Half-yearly Report
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT
Pacific Assets Trust plc
Unaudited Half Year Results For The Six Months Ended
31 July 2014
Company Summary
As at As at %
31 July 31 change
2014 January
2014
Share price 171.0p 145.6p +17.5
Net asset value per share 179.2p 159.4p +12.4
Discount of share price to net asset value per share 4.6% 8.7% -
Shareholders' funds £209.4m £186.3m +12.4
Market capitalisation £199.8m £170.1m +17.5
Six One year
months to
to 31
31 July January
2014 2014
Share price (total return)* +19.4% +0.3%
Net asset value per share (total return)* +15.1% +0.9%
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index (total return, +13.4% -6.8%
sterling adjusted)*
*Source: Morningstar
Dividends Year Year
ended ended
31 31
January January
2014 2013
Final dividend per share 2.60p 2.60p -
Half Year's Highs/Lows High Low
Net asset value per share 179.4 158.1
Share price 173.0 145.6
Premium/(discount) of share price to net asset value 1.0% (7.5)%
per shareâ€
†(Discount)/premium high - Narrowest (discount)/widest premium in period
(Discount) low - Widest (discount) in period
Chairman's Statement
Performance
I am pleased to report that your Company continues to perform well. During the
six month period ended 31 July 2014, the Company's share price total return was
+19.4% and the net asset value total return was +15.1%. This compares to a
total return from the sterling adjusted MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index of
+13.4%. The Company was the second best performing member of its peer group
during the period under review.
This strong performance has been reflected in the share price and has resulted
in a narrowing of the share price discount to net asset value per share from
8.7% as at 31 January 2014 to 4.6% as at 31 July 2014.
These results are part of a longer term picture which started in July 2010 when
First State was appointed as Investment Manager. Since that date your Company
has been the best performer within its peer group. I urge you to read the
investment Manager's Review which provides an insight into the strategy which
has been employed since First State's appointment.
Revenue Account and Dividend
The net revenue generated during the period fell when compared to the same
period last year due to a reduction in the overall yield from portfolio
investments. The Company's earnings per share for the period were 1.5p compared
to 1.8p in the previous period. The Board reminds shareholders that it remains
the Company's policy to pursue capital growth for shareholders with income
being a secondary consideration.
The Board
As mentioned at the year-end Richard Horlick retired from the Board in June.
The recruitment of a new Director is underway and an announcement will be made
in due course.
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive ("AIFMD")
I reported in my year end statement that it in order to gain access to a
lighter touch regulatory regime and hence save costs, it had been decided to
register your Company as a small UK Alternative Investment Fund Manager with
the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA"). I am pleased to confirm that the
Company was entered by the FCA on the register of small registered UK AIFMs
with effect from 30 April 2014. This will be kept under review in the future.
It remains the Company's policy to adhere to best practice in complying with
all applicable regulations; the Board regards this as an important part of
delivering returns to shareholders and also safeguarding the Company's assets.
The Company's investment policy provides that the Board, in conjunction with
the Company's Investment Manager, will keep the possibility of borrowings under
review. However, shareholders should note that for so long as the Company
remains on the register of small registered UK AIFMs it will be precluded from
incurring borrowings.
Outlook
Increasingly high valuations in Asia have contributed to the strong performance
over the past six months and your Board is mindful that this has been achieved
against a backdrop of loose global monetary policy which we do not expect to
continue on the same scale. Despite these concerns, your Board believes that
your Investment Manager's approach in its efforts to identify well-managed
companies which embrace a sustainable approach to business will provide
superior returns over the longer term.
David Nichol
Chairman
22 September 2014
Investment Manager's Review
In the short term Asian asset prices continue to be driven ever higher by lax
global monetary policy. As a result, we are becoming ever more concerned about
the risk of a serious market collapse in the region.
Valuations of many good quality Asian companies have reached extreme levels. To
give one example of many, our favourite Korean consumer company, Amorepacific,
has re-rated dramatically and unjustifiably over recent years. When we first
met the company in 2001, it was trading on a price to earnings ratio of less
than five times. The shares now trade on a price to earnings ratio of over
thirty times. While the company has worked hard to improve its corporate
governance and long-term sustainability positioning, it is hard to argue that
its long-term prospects are very different from what they were thirteen years
ago.
As a result of this re-rating, we have been left with no choice but to sell all
the shares in the company. As bottom-up stock pickers, selling our favourite
companies on valuation grounds is an uncomfortable but necessary decision.
Whenever we buy shares in an Asian company, our hope and expectation is that we
will remain on the share register for years if not decades to come. We aim to
become long-term equity partners in each business and to establish healthy,
long-term relationships with the management teams and board of directors of the
companies to which we allocate capital. This is particularly important in terms
of earning the right to engage with companies on a wide range of sustainability
issues.
Many if not most of the companies within your Company's portfolio complain
about the challenges of having fickle, short-term shareholders on their
registers. We tend to agree. Yet, whenever we sell for valuation reasons, we
can't help but feel we are part of this problem. On the other hand, if we don't
sell once the shares have become overvalued, we will be aiding and abetting the
misallocation of capital. Equity bubbles are not good for society.
Balancing the desire to be long-term shareholders with the desire to adhere to
a sensible valuation discipline is not something we find easy to do. We have no
proprietary valuation techniques that enable us to precisely measure the true
value of each share your Company owns. In part this is because we have no
crystal ball to be able to predict with certainty the cashflow profiles of our
companies over the coming decades. Even if we could, there are still a number
of other heroic assumptions we would be required to make in order to land on a
definitive, precise calculation of a share's true value.
Instead, we think about share values from as many different perspectives as
possible in order to develop a broad-based assessment of whether the shares
owned by your Company are overvalued, fairly valued or undervalued. We use
earnings yields and discounted cash flows, comparisons to a company's
accounting book value and guesstimates of the real replacement cost of a
company's assets in order to help us make a subjective judgment as to where on
the valuation spectrum a share is currently priced relative to its true worth.
While it is easy enough to spot extreme over and under-valuation, most shares
sit somewhere nearer the middle of this spectrum. For us, valuing companies is
much more of an art than a science. The same is true for most, if not all,
aspects of how we invest. As the saying goes, "Economists put decimal points in
their forecasts to show they have a sense of humour." The same could be said of
analysts' earnings forecasts and valuations.
Your Company's cash levels have slowly edged up as we have trimmed or
completely sold the most expensive companies within the portfolio. While we are
certain we have little, if any, ability to time markets, we are prepared to be
patient and wait for better entry prices before allocating your Company's
capital to our favourite companies. We have a relatively long shopping list of
well-managed Asian companies with strong sustainability positioning which we
would love your Company to own at lower prices. We are optimistic that the
opportunity will present itself sooner rather than later!
Performance
As always we find it hard to comment on six monthly performance. The table
below illustrates the worst and best contributors to performance since January.
In terms of worst performers, Standard Foods' profits have come under pressure
from a combination of rising raw material prices, increased competition and
slowing consumer demand in mainland China and Taiwan. Despite this short-term
setback, we remain confident that the company is well-positioned for shifting
consumer preferences in China and Taiwan towards healthy, safe, high quality
food products. Uni-President China and Vitasoy have suffered in the short term
for similar reasons. Elsewhere, Infosys continues to struggle to convince the
market that is has solved its management succession problems while Weifu High
Tech has experienced slower growth as a result of weakening industrial activity
in China. Meanwhile, there are no convincing reasons we can identify as to why
the share prices of Towngas China, Sabana, Airtac, Nations Trust Bank or Bank
Nisp fell over the period, other than the short-term ebb and flow of share
prices! The top performers list includes a number of companies who, like
Amorepacific have seen their valuations significantly re-rate over recent
years. In particular the valuations of Dabur and Marico have reached the upper
end of what we can tolerate, regardless of our belief in the companies and
their management teams.
Investment Manager's Review
Continued
Top Ten Contributors to Net Asset Value Performance
%
Country Sector Contribution
Amorepacific South Consumer 1.87%
Korea Staples
Marico India Consumer 1.42%
Staples
Tech Mahindra India Information 1.32%
Technology
Kasikornbank Thailand Financials 0.83%
Delta Electronics (Thailand) Thailand Information 0.83%
Technology
Dabur India India Consumer 0.81%
Staples
Tube Investments of India India Industrials 0.76%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Taiwan Information 0.69%
Technology
Chroma ATE Taiwan Information 0.63%
Technology
Singapore Post Singapore Information 0.60%
Technology
9.76%
Bottom Ten Contributors to Net Asset Value Performance
%
Country Sector Contribution
Standard Foods Taiwan Consumer (0.22)%
Staples
Infosys India Software (0.18)%
Services
Uni-President China China Consumer (0.09)%
Staples
Towngas China China Utilities (0.08)%
Vitasoy International Holdings Hong Kong Consumer (0.05)%
Staples
Weifu High-Technology Group China Consumer (0.04)%
Discretionary
Sabana Shari'ah Compliant REIT Singapore Property (0.03)%
AirTac International Taiwan Industrials (0.03)%
Nations Trust Bank Sri Lanka Financials (0.03)%
Bank OCBC NISP Indonesia Financials (0.02)%
(0.77)%
Source: First State Investment Management (UK) Limited
Investment Manager's Review
Continued
Portfolio Changes
During the period we initiated a position in Elgi Equipments, an Indian family
business that specialises in manufacturing energy-efficient air compressors. We
believe it is a strong domestic franchise that has proved it can successfully
compete with multi-national peers. We also bought shares in Container Corp of
India, a well-run logistics operation that is likely to be a beneficiary of a
cyclical recovery in India, and Housing Development Finance, India's largest
housing finance company. We believe all three companies are well positioned to
benefit from India's infrastructure development and all three serve to improve
the overall quality of the portfolio. We also added to Kansai Nerolac India and
Idea Cellular on compelling valuations.
We sold out of Uni-President China having lost conviction in the sustainability
positioning of the company's products and our ability to influence change, as
well as Infosys on the basis that we increasingly prefer Tech Mahindra. We also
sold out of Nations Trust Bank due to the rising political influence in banks
in Sri Lanka. We reduced our ownership in Singapore Telecom in the belief that
Globe Telecom is a stronger franchise, in Tech Mahindra in order to control
position size and in Delta Electronics on its expensive valuation.
Engagement
As long-term investors, we seek to be active shareholders in the companies in
which your Company invests and believe it is our obligation to engage with
companies where we have concerns over their approach to sustainability and
governance issues. We acknowledge that there is no such thing as the perfect
company and therefore for us engagement is an on-going process. Typically we
engage through regular dialogue, meetings or by writing a personal letter.
Examples of engagement issues identified and undertaken during the period
include:
- Dr Reddy's Laboratories (an Indian pharmaceutical company): We highlighted
the opportunity to take the lead in improving global marketing practices
amongst healthcare companies, an area we believe faces intense scrutiny from
regulators globally in the coming years.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank (an Indian bank): Following the floods in Uttarakhand,
exacerbated by the excessive damming of rivers in the region, we have
encouraged Kotak Mahindra Bank to take the lead in incorporating environmental
and social parameters into its responsible lending process. While we appreciate
that over damming raises questions around regulation and central planning, we
also believe that these development risks come back to capital allocators
either through defaults or reputation risks.
- Sheng Siong (a Singaporean supermarket chain): Improved Board independence
and clearer transparency on the actual dollar worth of their legal services.
- Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance (a South Korean multinational insurance
business): Following a share buyback programme where the shares were re-issued
to a related party; we struggle to understand the logic in this transaction and
how it will add value to our clients capital over a mid-long term investment.
Engagement is ongoing.
One of the engagement issues we are considering is increasing our efforts on
diversity in India. Following the rulings of the new Indian Companies Act, that
states companies must have one female director on their boards by 1 October
2014 (something we are delighted to see implemented); it has come to our
attention that some companies are complaining of the paucity of suitable
candidates and it is suggested are planning to simply appoint the wife of the
promoter, or do as others have done and appoint a computer algorithm onto its
board. We would be very disappointed if any of the Indian companies held within
the portfolio took this approach and we will be actively engaging and informing
the companies held within the strategy of our views on this.
Outlook
In short, we remain concerned that the worst is not yet behind us. The global
economy remains artificially supported. Such support cannot last indefinitely,
and as and when it is pulled away, the implications will be profound. As
stockpickers all we can do in such times is keep our heads down and focus on
identifying good quality Asian companies which are well positioned to
contribute to and benefit from a shift towards a more genuinely sustainable
development path. We continue to believe these companies are particularly well
positioned to deliver long-term absolute returns to investors in the Asia
Pacific Region.
David Gait
Senior Investment Manager
First State Investment Management (UK) Limited
22 September 2014
Portfolio
as at 31 July 2014
Investment Sector* Market % of total Country of
valuation assets less incorporation
£'000 current
liabilities
Marico Consumer Staples 12,044 5.8 India
Tech Mahindra Information 12,002 5.7 India
Technology
Taiwan Semiconductor Information 7,994 3.8 Taiwan
Manufacturing Technology
Dabur India Consumer Staples 7,873 3.8 India
Public Bank Financials 7,180 3.4 Malaysia
Standard Foods Consumer Staples 7,074 3.4 Taiwan
Delta Electronics Information 7,046 3.4 Thailand
(Thailand) Technology
Idea Cellular Telecom Services 6,858 3.3 India
Kasikornbank Financials 6,828 3.2 Thailand
E.Sun Financial Holdings Financials 6,678 3.2 Taiwan
Ten largest investments 81,577 39.0
Towngas China†Utilities 6,392 3.1 Cayman
Islands
Samsung Fire & Marine Financials 6,080 2.9 South Korea
Insurance
Dr Reddy's Laboratories Healthcare 5,322 2.5 India
DGB Financial Financials 5,199 2.5 South Korea
Chroma ATE Information 5,164 2.5 Taiwan
Technology
Kotak Mahindra Bank Financials 5,138 2.4 India
Globe Telecom Telecom Services 4,855 2.3 Philippines
Manila Water Utilities 4,526 2.2 Philippines
XL Axiata Telecom Services 4,279 2.0 Indonesia
Singapore Post Industrials 3,852 1.8 Singapore
Twenty largest 132,384 63.2
investments
Uni-President Enterprise Consumer Staples 3,714 1.8 Taiwan
Axiata Group Telecom Services 3,701 1.8 Malaysia
SembCorp Industries Industrials 3,443 1.6 Singapore
Housing Development Financials 3,365 1.6 India
Finance
Linde India Industrials 3,261 1.6 India
Tube Investments of Industrials 3,027 1.4 India
India
Bank of the Philippine Financials 2,979 1.4 Philippines
Islands
Singapore Telecom Services 2,945 1.4 Singapore
Telecommunications
Ayala Corporation Financials 2,862 1.4 Philippines
Weifu High-Technology Consumer 2,706 1.3 China
Group Discretionary
Thirty largest 164,387 78.5
investments
Sheng Siong Consumer Staples 2,392 1.1 Singapore
MTR Industrials 2,337 1.1 Hong Kong
ENN Energy†Utilities 2,326 1.1 Cayman
Islands
China Mengniu Dairy†Consumer Staples 2,267 1.1 Cayman
Islands
AirTac International^ Industrials 1,993 0.9 Cayman
Islands
Giant Manufacturing Consumer 1,850 0.9 Taiwan
Discretionary
Shinhan Financial Financials 1,627 0.8 South Korea
Pidilite Industries Materials 1,497 0.7 India
Marico Bangladesh Consumer Staples 1,414 0.7 Bangladesh
Kansai Nerolac Paints Materials 1,375 0.7 India
Forty largest 183,465 87.6
investments
*MSCI sector classifications
†Economic activity takes place principally in China
^Economic activity takes place principally in Taiwan
Portfolio
as at 31 July 2014
Continued
Investment Sector* Market % of total Country of
valuation assets less incorporation
£'000 current
liabilities
Delta Electronics Information 1,180 0.6 Taiwan
(Taiwan) Technology
Info Edge (India) Information 1,024 0.5 India
Technology
Mahindra Lifespace Industrials 873 0.4 India
Developers
Cholamandalam Investment Financials 862 0.4 India
& Finance
Container Corp of India Industrials 855 0.4 India
Vitasoy International Consumer Staples 838 0.4 Hong Kong
Holdings
Hemas Holdings Industrials 680 0.3 Sri Lanka
Swire Properties Financials 530 0.3 Hong Kong
EID Parry (India) Materials 510 0.2 India
Godrej Consumer Products Consumer Staples 448 0.2 India
Fifty largest 191,265 91.3
investments
Bank OCBC NISP Financials 446 0.2 Indonesia
Marico Kaya Enterprises Consumer 167 0.1 India
Discretionary
DBS Group Financials 106 0.1 Singapore
Elgi Equipments Industrials 44 0.0 India
Total portfolio 192,028 91.7
Net current assets 17,375 8.3
Total assets less 209,403 100.0
current liabilities
*MSCI sector classifications
Income Statement
for the six months
ended 31 July 2014
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
Six months ended Six months ended Year ended
31 July 2014 31 July 2013 31 January 2014
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Gains on - 26,434 26,434 - 11,820 11,820 - 1,792 1,792
investments held
at fair value
through profit or
loss
Exchange - (125) (125) - 61 61 - (204) (204)
differences on
currency balances
Income (note 2) 2.416 - 2,416 2,829 - 2,829 4,195 - 4,195
Investment (233) (1,941) (2,174) (232) (2,021) (2,253) (455) (2,711) (3,166)
management,
management and
performance fees
(note 3)
Other expenses (233) - (233) (259) (2) (261) (567) (29) (596)
Return/(loss) on 1,950 24,368 26,318 2,338 9,858 12,196 3,173 (1,152) 2,021
ordinary
activities before
taxation
Taxation on (164) - (164) (229) - (229) (298) - (298)
ordinary
activities
Return/(loss) 1,786 24,368 26,154 2,109 9,858 11,967 2,875 (1,152) 1,723
after taxation
attributable to
equity
shareholders
Return/(loss) per 1.5 20.9 22.4 1.8 8.4 10.2 2.5 (1.0) 1.5
ordinary share (p)
(note 4)
The Total column of this statement represents the Company's Income Statement.
The Revenue and Capital columns are supplementary to this and are both prepared
under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC).
All revenue and capital items in the Income Statement derive from continuing
operations.
The Company had no recognised gains or losses other than those declared in the
Income Statement.
Reconciliation of Movements in Shareholders' Funds
for the six months ended 31 July 2014
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
31 July 31 July 31
2014 2013 January
£'000 £'000 2014
£'000
Opening shareholders' funds 186,287 187,602 187,602
Return for the period 26,154 11,967 1,723
Dividends paid (3,038) (3,038) (3,038)
Closing shareholders' funds 209,403 196,531 186,287
Balance Sheet
as at 31 July 2014
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
As at As at As at
31 July 31 July 31
2014 2013 January
£'000 £'000 2014
£'000
Fixed assets
Investments held at fair value through profit 192,028 183,046 175,532
or loss
Current assets
Debtors 843 485 561
Cash at bank 18,425 14,878 13,052
19,268 15,363 13,613
Creditors (amounts falling due within one (1,893) (1,878) (2,858)
year)
Net current assets 17,375 13,485 10,755
Net assets 209,403 196,531 186,287
Capital and reserves
Share capital 14,606 14,606 14,606
Share premium account 4 4 4
Capital redemption reserve 1,648 1,648 1,648
Special reserve 14,572 14,572 14,572
Capital reserve 173,704 160,346 149,336
Revenue reserve 4,869 5,355 6,121
Equity shareholders' funds 209,403 196,531 186,287
Net asset value per ordinary share (p) (note 179.2 168.2 159.4
5)
Cash Flow Statement
for the six months ended 31 July 2014
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
31 July 31 July 31
2014 2013 January
£'000 £'000 2014
£'000
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating (380) 566 589
activities
Financial investment
Purchases of investments (16,382) (21,251) (47,009)
Sales of investments 25,298 23,416 47,590
Net cash inflow from financial investment 8,916 2,165 581
Equity dividends paid (3,038) (3,038) (3,038)
Increase/(decrease) in cash 5,498 (307) (1,868)
Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement
in net funds
Increase/(decrease) in cash resulting from 5,498 (307) (1,868)
cash flows
Exchange differences on currency balances (125) 61 (204)
Movement in net funds 5,373 (246) (2,072)
Net funds at beginning of period 13,052 15,124 15,124
Net funds at period end 18,425 14,878 13,052
Reconciliation of net return before finance
costs and
taxation to net cash flow from operating
activities
Net return before finance costs and taxation 26,318 12,196 2,021
Gains on investments (26,434) (11,820) (1,792)
Exchange differences on currency balances 125 (61) 204
Irrecoverable withholding tax on investment (133) (213) (236)
income
Changes in working capital and other non-cash (256) 464 392
items
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating (380) 566 589
activities
Notes to the Accounts
1. Basis of preparation
The condensed financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost
convention, except for the measurement of investments which are valued at fair
value, and in accordance with applicable accounting standards, the Statement of
Recommended Practice `Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies and
Venture Capital Trusts' dated January 2009 and the UK Accounting Standards
Board's Statement `Half Yearly Financial Reports'.
The same accounting policies that were used for the year ended 31 January 2014
have been applied in these financial statements.
2. Income
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
31 July 31 July 31
2014 2013 January
£'000 £'000 2014
£'000
Investment income 2,416 2,829 4,195
Total income 2,416 2,829 4,195
3. Investment Management fee, Management and Performance fees
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
Six months ended Six months ended Year ended
31 July 2014 31 July 2013 31 January 2014
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Investment 185 555 740 185 556 741 364 1,090 1,454
management fee -
First State
Investment
Management
Performance fee - 1,243 1,243 - 1,325 1,325 - 1,346 1,346
accrual* - First
State
Management fee - 48 143 191 47 140 187 91 275 366
Frostrow
233 1,941 2,174 232 2,021 2,253 455 2,711 3,166
*Details of the performance fee basis can be found in the Report of the
Directors on page 23 of the Company's Annual Report for the year ended 31
January 2014.
4. Return/(loss) per ordinary share
The total return per ordinary share price is based on the total return
attributable to Shareholders of £26,154,000 (six months ended 31 July 2013: £
11,967,000; year ended 31 January 2014: £1,723,000) and on 116,848,386 shares
(six months ended 31 July 2013: 116,848,386; year ended 31 January 2014:
116,848,386), being the weighted average number of shares in issue.
The revenue return per ordinary share price is calculated by dividing the net
revenue return attributable to Shareholders of £1,786,000 (six months ended 31
July 2013: £2,109,000; year ended 31 January 2014: £2,875,000) by the weighted
average number of shares in issue as above.
The capital return/(loss) per ordinary share price is calculated by dividing
the net capital return attributable to Shareholders of £24,368,000 (six months
ended 31 July 2013: £9,858,000; year ended 31 January 2014: net capital loss £
1,152,000) by the weighted average number of shares in issue as above.
Notes to the Accounts
Continued
5. Net asset value per ordinary share
The net asset value per ordinary share is based on the net assets attributable
to Shareholders of £209,403,000 (31 July 2013: £196,531,000; 31 January 2014: £
186,287,000) and on 116,848,386 shares in issue (six months ended 31 July 2013:
116,848,386; year ended 31 January 2013: 116,848,386).
6. 2014 accounts
These are not statutory accounts in terms of Section 434 of the Companies Act
2006 and are unaudited. Statutory accounts for the year to 31 January 2014,
which received an unqualified audit report, have been lodged with the Registrar
of Companies. No statutory accounts in respect of any period after 31 January
2014 have been reported on by the Company's auditor or delivered to the
Registrar of Companies.
Earnings for the first six months should not be taken as a guide to the results
for the full year.
Interim Management Report
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
The Company's principal area of risk relates to its investment activity and
also its strategy. The Company is also exposed to currency risk in respect of
the markets in which it invests. Other risks faced by the Company include
financial, operational, accounting, legal and regulatory and also risks related
to shareholder relations and corporate governance. These risks, and the way in
which they are managed, are described in more detail under the heading Risk
Management within the Strategic Report in the Company's Annual Report for the
year ended 31 January 2014. The Company's principal risks and uncertainties
have not changed materially since the date of that report and are not expected
to change materially for the remaining six months of the Company's financial
year.
Related Party Transactions
During the first six months of the current financial year no material
transactions with related parties have taken place which have affected the
financial position or the performance of the Company during the period.
Going Concern
The Directors believe, having considered the Company's investment objectives,
risk management policies, capital management policies and procedures, and the
nature of the portfolio and its expenditure projections, that the Company has
adequate resources, an appropriate financial structure and suitable management
arrangements in place to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable
future. For these reasons, they consider there is reasonable evidence to
continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts.
Directors' Responsibilities
The Board of Directors confirms that, to the best of its knowledge:
(i) the condensed set of financial statements contained within the half year
financial report has been prepared in accordance with the Accounting Standards
Board's Statement `Half Yearly Financial Reports' and gives a true and fair
view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the assets, liabilities,
financial position and net return of the Company, as at 31 July 2014, as
required by the UK Listing Authority Disclosure and Transparency Rules 4.2.4R;
and
(ii) the interim management report includes a fair review of the information
required by 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R of the UK Listing Authority Disclosure and
Transparency Rules.
In order to provide these confirmations, and in preparing these financial
statements, the Directors are required to:
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
• make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject
to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
and
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is
inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business;
and the Directors confirm that they have done so.
The Half Year Report has not been reviewed or audited by the Company's auditor.
David Nichol
Chairman
22 September 2014
Frostrow Capital LLP
Company Secretary
22 September 2014
0203 008 4913
www.frostrow.com
A copy of the Half Year Report has been submitted to the National Storage
Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at www.hemscott.com/nsm.do
The Half Year Report will also shortly be available on the Company's website at
www.pacific-assets.co.uk where up to date information on the Company, including
daily NAV, share prices and fact sheets, can also be found.
END