Deutsche Beteiligungs — Initial signs of an improving environment

We see early signs that macroeconomic and sector headwinds affecting Deutsche Beteiligungs’ (DBAG’s) recent performance may be gradually abating. Although its NAV per share fell by 4.8% in the short financial year (SFY24, from 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024), management believes DBAG’s broad portfolio is on the verge of earnings growth, as restructuring measures and the portfolio shift away from more traditional industrial holdings are bearing fruit. Sentiment towards German equities is improving across the market cap spectrum following the recent parliamentary elections. Moreover, the European private equity (PE) market is gradually rebounding, with a rise in deal activity and robust fund-raising. This should be put in the context of DBAG’s wide 24% discount to the NAV of its private markets investments, on top of which DBAG’s shares offer exposure to its fund services business generating recurring earnings (guided at €8–13m in FY25).