The Hearts & Minds Investment fund has written down its entire stake in Corporate Travel to zero, contributing to a 5.7 per cent decline in November. The $830 million charity fund held 1.25 million shares in Corporate Travel, which were valued at $20 million after IFM Investors’ Rikki Bannan pitched the stock at the November 2024 event.
Corporate Travel’s shares were suspended from trading in August pending an accounting probe. On November 28, the company revealed a review had found revenues had been overstated, and $162 million would be refunded to customers. Hearts & Minds said in an update, that in the absence of an observable market price, they have adopted a very conservative position of carrying the holding at zero.
The fund anticipates that the Corporate Travel holding will realise value over time but will maintain this valuation approach while trading is suspended. Corporate Travel is expected to provide an update by the end of next week, but there is no set time frame for trading to recommence. Should Corporate Travel ultimately recommence trading at the same price it had at the time of its trading halt, it would have a positive impact on pre-tax NTA of 9 cents per share, the fund noted.
This writedown marks the second time this year that the fund has written a position to zero. Previously, in April, it wrote off its investment in ASX-listed biotech Opthea following unfavourable results. Seven stocks in the fund’s portfolio experienced declines of more than 11 per cent during November, including MercadoLibre, Guzman y Gomez, Block, Nvidia, Morimatsu International, Cameco, and Didi Global. (Corporate Travel provides travel management solutions to businesses and organisations. Hearts & Minds is an investment fund that supports medical research.)
