Half Yearly Report

RNS Number : 8086C

Hansa Trust PLC

19 November 2009

 

HANSA TRUST PLC

Announcement of Half-Yearly Results

for the six months ended 30 September 2009

Hansa Trust PLC announces its Half-Yearly Results for the six months ended 30 September 2009.

Financial Highlights	Six months ended 30 September 2009 (unaudited)		Year ended 31 March 2009 (audited)
Net Asset Value - Total Return		40.1%	(30.2%)
Performance Benchmark		3.2%	6.7%
Capital return per equity share		236.3p	(294.8p)
Revenue return per equity share		14.8p	18.3p
Net asset value per equity share		871.6p	635.0p
Dividend per equity share		3.5p	18.0p
Total income (£000's)		4,491	6,479
Revenue before taxation (£000's)		3,562	4,474

An interim dividend of 3.5p per share (amounting to £840,000) is to be paid.

Ex-dividend date: 2 December 2009

Record date: 4 December 2009

Payment date: 18 December 2009

The following are attached:

• Chairman's Statement

• Condensed Group Income Statement

• Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity

• Condensed Group Balance Sheet

• Condensed Group Cash Flow Statement

• Notes

For further information please contact:

Peter Gardner        Hansa Capital Partners LLP        020 7647 5750

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

After the quite remarkable recovery in stock markets all over the world during the first half of our own year to 31 March 2010 - ranging all the way from Hungary which more than doubled in value (+106%) through to Brazil (+74%) and the UK (+33%) down to China (+5%) - it would be quite reasonable for the man from Mars to ask "what crisis?". Given the huge quantities of money thrown at the global economy by the world's central banks and the rescue of much of the world's banking system by tax payers, it should not have been - with the benefit of hindsight - surprising that what has happened, would happen. The money flows at first into the stock markets and thereafter into the various economies, so at the very least they have stopped receding. The issue that we have to question is whether or not it is sustainable and that John Alexander, our portfolio manager, addresses in his report which follows this brief statement.

THE HALF YEAR RESULTS

NAV:                      Ord sh:   871.6p                     “A” ord sh:           871.6p

Share Price            Ord sh:   755.0p                     “A” ord sh:           748.0p

Discount:               Ord sh:    13.4%                   “A” ord sh:            14.2%

The recovery referred to above has been reflected in the performance of our own net asset value, rising as it did from 635.0p per share to 871.6p per share - an increase of 37.3%. It should be remembered that these figures are struck after the payment of a 14.5p dividend, so that the total return was a rather greater 39.5%. The big driver behind it was, once again, our holding in Ocean Wilsons Holdings (its share price rose 53%); it made the largest contribution to the recovery in our net asset value, adding 114p of the 251.1p increase.  Brazil is very much in vogue amongst international investors and quite rightly so it would seem. The Brazilian economic barometer would seem to be set "fair".

However, the rest of the portfolio played its part in the increase in the net asset value rising by 137.1p per share. After accounting for the payment of the dividend, that increase amounted to circa 32%. A good number of our holdings made significant contributions to the improvement, led by Hargreaves Services (+14.2p), HSBC (+12.2p) and Cape (+11.6p).

It is pleasing to be able to report that the prices of the two classes of shares (the ordinary and the "A" ordinary) did even better rising by 48.0% and 52.7% over the six months with the result that the discounts narrowed from the very high levels at the end of March 19.7% & 22.8% respectively, down to a little more respectable 13.4% and 14.2%.

These improvements can be set against our benchmark (based on the return of a 5 year government bond) which returned 3.2% and also against the FTSE All-share Index (a proxy for the British stock market) of 32.8% and can, we believe, be regarded as reasonable in the circumstances.

DIVIDEND

Our revenue account produced a net income (for the purposes of paying dividends) of £3.6 million. Most of our income tends to be earned in the first half of the year so the final dividend, payable next August, will depend on what is earned in the balance of this financial year. The Board has declared an interim dividend of 3.5p per share.

PROSPECTS

As he always does, John has presented a good review in the investment manager's report of the outlook and there is not much more that we the Directors, through this Chairman's Statement, can add to it. I would add a note of caution to his comments with the concern that I - and many others have - being encapsulated in the question: how can the most severe financial crisis in circa 80 years be over in just six months? And yet, judging by the stock market euphoria of the last few months, it seems that much of the City is of that view. Opinions are rather more sharply divided on the outlook than they have been for many years - with the bulls saying that the pump priming has done the trick, we are back to the good old days (if from a lower base) and the bears saying that the fundamental causes of the crisis - living beyond our means (collectively), incompetent government, poor corporate governance and insatiable greed - are still largely intact and that another bubble/bust is in the offing down the line. You can take your pick but I think it fair to say that we are in uncharted waters. 

The final paragraph in John's report quite rightly concentrates on what has been going on in the corporate world. It is that which is important to both investors generally and to Hansa Trust's shareholders in particular. He reiterates comments made in previous reports about the strong getting stronger and about the excellent manner in which so many companies have cut costs to ensure survival in these difficult times. As is so often the case, the external environment is only half the issue; what we make of it is the other half. Our ability to identify and back those high quality companies with the characteristics he refers to, is what will earn us excellent returns over the longer term. We have done so in the past and we expect to do so in the future.

Alex Hammond-Chambers

Chairman

19 November 2009

CONDENSED GROUP INCOME STATEMENT

for the six months ended 30 September 2009

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2009			(Unaudited ) Six months ended 30 September 2008			(Audited) Year ended 31 March 2009
	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Gain/(loss) on investments (Loss)/gain on derivative	-	57,011 (304)	57,011 (304)	- -	(28,475) 977	(28,475) 977	- -	(72,631) 1,891	(72,631) 1,891
Currency exchange gains	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	1	1
Investment income (see note 2)	4,491	-	4,491	5,115	-	5,115	6,479	-	6,479
	4,491	56,707	61,198	5,115	(27,497)	(22,382)	6,479	(70,739)	(64,260)
Investment management fees	(614)	-	(614)	(730)	-	(730)	(1,276)	-	(1,276)
Other operating expenses	(315)	-	(315)	(358)	-	(358)	(616)	-	(616)
	(929)	-	(929)	(1,088)	-	(1,088)	(1,892)	-	(1,892)
Profit/(loss) before finance costs and taxation	3,562	56,707	60,269	4,027	(27,497)	(23,470)	4,587	(70,739)	(66,152)
Finance costs	-	-	-	(113)	-	(113)	(113)	-	(113)
Profit/(loss) before taxation	3,562	56,707	60,269	3,914	(27,497)	(23,583)	4,474	(70,739)	(66,265)
Taxation	(4)	-	(4)	(84)	-	(84)	(87)	-	(87)
Profit/(loss) for the period	3,558	56,707	60,265	3,830	(27,497)	(23,667)	4,387	(70,739)	(66,352)
Return per Ordinary and 'A' non-voting Ordinary share (see note 3)	14.8p	236.3p	251.1p	16.0p	(114.6p)	(98.6p)	18.3p	(294.8p)	(276.5p)

The Company does not have any income or expense that is not included in the profit for the year. Accordingly the "Profit for the year" is also the "Total comprehensive income for the year", as defined in IAS 1 (revised) and no separate Statement of Comprehensive Income has been presented.

All of the profit and total comprehensive income for the year is attributable to the owners of the Company.

The total column of the statement is the Income Statement of the Company prepared in accordance with IFRS. The supplementary revenue and capital columns are presented for information purposes as recommended by the Statement of Recommended Practice issued by the Association of Investment Companies.

The Statement above is regarded as being in a condensed form due to the fact that fewer explanatory notes are available than would be the case in the Annual Report.

  CONDENSED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

for the six months ended 30 September 2009

(Unaudited)

	Share  Capital		Capital  redemption  reserve		Retained Earnings		Total
	£ 000		£ 000		£ 000		£ 000
Net assets at 1 April 2009	1,200		300		150,906		152,406
Profit for the period	-		-		60,265		60,265
Dividends paid	-		-		(3,480)		(3,480)
Balance at 30 September 2009	1,200		300		207,691		209,191

CONDENSED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

for the six months ended 30 September 2008

(Unaudited)

	Share  Capital		Capital redemption  reserve		Retained Earnings		Total
	£ 000		£ 000		£ 000		£ 000
Net assets at 1 April 2008	1,200		300		220,378		221,878
Loss for the period	-		-		(23,667)		(23,667)
Dividends paid	-		-		(2,280)		(2,280)
Balance at 30 September 2008	1,200		300		194,431		195,931

CONDENSED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

for the year ended 31 March 2009

(Audited)

	Share  Capital		Capital redemption  reserve		Retained Earnings		Total
	£ 000		£ 000		£ 000		£ 000
Net assets at 1 April 2008	1,200		300		220,378		221,878
Loss for the year	-		-		(66,352)		(66,352)
Dividends paid	-		-		(3,120)		(3,120)
Balance at 31 March 2009	1,200		300		150,906		152,406

The Statements above are regarded as being in a condensed form due to the fact that fewer explanatory notes are available than would be the case in the Annual Report.

CONDENSED GROUP BALANCE SHEET

as at 30 September 2009

	(Unaudited) 30 September 2009		(Unaudited )  30 September 2008		(Audited ) 31 March 2009
	£000		£000		£000
Non - current investments
Investments held at fair value through profit and loss	204,706		180,169		139,027
Current Assets
Trade and other receivables	713		2,323		1,150
Cash and cash equivalents	4,128		13,736		12,452
	4,841		16,059		13,602
Current Liabilities
Trade and other payables falling due within one year	(356)		(297)		(223)
Net current assets/(liabilities)	4,485		15,762		13,379
Net assets	209,191		195,931		152,406
Equity
Called up share capital	1,200		1,200		1,200
Capital redemption reserve	300		300		300
Retained earnings	207,691		194,431		150,906
Total equity shareholders' funds	209,191		195,931		152,406
Net asset value per Ordinary and 'A' non-voting Ordinary share (see note 5)	871.6p		816.4p		635.0p

The Statement above is regarded as being in a condensed form due to the fact that fewer explanatory notes are available than would be the case in the Annual Report.

CONDENSED GROUP CASH FLOW STATEMENT

For the six months ended 30 September 2009

	(Unaudited)		(Unaudited)		(Audited)
	Six months ended 30 September		Six months ended  30 September		Year ended 31 March
	2009		2008		2009
	£000		£000		£000
Profit/(loss) before finance costs and taxation	60,269		(23,470)		(66,152)
Adjustments for:
Realised gain/(loss) on investments	179		(13,181)		(13,181)
Unrealised (gain)/loss on investments	(57,190)		41,656		85,812
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	-		(1)		(1)
Decrease in trade and other receivables	437		75		1,248
Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables	133		(40)		(114)
Taxes paid	(4)		(84)		(87)
Purchase of non-current investments	(8,668)		(3,960)		(6,974)
Sale of non-current investments	-		30,682		30,682
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating activities	(4,844)		31,677		31,233
Cash flows from financing activities
Interest paid on bank loans	-		(113)		(113)
Dividends paid	(3,480)		(2,280)		(3,120)
Repayment of loans	-		(15,800)		(15,800)
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financing activities	(3,480)		(18,193)		(19,033)
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents	(8,324)		13,484		12,200
Cash and cash equivalent at 1 April	12,452		251		251
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	-		1		1
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	4,128		13,736		12,452

The Statement above is regarded as being in a condensed form due to the fact that no explanatory notes are available as would be the case in the Annual Report.

Notes:

    1.  This Announcement is not the Company's Half-Yearly accounts. It is an abridged version of the Company's full Half-Yearly accounts for the six 
         months ended 30 September 2009, which have not yet been approved or distributed to shareholders.

    2.  The full Half-Yearly accounts for the six months ended 30 September 2009 have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting 
         Standards ("IFRS") and using the same accounting policies as those in the last published annual accounts, being those to 31 March 2009.

    3   Statutory accounts for the 12 months ended 31 March 2009 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and received an audit report which was 
         unqualified, did not include a reference to any matter to which the auditors drew attention without qualifying the report, and did not contain statements 
         under Section 237 (2) and (3) of the Companies Act 1985.

Hansa Capital Partners LLP - Company Secretary

19 November 2009

 

END

 

 

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