Oryx International Growth Fund Reports Annual Results and Discount Narrows

Oryx International Growth Fund’s annual results were a mixed bag, but with a clear bright spot for shareholders: the discount narrowed hard. Net asset value, or NAV – the value of the portfolio minus liabilities – barely moved, yet the share price still rose nicely as the market became less pessimistic about the fund.

That matters because with investment trusts, your return does not just depend on what the portfolio does. It also depends on whether the discount to NAV widens or narrows. This year, Oryx got help from that second lever.

Oryx International Growth Fund annual results 2026: key numbers investors need to know

Metric	31 March 2026	31 March 2025
NAV attributable to shareholders	£227.06 million	£226.08 million
Investments	£215.68 million	£228.53 million
Cash and cash equivalents	£0.02 million	£0.50 million
NAV per share	£16.22	£16.15
Share price	£12.00	£10.95
Discount to NAV	26.02%	32.20%
Earnings per share	£0.07	£(0.40)
Dividend	Nil	Nil

The headline is simple enough. NAV per share edged up from £16.15 to £16.22, while the share price climbed 9.6% to £12.00. That narrowed the discount from 32.2% to 26.0%, which is a meaningful improvement.

My take: this is good news, but not a blockbuster. Shareholders made progress mainly because the discount narrowed, not because the underlying portfolio had a storming year.

Discount narrowing did the heavy lifting for Oryx shareholders this year

Oryx’s chairman said NAV per share was broadly unchanged over the year, after a very strong first half and a nasty setback in March 2026. The investment manager said published NAV rose by 0.4% to 1,641p per share, using mid-prices rather than bid-prices, while the audited year-end NAV per share was £16.22.

That pricing nuance matters, but the bigger picture is unchanged. The fund did not produce much portfolio growth over the full year, yet the market gave the shares a better rating. For long-suffering holders in UK smaller companies, that is still valuable progress.

A discount of 26.02% is still wide, mind you. Put bluntly, the market is still valuing £1 of Oryx assets at about 74p. So while the trend improved, there is still a lot of scepticism baked into the price.

March 2026 market sell-off hit Oryx International Growth Fund after a strong first half

The company had been flying earlier in the year, with NAV reaching about 1,897p per share in January 2026. Then March brought a sharp reversal, driven by a sell-off in software and technology shares alongside geopolitical stress after hostilities involving Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices higher.

That came on top of a grim backdrop for UK smaller companies. Oryx also pointed to employer National Insurance increases, further fiscal tightening and continuing investor outflows from UK equities. None of that helps sentiment, especially in the small-cap end of the market where Oryx lives.

This is the key negative in the results. Oryx is still highly exposed to the same unloved UK small-cap market that has frustrated investors for years. Management sees that as an opportunity. The market sees it as a risk. Both sides have a point.

Takeover bids and activist investing validated the Oryx portfolio strategy

The more encouraging part of the story is that Oryx’s activist approach still seems to be working. Activist investing means taking stakes in undervalued companies and pushing for change, capital returns or a sale.

During the year, Kitwave Group was acquired, and bid approaches were received for Pinewood Technologies, Spire Healthcare Group and Animalcare Group. After the year end, Animalcare’s board recommended a cash offer from Charterhouse Capital Partners at 336 pence per share, which Oryx said was around a 72% premium to its average cost.

That is exactly the sort of outcome Oryx is trying to manufacture. The fund also benefited from Redcentric’s sale of its data-centre business for up to £127 million, Hargreaves Services returning £20 million through a tender offer, Centaur Media returning £64 million and Fevara returning £70 million after selling its Engineering Division.

In plain English, the underlying companies are doing things to unlock value. That is a strong positive, and it gives some weight to management’s argument that UK assets are simply too cheap.

Best and worst performers in the Oryx portfolio

• Best performers: Avingtrans (+60%), Pebble Group (+27%), Hargreaves Services (+19.8%), Tribal Group (+19%) and Elementis (+16%).
• Main detractors: MJ Gleeson, NIOX Group, NCC Group and Pinewood Technologies.

The top holding at year end was NIOX Group at 9.00% of NAV, followed by Hargreaves Services at 8.13% and Avingtrans at 7.61%. The top 10 holdings made up 59.61% of NAV, so this is a fairly concentrated portfolio. That can work brilliantly when ideas come off, but it does add risk.

No dividend, very low cash and no buybacks: the weaker points in these Oryx results

If you want income, this is not your fund. Oryx declared no dividend for the year and said the Board does not intend to pay one in line with its stated policy.

Cash was also extremely low at just £22,766 at year end, compared with £504,634 a year earlier. The fund had a £1.00 million loan outstanding at 31 March 2026, although this was repaid on 7 April 2026. Management argues, fairly enough, that 95% of the portfolio is listed and therefore tradable, so the liquidity picture is better than the cash balance alone suggests.

Still, one thing sticks out. Despite the shares ending the year on a 26.02% discount to NAV, the company did not buy back any shares. It has the authority to do so, and buybacks can be accretive when a discount is that wide. The Board says it may use buybacks to address discount volatility, but in practice it did not.

Governance, related-party borrowing and what retail investors should watch next

There are a few governance points worth keeping in the back of your mind. NASCIT held 53.57% of the shares at year end, so control is concentrated. The company also used short-term unsecured loans from NASCIT during the year, alongside a prior loan from Harwood Holdco Limited, which is related to the investment manager.

That does not automatically mean anything is wrong, but it is the sort of thing private investors should notice. When a major shareholder is also lending money to the fund, governance standards and board oversight matter even more.

The year was also marked by the death of long-time chairman Nigel Cayzer, with Jamie Brooke appointed chairman on 27 March 2026. The report is full of respect for Cayzer’s long contribution, and rightly so. A chairman change is always important, but there is no sign from the RNS that strategy is changing.

What Oryx International Growth Fund results mean for shareholders now

Overall, I would call this a cautiously positive update. The portfolio itself had a choppy year and NAV barely moved, so there is no point dressing that up. But the narrowing discount, strong corporate activity and continued takeover interest suggest the value case is still alive.

The bull case is straightforward: Oryx owns deeply discounted UK smaller companies, takeover interest is rising, and any broader re-rating in UK assets could lift both NAV and the share price. The bear case is just as clear: UK small caps remain out of favour, the discount is still wide, and the fund offers no dividend while investors wait.

For existing shareholders, this result should be mildly reassuring rather than wildly exciting. For new investors, the big question is whether you believe UK smaller companies are finally due their comeback. Oryx is positioned very aggressively for that outcome.