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UNIVERSAL PARTNERS LIMITED - Summarised unaudited financial statements for the quarter ended 30 September 2021

Release Date: 11/11/2021 09:00
Code(s): UPL     PDF:  
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Summarised unaudited financial statements for the quarter ended 30 September 2021

UNIVERSAL PARTNERS LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of Mauritius)
(Registration number: 138035 C1/GBL)
SEM share code: UPL.N0000
JSE share code: UPL
ISIN: MU0526N00007
("Universal Partners" or "the Company")


SHORT FORM ANNOUNCEMENT: SUMMARISED UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE QUARTER ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021

                                                           Quarter ended           Quarter ended          Year ended
                                                       30 September 2021       30 September 2020        30 June 2021
 Net asset value per share ("NAV")            GBP                  1.449                   1.082               1.453
 (Loss) / profit for the quarter / year       GBP               (285 162)               (894 739)         25 897 867
 (Loss) / earnings per share                  pence                (0.39)                  (1.24)              35.80
 Headline (loss) / earnings per share         pence                (0.39)                  (1.24)              35.80

Universal Partners has a primary listing on the Official Market of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius Ltd ("SEM") and a secondary
listing on the Alternative Exchange of the JSE Limited ("JSE").

The principal activity of the Company is to hold investments in high quality, growth businesses across Europe, with a particular
focus on the United Kingdom ("UK"). The Company's investment mandate also allows up to 20% of total funds at the time an
investment is made to be invested outside of the UK and Europe.

The Company's primary objective is to achieve strong capital appreciation in Pounds Sterling ("GBP") over the medium to long-
term by investing in businesses that meet the investment criteria set out in the Company's investment policy.

Since its listing on the SEM and the JSE, the Company has worked closely with its investment advisor, Argo Investment Managers
("Argo"), to identify potential investments that meet its investment criteria.

The Company currently has five investments after it successfully concluded its first exit during the current reporting period.

The sale of YASA Limited ("YASA") to Mercedes-Benz AG ("MBAG") was completed in August 2021 for a total consideration of GBP
42.8 million. The deal resulted in gross proceeds of 3.00 times money invested and an Internal Rate of Return, after allowing for
transaction fees and carried interest charges, of 27.6%. The UPL board (the "Board") is pleased with the outcome of the transaction
and the value it has created for shareholders in the period since the first investment in YASA was made in August 2017.

Dentex Healthcare Group Limited ("Dentex")
www.dentexhealth.co.uk

Dentex completed the acquisition of its 100th practice on 5 November 2021, a significant milestone for the business considering
that the group owned 3 dental practices when Universal Partners invested in the business in 2017.

Dentex continues to trade ahead of budget and significantly ahead of pre-pandemic levels in respect of the current financial year,
which ends on 31 March 2022. Demand for private dentistry remains high and we expect the strong trading to continue for the
balance of the financial year. Dentex benefits from a well invested central partner support function, and has successfully acquired
and integrated 28 practices in the last 12 months without significantly increasing central costs, resulting in higher profit margins
for the business and economies of scale being achieved.

Dentex has a further 16 practices under signed heads of terms that are currently in due diligence. It is expected that these
acquisitions, along with further pipeline opportunities, will be funded via an extension to the existing debt facilities. Discussions
with current lenders are at an advanced stage and progressing well.

SC Lowy Partners ("SC Lowy")
www.sclowy.com

SC Lowy Partners is a specialist financial group covering high yield and distressed debt market-making and investment
management, along with its Italian and Korean banking subsidiaries.

The SC Lowy Primary Investments Fund delivered returns of c.14.7% from 1 January to 30 September 2021 net of management
and performance fees. SC Lowy continued to deploy money in the Strategic Investments (Asia) Fund.

Performance fees, trading income and net profit continue to exceed budget for the year and remain above the full year profit
from 2020.

SC Lowy management continue to see excellent opportunities arising from the normalisation of financial markets.

JSA Services Limited ("JSA")
www.jsagroup.co.uk

JSA completed its financial year on 30 September 2021, delivering results that were marginally ahead of forecast. Although JSA
faced disruptions from COVID and the implementation of IR35 tax legislation during the year, the business dealt with these
challenges effectively and starts its new financial year with positive momentum.

The IR35 tax changes had the effect of significantly increasing the size of JSA's agency employment base. As a result, the size of its
umbrella customer base has grown substantially and management is focused on capitalising on the opportunities that this
presents. The UK umbrella employment market is seeing good levels of activity and volumes across all the sectors that JSA serves,
with the only exception being the construction sector where temporary labour shortages and supply chain issues are having a
dampening effect. JSA management believe that the decline that has been evident in the Personal Service Company ("PSC") sector
is bottoming out and industry commentators are predicting a return to double digit growth next year. In the interim, JSA is taking
steps to reduce the cost base of the PSC business so that it is well positioned when growth resumes.

JSA expects to complete a further new acquisition during November, and talks are at an advanced stage regarding a second
acquisition opportunity.

Based on the excellent growth prospects that JSA sees over the next 3 to 4 years, Universal Partners is evaluating acquiring a larger
interest in the business alongside selected co-investors.

TechStream ("TechStream")
www.techstreamgroup.com

TechStream delivered another strong quarter of trading as demand for the scarce skills and services that TechStream provides to
its customers internationally remains robust. The business is trading ahead of budget and is on track to deliver higher net fee
income in the current financial year ending 31 December 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels. The group is delivering strong
growth in both permanent and contractor placements and new business metrics indicate that the business will continue to
increase profitability.

TechStream's management are simplifying the group structure post the merger of three different entities in January 2020, and
have invested in their central platform to facilitate scaling the business in its core geographies.

Propelair
www.propelair.com

Propelair has been adversely impacted by COVID related disruptions, but has however, made good progress in developing new
markets in the Gulf region. Property owners in water poor regions have a growing interest in mitigating the impact of water
scarcity and increasing cost by testing Propelair's technology and the number of active tests has increased over the quarter.
Despite this strong interest, the long sales cycle continues to put Propelair under pressure.

Financial review

Interest income of GBP 63,287 included interest earned from providing a loan to TechStream.

Dividend income of GBP 152,570 relates to an accrual raised on the preferred shares subscribed for by Universal Partners in
TechStream.

The Board is of the opinion that, at the end of the quarter under review, the valuation of TechStream should remain unchanged.
Accordingly, an amount equal to the dividend accrual of GBP 152,570 has been provided for during the quarter.

The Company's investment in SC Lowy is reflected at its original cost and is denominated in US Dollars ("USD"). During the quarter,
the translation effect of exchange rate movements between the USD and the GBP resulted in a foreign exchange gain of GBP
294,905.

Management fees paid during the quarter amounted to GBP 514,107 incurred in terms of the investment management agreement
between the Company and Argo. General and administrative expenses amounting to GBP 66,772 were incurred. The accrual for
performance fees is calculated on the revaluation of the Company’s investments. These fees, which are recalculated quarterly,
only become payable to Argo if the Company realises the expected profit on disposal of the investments. No performance fees
are payable to Argo until a successful exit of an investment has been achieved. These fees are paid as and when each investment
is exited. During the quarter under review, there was a partial reversal of the accrual previously recognised, which had a positive
impact on the income statement of GBP 68,323.

The Company incurred interest of GBP 66,423 during the quarter on the RMB term loan facility. This facility was repaid in full, in
accordance with the facility agreements, post completion of the YASA disposal. The remaining portion of the structuring fee was
fully amortised during the current period as a result of the facility having been fully settled.

Short-form announcement

This short-form announcement is the responsibility of the directors and is only a summary of the information in the full
announcement and accordingly does not contain full or complete details. The full announcement was published on SENS on 11
November 2021, and can be found on the Company's website www.universalpartners.mu and can be accessed using the following
JSE link https://senspdf.jse.co.za/documents/2021/jse/isse/UPLE/Q122Result.pdf.

Any investment decisions by shareholders and/or investors should be based on the full announcement released on SENS and
published on the Company's website.

Copies of this report are available to the public, free of charge, at the registered office of the Company, c/o Intercontinental Trust
Limited, Level 3 Alexander House, 35 Cybercity, Ebene 72201, Mauritius.

Copies of the statement of direct or indirect interest of the Senior Officers of the Company pursuant to rule 8(2)(m) of the
Securities (Disclosure of Obligations of Reporting Issuers) Rules 2007 are available to the public upon request to the Company
Secretary at the Registered Office of the Company at c/o Intercontinental Trust Limited, Level 3 Alexander House, 35 Cybercity,
Ebene 72201, Mauritius. The Board of Universal Partners accepts full responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this
communique.

The Board is pleased to announce that a cash distribution of GBP 15 million, equating to 20.7 GBP pence per share, for the year
ended 30 June 2021 was approved by the Board on 13 September 2021.

As per the announcement made on the SEM and JSE on 29 October 2021, the distribution will be paid on 29 November 2021.

The Board of Universal Partners accepts full responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this announcement.

By order of the Board
Mauritius – 11 November 2021

Company Secretary
Intercontinental Trust Limited

For further information please contact:

                                                   SEM authorised representative
      JSE sponsor                                            and sponsor                                Company Secretary
     Java Capital                                         Perigeum Capital                         Intercontinental Trust Ltd
 Tel: +27 11 722 3050                                    Tel: +230 402 0890                             Tel: +230 403 0800

Date: 11-11-2021 09:00:00
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