Organic growth coupled with M&A activity

Corestate’s (CCAP) H117 results reflect strong organic growth assisted by an expanding investment platform (AUM at €3.5bn as of end-June 2017 vs €2.8bn as of end-FY16), good transaction volumes (€1.4bn from 11 transactions vs €0.2bn from 23 deals in H116) and a solid increase in client funds raised (€356.1m vs €52.6m). The recent large acquisitions of Hannover Leasing (HL) and Helvetic Financial Services (HFS) translate into an increase in AUM to c €20bn by end-2017. Consequently, management guides to FY17 adjusted EPS in the range of €5.14-5.44 (vs €1.47 in FY16). Corestate’s shares are trading at a 2017e P/E multiple of just 10.5x, implying a 22% discount to the peer group.