.
The family investment vehicle held his 80m Stagecoach shares until DWS Infrastructure acquired the bus firm in June.
The private equity fund holds stakes in more than 30 businesses around the world.
Newly filed accounts for Souter Investments Limited for the year ending March 31 2022 show its assets rose 19% to £392.4m.
Pre-tax profits were £71.7m compared to £42.9m in 2021.
In the past three years, nearly 20 new private companies have been added to the portfolio.
During the financial year its cash position reduced by £66.7m, as a result of new investments and a £10m donation to his charity, Souter Charitable Trust.
In 2020 Sir Brian donated a third of his shareholding in Souter Investments to the trust. This stake was valued at around £108m.
In the 15 years Souter Investments has operated it has made more than 60 investments and exited 28 businesses.
Sir Brian said: “Our total portfolio increased in value by 8% per annum over the 15 years.
“This is stated after tax, all running costs and adjusting for charitable donations. This compares against a 5% annual return on UK quoted equities including dividends over the same period.
“Although this may not sound like much of a difference, the compounding effect of our performance means that our portfolio is now 270% higher in value than it would have been if we had invested solely in the UK stock market.”
The portfolio aims to be resilient to economic downturns, generate returns over the long-term and fund charitable donations.
Sir Brian said despite the current economic challenges, he remained optimistic.
He added: “I continue to believe that we have no option but to keep moving forwards with our heads up and our eyes open; not to become moribund with anxiety.
“For despite all these challenges, we have also seen that out of adversity can come opportunity.
“In the last 15 years we have met many highly motivated and disciplined management teams, who know their business and markets and are able to identify and quickly exploit opportunities to create fantastic growing, sustainable and highly valuable businesses.”