Final Results

F&C Capital & Income Inv Tst PLC 26 November 2003 Date: 25 November 2003 Contact: Julian Cane, F&C Management Ltd, 020 7628 8000 / Lisa Stanley, Lansons Communications, 020 7294 3692 F&C CAPITAL AND INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC Unaudited Preliminary Statement of Results for the year ended 30 September 2003 Highlights • The share price rose strongly during the year increasing by 17.3%. This was mainly due to the increase in NAV per share. • The Company is recommending a final dividend of 3.30p per share, giving a total for the year of 5.35p. This is an increase of 1.9% on the previous year and the 10th successive increase. • The Company is requesting permission from shareholders to buy and re-issue shares from treasury. • The share price traded at an average discount to net asset value of 0.7% over the year. SUMMARY OF RESULTS 30 Sep 30 Sep % Attributable to equity shareholders 2003 2002 change Net assets £79.47m £70.06m +13.4 Net asset value per share 158.46p 140.96p +12.4 Earnings per share 5.28p 4.93p +7.1 Dividends per share 5.35p 5.25p +1.9 Share price 159.00p 135.50p +17.3 F&C CAPITAL AND INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC Unaudited Preliminary Statement of Results for the year ended 30 September 2003 Chairman's Statement Dear Shareholder Over the year to 30 September 2003, the capital performance of your Company was narrowly behind the FTSE All-Share Index, as net asset value (NAV) and the Index rose 12.4% and 12.6% respectively. The share price rose by somewhat more, increasing by 17.3%. The directors are recommending a final dividend of 3.30 pence per share to give a total for the year of 5.35 pence, an increase of 1.9% on the previous year. Capital Performance After two years of heavy falls, it is encouraging to record rises in the share price, NAV and stockmarkets over the year. There was no smooth trend in the market, as an initial strong rally during October and November 2002 petered out, before the market moved down again; this caused the stock market and NAV to be lower after six months of our financial year to March. Furthermore, the performance of our NAV per share was 1.7% behind the Index at this interim stage. However, the stock market performed better in the second half of the year as the war in Iraq came to a swift conclusion and as expectations increased of a rapid return to growth for the world's main economies. Your Company was able to make good most of its initial relative underperformance and almost draw level again with the Index by the financial year end. As a result of strong performance relative to the stock market in previous periods, your Company's record over the medium- and long-term remains well ahead of the FTSE All-Share benchmark Index. Dividend Performance The revenue account of your Company has seen a considerable improvement over the last year as net revenue after tax is 6.9% higher than the prior period. This has come about as a result of an increase in dividends received, despite a number of dividend reductions over the last twelve months, and a decrease in expenses, primarily because of a smaller management fee as average assets were lower than last year. The proposed dividend increase is 1.9% and is the tenth successive increase. Although this is not fully covered by current year earnings, the revenue reserve is still close to £1m. The dividend for the year to September 2003 is more than 57% greater than the dividend for the year to September 1993, which was the Company's first year of activity; the increase in the dividend over this period is more than twice the increase in the RPI. F&C CAPITAL AND INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC Unaudited Preliminary Statement of Results for the year ended 30 September 2003 Total Return The Company's formal objective is to secure long-term capital and income growth. This can be summarised within a total return statistic, which records the changes in NAV per share and adds back the dividends paid to investors. As a result of the capital performance noted above and steady dividend progression, the total return from your Company exceeds the total return of the FTSE All-Share Index over the last five years. Share Buy-Backs / New Issues In September 2002, the Board adopted a more aggressive buy-back strategy with two objectives. The new strategy was aimed at reducing the volatility of the discount to NAV at which the Company's shares trade and also targeted at reducing the level of the discount, such that the shares should not stand at any material discount to NAV. This policy has been successful over the last year, as the chart of the discount to NAV shows. The average discount over the last year was 0.7% with the largest discount being 7.3%. As well as buying shares when there is excess supply in the market, the Board has also issued shares when the shares have traded at a premium to NAV and there has been excess demand. In total over the year, 821,000 shares were bought-back, while 1,268,000 shares were issued. Treasury Shares From 1 December 2003, investment trusts will be able to buy shares, hold them in treasury and then subsequently re-issue them. This would in practice replicate what the Company already does through its share buy-back and share issue programmes, but through the elimination of listing fees on the re-issuance of shares from treasury, it would be considerably cheaper. Because of this advantage, the Board is requesting shareholders' permission to buy and re-issue shares from treasury. The Board is committed to only buying the Company's shares when they trade at a discount to NAV, and to issuing shares when they trade at a premium to NAV. Share Price Performance As noted above the share price rose strongly during the year. Clearly the main determinant of this was the increase in NAV per share, but the shares also benefited from a reduction in the discount as the share buyback strategy of the Board took effect. At the start of the year, the shares traded at a discount of 3.9% to NAV, but at the end, they traded at a small premium. F&C CAPITAL AND INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC Unaudited Preliminary Statement of Results for the year ended 30 September 2003 Directors The Board is delighted to welcome Pen Kent as a director of your Company. He has a wealth of experience, most notably as a former executive director of the Bank of England, that should prove to be of great benefit to your Company. Prospects The immediate prospects for the UK economy and stockmarket are moderate. The UK economy has surprised with its resilience throughout the year, but the growth has really stemmed from additional consumer and government expenditure and enormous levels of new debt. This has resulted in a somewhat unbalanced economy and the Bank of England has now started to raise interest rates in order to keep future inflation within its targeted levels. The side-effect of increased interest rates on consumers with such large debts is difficult to judge, but there must be a risk that if rates need to increase materially, consumer expenditure could fall back abruptly. Assuming this does not happen, the outlook is for modest levels of economic growth. As a result of the stockmarket rally, share valuations are no longer as attractive as they were in March, but, despite this, there are many companies that are reasonably valued. Certainly, equities still appear to offer good value compared to alternative investments such as cash or bonds and the Board believes good stock selection should enable your Company to continue to perform well. Graham Ross Russell November 2003 F&C CAPITAL AND INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC Unaudited Preliminary Statement of Results for the year ended 30 September 2003 Unaudited Statement of Total Return (incorporating the Revenue Account*) for the year ended 30 September 2003 2002 Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total £'000s £'000s £'000s £'000s £'000s £'000s Gains/(losses) on investments - 8,945 8,945 - (16,819) (16,819) Exchange gains on currency balances 2 12 14 8 3 11 Income 3,047 - 3,047 2,869 - 2,869 Management fee (175) (175) (350) (209) (209) (418) Other expenses (208) (12) (220) (173) (11) (184) Net return before finance costs and taxation 2,666 8,770 11,436 2,495 (17,036) (14,541) Interest payable and similar charges (18) (18) (36) (15) (15) (30) Return on ordinary Activities before taxation 2,648 8,752 11,400 2,480 (17,051) (14,571) Taxation on ordinary activities (19) - (19) (20) - (20) Return attributable to equity shareholders 2,629 8,752 11,381 2,460 (17,051) (14,591) Dividends on ordinary shares (equity): Interim dividend of 2.05p (2002:2.00p) (1,011) - (1,011) (986) - (986) Proposed final dividend of 3.30p (2002: 3.25p) (1,655) - (1,655) (1,615) - (1,615) (2,666) - (2,666) (2,601) - (2,601) Amount transferred (from)/to Reserves (37) 8,752 8,715 (141) (17,051) (17,192) Return per ordinary share - pence 5.28 17.57 22.85 4.93 (34.18) (29.25) * The revenue column of the statement is the profit and loss account of the Company. All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. F&C CAPITAL AND INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC Unaudited Preliminary Statement of Results for the year ended 30 September 2003 Unaudited Balance Sheet at 30 September 2003 2002 £'000s £'000s Fixed assets Investments* 81,384 70,419 Current assets Debtors 1,112 492 Taxation recoverable 19 19 Cash at bank 15 917 1,146 1,428 Current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due within one year: Other creditors (3,064) (1,786) (3,064) (1,786) Net current liabilities (1,918) (358) Net assets 79,466 70,061 Capital and reserves Called up equity share capital 12,537 12,425 Capital redemption reserve 2,537 2,332 Share premium 17,955 16,394 Special reserve 17,516 18,704 Capital reserves 27,943 19,191 Revenue reserve 978 1,015 Total equity shareholders' funds 79,466 70,061 Net asset value per ordinary share - pence 158.46 140.96 *Geographical distribution of the investments at 30 September 2003 was: UK 91.6% (2002: 92.3%) Continental Europe 8.4% (2002: 7.7%) F&C CAPITAL AND INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC Unaudited Preliminary Statement of Results for the year ended 30 September 2003 Unaudited Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 30 September 2003 2002 £'000s £'000s Net cash inflow from operating activities 2,367 2,336 Interest paid (36) (30) Total tax paid (25) (29) Net cash (outflow)/ inflow from financial investment (1,884) 1,533 Equity dividends paid (2,626) (2,572) Net cash (outflow) inflow before use of liquid resources and financing (2,204) 1,238 Decrease/(increase) in short-term deposits 600 (200) Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financing 1,289 (1,063) Decrease in cash (315) (25) The Directors recommend a final dividend of 3.30p (2002: 3.25p) per share payable on 30 January 2004 to shareholders registered on 5 January 2004. The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 30 September 2003 or 30 September 2002. The financial information for the year ended 30 September 2002 has been extracted from the statutory accounts for that year which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors' report on those accounts was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either Section 237(2) or Section 237(3) of the Companies Act 1985. The statutory accounts for the year ended 30 September 2003 will be finalised on the basis of the financial information presented by the directors in this preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The Report & Accounts will be posted to shareholders towards the end of December 2003. Copies may be obtained during normal business hours from the Company's Registered Office, Exchange House, Primrose Street, London EC2A 2NY. By order of the Board F&C Management Limited - Secretary 25 November 2003 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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