LSE:ONWD · Financials · Closed-ended investment company (AIC UK Smaller Companies sector), investing in UK smaller quoted companies listed on AIM/London Stock Exchange

Onward Opportunities Limited

Onward Opportunities Limited (ONWD) is a Guernsey-incorporated, closed-ended investment company listed on AIM. It is externally managed (no employees) and invests primarily in equity and equity-related securities of UK smaller companies (predominantly AIM-listed, typically sub-£250m market cap, with focus below £100m), targeting minority stakes of 5%-25% and seeking to drive value creation via active engagement with investee companies over a 3-5 year holding period.

Export the Onward Opportunities Limited factsheetfree account Open the FY2025 report

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2 annual reports read, FY2024 to FY2025

Open a year to see what its report said. Every line in it carries the page it was read from.

Sources: FCA NSM (1), Company website (1)

FY2026Next report expected 15 Mar 2027
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Sixty seconds on the FY2025 report
Onward Opportunities is a Guernsey-based investment company that buys stakes in small UK listed companies, so it has no sales in the usual sense. Its profit for the year to 31 December 2025 was £4.3m, against £4.8m the year before. Almost all of that profit came from rises in the value of its shareholdings, plus a little dividend income. Fees paid to its outside fund manager, including a fee for beating a performance target, reduced it. Gains on its investments were slightly smaller than in 2024. The value of its assets per share, counting returns as if reinvested, showed a return of +11.1% for the year. The company ended the year with £249k in cash and no borrowings. It raised £7.5m by selling new shares, helping lift its net assets to £42.7m from £31.0m, and it paid no dividend. Management expects interest rate cuts in 2026, sees many investment opportunities and raised a further £4.5m in January 2026. The auditor gave a clean opinion. The main risks flagged include heavy reliance on one lead fund manager and owning only a small number of companies.
From the reportevery line sits on the page it names
What drove revenue
Net gains on investments held at fair value through profit or loss (capital appreciation of portfolio holdings)
Net investment gains of £5,460k in FY25 (FY24: £5,745k) were the Company's principal source of total return
page 65
And
Dividend income from investee companies
Dividend income of £380,000 (2024: £233,000)
page 65
What moved the marginheadwind
Portfolio management and performance fees scale with NAV and excess returns
Total portfolio management and performance fees of £997,000 (2024: £825,000); management fee 1.5% of NAV up to £50m, 1% above; performance fee 12.5% of excess return over hurdle
page 74
Andheadwind
Ongoing charges ratio
Ongoing charges figure of 3% (annualised ongoing expenses of £1,029,000 divided by average NAV of £34,594,000), excluding performance fees of £476,000
page 46
What management said
Laurence Hulse (Lead Fund Manager): NAV return of +11.1% for 2025 contributes to +50.2% since inception in 2023; the Company is fast approaching £50m in capitalisation for the first time
page 3
After the year end
Post period-end, the Company completed its largest single capital raise since inception of £4.5m in early January 2026 (3,088,906 new ordinary shares), taking total shares in issue to 32,780,094
page 88
The dividend
The Board has neither declared nor paid a dividend for FY2025 (2024: £nil). No stated formal dividend policy was disclosed; the Company's objective is total return via capital growth
page 42
Going concern and the audit
Directors adopted the going concern basis; at year-end the Company had net assets of £42,662,000 including cash of £249,000, a convertible loan note of £250,000, derivative investments of £1,357,000 and listed investments of £41,404,000. Ongoing operating expenses approximate 3% of net assets annually. Auditor Grant Thornton Limited (Guernsey) issued an unqualified (unmodified) opinion with two key audit matters: (1) Existence and Valuation of Quoted Equity Instruments (£41,403,639) and (2) Valuation of Share Warrants (£1,357,094, Black-Scholes model, RentGuarantor Holdings warrants). Engagement partner: Cyril Swale. Audit fee £25,400 (2024: £21,430)
page 41
The risks it names first
Price risk - fluctuation in value of investments due to changes in market pricesp.43
Interest rate risk - future cash flows of financial instruments fluctuating due to changes in interest ratesp.43
Credit risk - counterparty failing to discharge an obligation (notably via Custodian Butterfield Bank)p.44
Liquidity risk - inability to meet liabilities when due, should the Company be unable to sell investmentsp.44
Read from C000944-AR-2025-nsm.