Annual Financial Report

RNS Number : 2313E

Dunedin Enterprise Inv Trust PLC

07 April 2014

 

7 April 2014

DUNEDIN ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2013

Following the release on 19 March 2014 of the Company's preliminary results announcement for the year ended 31 December 2013 (the "Preliminary Announcement"), the Company announces that its annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2013 (incorporating the notice of annual general meeting) (the "Annual Report and Financial Statements") will be published today.  A copy of the Annual Report and Financial Statements has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism ("NSM") and will shortly be available for inspection at: www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm.do*. 

The information below, which is extracted in unedited full text from the Annual Report and Financial Statements, is included in this announcement solely for the purposes of compliance with Disclosure and Transparency Rule 6.3.5 and the requirements it imposes on issuers as to how to make public annual financial reports.  It should be read in conjunction with the Preliminary Announcement.  Together these constitute the material required by DTR 6.3.5 to be communicated to the media in unedited full text through a Regulatory Information Service.  This material is not a substitute for reading the full Annual Report and Financial Statements.

Principal Risks, Risk Management and Regulatory Environment

In addition to the risks faced by all investment trusts, namely, regulatory, reputational, operational and financial, the Board believes that the principal risks faced by the Company are:

•        Investment and strategic - an inappropriate strategy, poor asset allocation or consistent weak investment selection might lead to under performance and poor returns to shareholders. Therefore the Company's investment strategy is periodically reviewed by the Board which considers at each meeting the performance of the investment portfolio.

•        Economic risk - events such as an economic recession or movement in stock markets and interest rates would affect portfolio company valuations and their ability to access capital for their business.

•        Liquidity risk - the Company's investments may be difficult to realise. The majority of investments are in unquoted companies which by their nature are not readily realisable assets. The Company ensures that it has adequate borrowing facilities to mitigate this risk.

•        Cash drag - significant levels of cash held by the Company can impact upon performance. The Board performs an ongoing review of the level of cash held by the Company compared to undrawn commitments.

•        People risk - key employees leaving Dunedin.

•        Loss of approval as an Investment Trust - the Company must comply with Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 which allows it to be exempted from capital gains on investment gains. Any breach of these rules may lead to the Company losing its approval as an Investment Trust and losing its exemption from corporation tax on capital gains. The Company must also comply with the Investment Trust (Approved Company) (Tax) Regulations 2011.

The Board seeks to mitigate the internal risks by setting policy, regularly reviewing performance, enforcing contractual obligations and monitoring progress and compliance. In the mitigation and management of these risks, the Board applies rigorously the principles detailed in the Turnbull Guidance.

Related Party Transactions

The Company has investments in Dunedin Buyout Fund LP, Dunedin Buyout Fund II LP, Dunedin Buyout Fund III LP and Equity Harvest Fund LP. Each of these limited partnerships are managed by Dunedin. The Company has borne a management fee of £2.0m (2012: £0.9m) in respect of these limited partnerships. The total investment management fee payable by the Company to the Manager is therefore £2.7m (2012: £2.0m).

A Manager's Incentive Scheme ("the Scheme") was introduced from 1 May 1999. Under the terms of the Scheme qualifying directors and investment executives of Dunedin were entitled to purchase 7.5% of the equity shares (and, occasionally, other financial instruments) in each of the directly held investments subscribed for by the Company. This scheme has now been replaced by the arrangements noted below.

Since the Company began investing in Dunedin Buyout Funds ("the Funds") executives of the Managers have been entitled to participate in a carried interest scheme via the Funds. Performance conditions are applied whereby any gains achieved through the carried interest scheme associated with the Funds are conditional upon a certain minimum return having been generated for the limited partner investors. Additionally, within Dunedin Buyout Fund II LP the economic interest of the Manager is aligned with that of the limited partner investors by co-investing in this fund.

Brian Finlayson has an interest in the Manager's Incentive Scheme and received £2,614 from that scheme during 2013. Brian Finlayson was previously employed by the Manager and retired in 2002. As at 31 December 2013 the remaining value in the Manager's Incentive Scheme attributable to Brian Finlayson is £nil.

Financial Instruments and Associated Risks

The Company's financial instruments comprise ordinary shares, fixed and floating interest rate investments, cash balances and liquid resources. The Company holds financial assets in accordance with its investment policy to invest in unquoted companies both directly and through specialist vehicles. Investments are valued at fair value. For quoted stocks this is at bid price unless this is not considered to be an accurate representation of fair value. In respect of unquoted investments, these are fair valued by the Directors using rules consistent with International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation Guidelines. The fair value of all other financial assets and liabilities is represented by their carrying value in the Balance Sheet.

The Company's investing activities expose it to types of risk that are associated with the financial instruments and the market in which it invests. The most important types of financial risk to which the Company is exposed are market risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk and currency risk. The nature and extent of the financial instruments outstanding at the balance sheet date and the risk management policies employed by the Company are discussed below.

Market risk - the risk that the value of a financial instrument will change as a result of changes to market prices is one that is fundamental to the Company's objective. The portfolio is continually monitored to ensure an appropriate balance of risk and reward in order to achieve the Company's objective. Some of the risk can be mitigated by diversifying the portfolio across business sectors, asset classes and regions. Details of the Company's investment portfolio at the balance sheet date are disclosed in the schedule of investments. The Company's overall market positions are monitored by the Manager on an ongoing basis and by the Board quarterly.

76.3% (2012: 74.5%) of the Company's net assets are in unquoted companies held at fair value. Valuation methodology includes the application of an appropriate multiple to maintainable earnings. A 5% increase in the valuations of unquoted investments at

31 December 2013 would have increased the net assets of the Company by £4.7m (2012: £5.1m).

Interest rate risk - some of the Company's financial assets are interest bearing, at both fixed and variable rates. As a result the Company is subject to exposure to fair value interest rate risk due to fluctuations in the prevailing levels of market interest rates. The table below analyses the Company's financial assets and details the weighted average interest rate and life of fixed rate lending.

Financial Assets of the Company

31 December 2013 Currency	Fixed rate £'000	Floating  rate £'000	Nil rate £'000	Total £'000
Sterling	65,466	27,856	10,297	103,619
Euro	8,732	-	4,196	12,908
Total	74,198	27,856	14,473	116,527
31 December 2012 Currency	Fixed rate £'000	Floating rate £'000	Nil rate £'000	Total £'000
Sterling	66,541	33,935	10,813	111,289
Euro	17,036	-	7,858	24,894
Total	83,577	33,935	18,671	136,183

The fixed rate assets comprise fixed rate lendings to investee companies. Fixed rate lendings have a weighted average interest rate of 9% per annum (2012: 9%) and a weighted average life to maturity of 4.1 years (2012: 4.0 years). The floating rate assets consist of cash and "AAA" rated cash OEIC's. The nil interest rate bearing assets represent the equity content of the investment portfolio. Interest rate risk is managed on an ongoing basis by the Manager and on a quarterly basis by the Board.

Due to the relatively short period to maturity of the fixed rate investments held within the portfolio, it is considered that an increase or decrease of 25 basis points in interest rates as at the reporting date would not have had a significant effect on the Group's net assets or total return for the period.

Credit risk - credit risk is the risk that one party to a financial instrument will cause a financial loss for the other party by failing to discharge an obligation. The portfolio consists of the following financial instruments:

	2013 £'000	2012 £'000
Unquoted investments	88,671	102,248
AAA rated cash OEICs	4,372	7,330
Cash deposits	23,484	26,605
Total	116,527	136,183

Investment in unquoted companies either directly, via Dunedin managed funds or via third party managed funds (both limited partnership funds and quoted stocks) is by its nature subject to potential credit losses. The Company's exposure to any one entity is carefully monitored. The unquoted investment portfolio is further diversified by asset class, sector and region. Liquid assets (cash deposits and AAA rated cash OEIC's) are divided between a number of different financial institutions, each of whose credit rating is assessed. Credit risk is monitored by the Manager on an ongoing basis and on a quarterly basis by the Board.

Liquidity risk - the Company has significant investments in unquoted companies which are inherently illiquid. As a result, the Company may not be able to liquidate quickly some of its investments in these companies at an amount close to its fair value in order to meet its liquidity requirements. The Company manages its liquid investments to ensure sufficient cash is available to meet contractual commitments and also seeks to have cash or readily convertible investments available to meet other short term financial needs. Liquidity risk is monitored by the Manager on an ongoing basis and on a quarterly basis by the Board.

Currency risk - the Company is exposed to currency risk as a result of investing in companies and funds denominated in euros. The sterling value of these investments can be influenced by movement's in foreign currency exchange rates. Currency risk is monitored by the Manager on an ongoing basis and on a quarterly basis by the Board.

The risks faced by the Group and the Company are not considered to be materially different.

Statement of Directors' Responsibilities in respect of the Annual Report and the Financial Statements

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the Group and Parent Company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare Group and Parent Company financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the Group financial statements in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and applicable law and have elected to prepare the Parent Company financial statements on the same basis.

Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and Parent Company and of their profit or loss for that period. In preparing each of the Group and Parent Company financial statements, the Directors are required to:

•        select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

•        make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

•        state whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU; and

•        prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group and the Parent Company will continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Parent Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Parent Company and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also responsible for preparing a Strategic Report, Directors' Report, Directors' Remuneration Report and Corporate Governance Statement that complies with that law and those regulations.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Company's website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules the Directors confirm that to the best of their knowledge:

•        that the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the applicable accounting standards and give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company; and

•        that in the opinion of the Directors, the Annual Report and Accounts taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and it provides the information necessary to assess the Company's performance, business model and strategy; and

•        the Strategic Report and Directors' Report include a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the issuer and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

General

The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on 14 May 2014 at 11.00am at The Sheraton Hotel, 1 Festival Square, Edinburgh, EH3 9SR.

Copies of the Annual Report and Financial Statements will be sent to shareholders later today and will be available at the Company's registered office, Saltire Court, 20 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2EN.  They are also available for download from its website, www.dunedinenterprise.com*.

Enquiries

Graeme Murray

Dunedin LLP

T: 0131 225 6699

*Note

Neither the NSM website nor the Company's website nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on either of those websites (or any other website) is (or is deemed to be) incorporated into, or forms (or is deemed to form) part of this announcement.

 

END

 

 

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