Final Results

Close Brothers Venture Cap Tst PLC 09 June 2005 9 June 2005 CLOSE BROTHERS VENTURE CAPITAL TRUST PLC ('the Company') Preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2005 Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC ('the Company'), which invests in qualifying unquoted companies providing a high level of asset backing for the capital value of the investment, today announces preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2005. The announcement has been approved by the Board of Directors on 9 June 2005 Financial Highlights: 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 Dividends per ordinary share (pence) 9.00 8.50 Revenue return per ordinary share (pence) 5.87 5.60 Capital return per ordinary share (pence) 5.91 7.10 Net asset value per ordinary share (pence) 115.89 113.11 Ordinary shares 'C' shares Shareholder value created per share since lauch: (Pence) (Pence) Gross revenue dividends for the year ended 31 5.00 - March 1997 Gross revenue dividends for the year ended 31 6.00 5.00 March 1998 Gross interim dividends and net final dividend for 7.75 6.25 the year ended 31 March 1999 Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 8.55 4.50 ended 31 March 2000 Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 7.50 7.50 ended 31 March 2001 Net revenue dividends for the year ended 31 March 7.50 7.50 2002 Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 8.00 8.00 ended 31 March 2003 Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 8.50 8.50 ended 31 March 2004 Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 9.00 9.00 ended 31 March 2005 ------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- Total dividends paid or declared to date 67.80 56.25 Net asset value 115.89 115.89 ------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- Total return to 31 March 2005 183.69 172.14 ------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- For further information, please contact: Patrick Reeve/ Henry Stanford John West/ Clemmie Carr Close Venture Management Limited Tavistock Communications Tel: 020 7422 7830 Tel: 020 7920 3150 Notes: 1) Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC is managed by Close Venture Management Limited. 2) Close Venture Management Limited is part of Close Brothers Group plc and is regulated by the FSA. 3) The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 March 2005 or 2004, but is derived from those accounts. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2004 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and the statutory accounts for 31 March 2005 will be delivered shortly.The auditors have reported on those accounts; their report was unqualified and did not contain a statements under s237(2) or (3) Companies Act 1985. 4) This announcement is prepared on the basis of the accounting policies as stated in the previous years financial statements, with the exception of the following: as of 1 April 2004, the Board of Directors have changed the accounting policy with respect to the finance interest in that 75 per cent. of the expense representing the proportion of the expense attributable to the enhancement of the value of the investments of the Company has been charged to capital. The balance is charged to the revenue account. In accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies' issued in January 2003, the comparative numbers do not need to be restated. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT Introduction The progress of your Company's investment portfolio during the year has continued to be encouraging. As well as the sale of the five homes for people with learning disabilities for a profit of £4.0 million on cost of £9.9 million, as referred to in last year's statement, the Company also sold its investment in the Odyssey Glory Mill health and fitness club outside Beaconsfield for a profit of £1.3 million on a cost of £4.5 million. The disposals have enabled the Company's total dividend to be increased from last year's 8.50 pence per share to 9.00 pence per share for the year to 31 March 2005. Investments of £3.4 million have been made in five new companies, together with follow on investments of £3.9 million in four existing investee companies. As a result of the disposals, the realised capital reserve now stands at £3.5 million with the reserve for unrealised appreciation amounting to a further £3.5 million. Your Company's net asset value per share has risen by a further 2.4 per cent. to 115.89 pence per share. The capital return of 5.91 pence per share combined with the revenue return, has resulted in an overall return of 11.78 pence per share for the year. This builds on strong returns over the previous years and your Company has now paid or declared total dividends since launch for the Ordinary Shares and 'C' Shares (now converted) amounting to 67.80 pence and 56.25 pence per share respectively. Review of Investments Our key investment areas continue to be the hotel, care home, leisure and residential property development sectors. In the hotel sector, we have seen an uplift in the valuation of our investment in the Days Hotel in the Mailbox development in Birmingham over the course of the year and are currently preparing to re-brand the hotel as a Ramada which should enhance the hotel's profitability. The new 183 bedroom Stansted Express by Holiday Inn hotel at Stansted Airport is now open and trading to date has been very encouraging, leading to an increase of £1.1 million in the valuation of the Company's investment. Recently the Company has made two additional investments in the sector, in The Place Sandwich Limited, which acquired the Bell Hotel in Sandwich in January, and The Bear Hungerford Limited, which acquired the historic Bear Hotel in Hungerford in March of this year. Both of these latter hotels are undergoing significant refurbishment. In the care home sector the very successful sale of our five homes for people with learning disabilities in East Anglia was completed in April 2004 and was mentioned in my last statement. The newly built 80 bed nursing home in Romford owned by Barleycroft Care Home Limited opened in January of this year and is filling swiftly. Meanwhile performance at the 75 bed home in Dover owned by Applecroft Care Home Limited is continuing to improve. Further opportunities in the care home sector are currently under negotiation. In the leisure sector, the most significant event was the successful disposal in December 2004 of the Company's investment in Odyssey Glory Mill Limited which built and operated a health and fitness club outside Beaconsfield. This generated a capital profit of £1.3 million on total cost of £4.5 million as well as a running return in excess of 10 per cent. per annum. In the cinema arena, profits at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse were lower than the previous year but the recent independent valuation of the cinema increased as the impact of a new cinema in Cambridge was less than originally feared. The performance of the Liverpool Picturehouse at FACT continued to improve and the Company has invested £0.9 million as part of a £2.5 million investment in CS (Greenwich) Limited, which is undertaking the redevelopment of a cinema in Greenwich, London, expected to re-open in September of this year. The Bold Pub Company Limited, in which the Company invested a further £1 million during the course of the year, has shown continued progress, now owning 27 pubs, principally in the North West of England. Meanwhile new investments have been made in The Independent Pub Company (VCT) Limited, which has acquired the Pelican public house outside Hungerford, and Churchill Taverns VCT Limited, which has acquired and refurbished Ye Three Fyshes public house in Turvey, outside Bedford. In the residential development sector, which is restricted to 20 per cent. of the portfolio, we continue to have four companies established with separate developers. Slower than anticipated sales progress and some unforeseen additional costs have led us to make a provision against the holding value of one of these, but dividends were received from the remaining three companies during the course of the year, with further dividends anticipated in the current year, in addition to the running return provided by the loan stock from all four. Results and Dividend As at 31 March 2005 the net asset value was £41.6 million or 115.9 pence per share, which compares with a net asset value at 31 March 2004 of £40.6 million or 113.1 pence per ordinary share. Net revenue income before taxation was £2.9 million (2004: £2.8 million), out of which the Company paid an interim revenue dividend of 2.80 pence per share. The Company also had sufficient capital profits to pay an interim capital dividend of 1.45 pence per share. The board now proposes a final revenue dividend of 2.95 pence per share and a final capital dividend of 1.80 pence per share, resulting in total revenue dividends for the year of 5.75 pence and total capital dividends of 3.25 pence, or 9.00 pence per share in total (2004: total dividends of 8.50 pence per share). The final dividends for the year ended 31 March 2005 will be paid on 14 July 2005 to shareholders registered on 17 June 2005. David Watkins Chairman 9 June 2005 THE PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS Investment Cumulative Valuation Valuation Valuation Reserved for at cost Revaluation 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 movement investment Sector and investment £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 ----------------- ----- ------ ------- ------- ------ ----- Hotels Premier VCT (Mailbox) Limited 4,600 2,200 6,800 5,688 1,112 Kew Green VCT (Stansted) Limite 3,000 1,101 4,101 2,000 1,101 2,000 The Place Sandwich VCT Limited 1,000 - 1,000 - - The Bear Hungerford Limited 1,000 - 1,000 - - 700 ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- Total investment in the hotel 9,600 3,301 12,901 7,688 2,213 2,700 sector ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ----- Care Homes ------------ Applecroft Care Home Limited 1,925 - 1,925 1,000 - Barleycroft Care Home Limited 2,000 - 2,000 1,000 - 275 ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ----- Total investment in the care home 3,925 - 3,925 2,000 - 275 sector ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ---- Leisure --------- Churchill Taverns VCT Limited 180 - 180 - - City Screen (Cambridge) Limited 1,210 295 1,505 1,336 169 City Screen (Liverpool) Limited 200 (22) 178 180 (2) CS (Greenwich) Limited 900 - 900 - - The Bold Pub Company Limited 1,260 36 1,296 260 36 The Independent Pub Company VCT 290 - 290 - - Limited ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- Total investment in the leisure 4,040 309 4,349 1,776 203 - sector ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ---- Residential property development ---------------------------------- Chase Midland VCT Limited 1,600 - 1,600 1,600 - Country & Metropolitan VCT 3,000 - 3,000 3,000 - Limited Prime VCT Limited 2,200 (100) 2,100 2,200 (100) Youngs VCT Limited 1,200 - 1,200 1,200 - ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- Total investment in the 8,000 (100) 7,900 8,000 (100) residential property development sector ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- Total qualifying investments 25,565 3,510 29,075 19,464 2,316 2,975 ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ----- Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC Statement of Total Return for the year ended 31 March 2005 Year ended 31 March 2005 Year ended 31 March 2004 Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Gains on investments - 2,684 2,684 - 2,971 2,971 Investment income 3,384 - 3,384 3,438 - 3,438 Investment management (263) (788) (1,051) (419) (478) (897) fees Administration (232) - (232) (151) (131) (282) expenses ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ----- Return on ordinary activities 2,889 1,896 4,785 2,868 2,362 5,230 before interest and tax Finance charge (5) (16) (21) (54) - (54) ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ----- Return on ordinary 2,884 1,880 4,764 2,814 2,362 5,176 activities before tax Tax on ordinary (778) 241 (537) (802) 183 (619) activities ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ------ Return attributable to 2,106 2,121 4,227 2,012 2,545 4,557 shareholders Distributions (2,063) (1,166) (3,229) (1,633) (1,417) (3,050) ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ------ Transfer to reserves 43 955 998 379 1,128 1,507 ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ------ Return per share 5.87 5.91 11.78 5.60 7.10 12.70 (pence) ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ------ All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the year. Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2005 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 £'000 £'000 Fixed asset investments Qualifying: Scheduled for investment 32,050 44,230 Less: uninvested (2,975) (5,340) -------- -------- Net qualifying investments to date 29,075 38,890 Non-qualifying investments 2 - Total fixed asset investments 29,077 38,890 ---------------------- ---------- ---------- Current Assets Debtors and accrued income 267 225 Cash at banks 14,737 5,735 ---------------------- ---------- ---------- 15,004 5,960 ---------- ---------- Creditors: due within one year (2,500) (3,269) ---------------------- ---------- ---------- Net current assets 12,504 2,691 ---------------------- ---------- ---------- Creditors: due after one year - (1,000) ---------------------- ---------- ---------- Total Assets 41,581 40,581 ---------------------- ---------- ---------- Shareholders Funds Ordinary Share Capital 17,939 17,939 Special reserve 14,110 14,110 Capital redemption reserve 1,914 1,914 Capital reserves realised 3,478 222 unrealised 3,510 5,811 Revenue Reserve 630 585 ---------- ---------- Total Shareholders' Funds 41,581 40,581 ---------------------- ---------- ---------- Net asset value (pence per share) 115.89 113.11 ---------------------- ---------- ---------- Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 March 2005 Year ended Year ended 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 £'000 £'000 ------------------------- ---------- ---------- Operating activities Investment income 2,693 3,189 Dividend income 197 208 Deposit interest 433 287 Other income 13 - Investment management fees paid (1,284) (923) Administrative expenses paid (218) (202) ------------------------- ---------- ---------- Net cash inflow from operating 1,834 2,559 activities Servicing of finance Finance interest (31) (53) Taxation UK corporation tax paid (743) (150) VAT (paid)/repaid (53) 1 Capital expenditure and financial investment Purchase of qualifying investments (7,295) (4,428) Purchase of non-qualifying (388) - investments Disposal of qualifying investments 19,739 89 Disposal of non-qualifying 386 100 investments ------------------------- ---------- ---------- Net cash inflow/(outflow) from 12,442 (4,239) investing activities Equity dividends paid Revenue dividends paid on ordinary (1,632) (2,332) shares Capital dividends paid on ordinary (1,865) (610) shares ------------------------- ---------- ---------- Net cash inflow/(outflow) before 9,952 (4,824) financing Financing Redemption of equity net of expenses - (92) Repayment of loan facilities (950) - ------------------------- ---------- ---------- Net cash outflow from financing (950) (92) ------------------------- ---------- ---------- Increase/(decrease) in cash 9,002 (4,916) ------------------------- ---------- ---------- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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