Mineral & Financial Investments Reports Strong NAV Growth Amid Precious Metal Correction

Mineral & Financial Investments Limited has put out an upbeat quarterly update, and the big headline is hard to miss: unaudited net asset value, or NAV, rose to £16.962 million at 31 March 2026, up 28.3% from £13.219 million a year earlier.

For an investment company like MAFL, NAV is one of the most important numbers on the page. It is effectively the value of the assets it owns, less its liabilities. So when NAV rises this strongly, it usually tells investors the portfolio has grown in value and the business is moving in the right direction.

Mineral & Financial Investments Q3 2026 results show strong NAV, earnings and capital growth

This was not just a one-line improvement. MAFL also reported stronger earnings, higher investable capital and a very solid balance sheet, with no long-term debt. That combination makes this a positive RNS on the face of it.

Key metric	31 March 2026	Prior period / change
Net asset value	£16.962 million	Up 28.3% from £13.219 million
NAV per share (fully diluted)	40.5p	Up 21.0% from 33.5p
Gross profit for 9 months	£3.698 million	Up 68% year on year
Net profit for 9 months	£3.152 million	Up 78% year on year
Earnings per share (fully diluted)	7.4p	Up 68% from 4.4p
Total investable capital	£17.438 million	Up 28.4% year on year
Working capital	£17.197 million	No long-term debt

The fully diluted figure matters because it includes the effect of options and other share-based awards that could become shares later. In simple terms, it is a stricter measure than the basic share count. MAFL says NAV per share growth was lower than total NAV growth because of employee incentive grants, which is another way of saying dilution trimmed the per-share benefit.

Why MAFL’s NAV per share growth matters more than the headline NAV jump

The rise in total NAV is strong, but for retail investors the more relevant figure is often NAV per share. That came in at 40.5p, up from 33.5p. A 21.0% increase is still very respectable, but it is worth noting that it lagged the 28.3% increase in total NAV.

Why does that matter? Because if the company issues more shares, each existing share gets a smaller slice of the pie. The pie is bigger here, which is good, but the slice size did not grow quite as quickly.

MAFL also says its earnings have increased nearly 475% since 31 March 2020, with a five-year compound annual growth rate in fully diluted NAV per share of 18.9%. That gives the update a bit more substance than a short-term market bounce story.

MAFL portfolio strategy in 2026: bigger copper exposure and more physical commodities

The company says the quarter was very challenging, mainly because precious metals corrected after a sharp run-up in 2025. Rather than sit still, MAFL repositioned its tactical equity portfolio towards copper producers such as AIC Mines, Atico Mining, Aeris Resources, Capstone Copper, ERO Copper, Hudbay Minerals, McEwen Mining and Rio Tinto.

That shift looks important. Base metals exposure rose to £5.600 million from £3.504 million, an increase of 59.8%. Meanwhile, precious metals and gems still make up the largest bucket at £9.943 million, up 14.0% from £8.719 million.

Management also increased exposure to physical commodities and kept cash low. Cash and physical commodity holdings totalled £4.700 million, equal to 26.9% of total investable capital.

Physical commodity holdings are now a meaningful part of the portfolio

Holding	Value	% of investable capital
Cash	£193,649	1.1%
Physical gold ETFs	£272,906	1.5%
Deferred gold delivery contracts	£3.181 million	18.2%
Physical silver ETF	£554,493	3.2%
Physical rhodium ETF	£420,168	2.4%
Physical copper ETF	£78,290	0.4%

The standout line there is the £3.181 million in deferred gold delivery contracts. These are not plain vanilla holdings. According to the RNS, they were bought from Golden Sun Resources at US$1,750/oz., then lock in at spot after six months and appreciate at 20% per annum, compounded quarterly, with settlement or conversion options. That may be attractive if it performs as expected, but it is also more complex than just owning bullion or an ETF.

What investors should like – and what should make them pause

There is quite a lot to like here. NAV is up strongly, profits are up strongly, and the company has £17.197 million of working capital with no long-term debt. That gives management room to be patient rather than forced sellers.

Another positive is that MAFL says several strategic investments are now generating revenues and cash flow, meaning they do not need to raise fresh equity externally. In mining and resource investing, that matters. Avoiding dilutive fundraisings can make a huge difference to long-term returns.

Now for the more cautious side. Cash was only £194,000 at the end of the period, down 40.6% year on year. That is a very low cash buffer, even if the company holds liquid ETFs and other investments.

There is also a timing issue. MAFL says £8.809 million, or 50.5% of total investable capital, has not changed in value over the past year. In other words, most of the NAV growth has come from roughly half the portfolio. That can work brilliantly if the rest gets revalued higher later, but for now investors are being asked to trust that future monetisation events or equity raises will unlock that value.

That is not unreasonable, but it does add execution risk. Until those events actually happen, that upside is still a promise rather than banked value.

Management’s commodity outlook is bullish, but it comes with macro risk

The company remains positive on the broader commodity cycle and thinks current weakness is a correction rather than the end of the move. It expects improved metal pricing in the second half of calendar 2026.

That view sits behind the copper tilt and the increased physical commodity exposure. If management is right, MAFL is positioned to benefit. If commodity prices stay volatile or global growth weakens further, the portfolio could remain choppy.

The RNS spends a fair amount of time on geopolitics, oil, the US dollar and interest rates. That tells you something useful: this is not a passive investment vehicle. MAFL is actively making macro and commodity calls, and the results will partly depend on those calls being right.

My take on the Mineral & Financial Investments RNS

This is a good update overall. The hard numbers are strong, especially the 28.3% NAV growth, the 21.0% rise in fully diluted NAV per share and the sharp increase in profit. For a small resources-focused investment company, a debt-free balance sheet and nearly £17.2 million of working capital are genuine strengths.

The flip side is that the portfolio is increasingly shaped by management’s commodity convictions, with low cash and a meaningful chunk in physical metals and specialist gold contracts. That could pay off handsomely if metal prices recover in the second half of 2026. But it does make the story higher risk than the headline NAV figure alone might suggest.

So the simple read is this: MAFL is growing asset value nicely and looks financially solid, but investors are still waiting for some strategic holdings to crystallise into realised gains. If those monetisation events land over the next 12 months, this update could end up looking like a useful stepping stone rather than the main event.