Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 7131O

Income & Growth VCT (the) PLC

10 February 2016

 

The Income & Growth VCT plc

(the "Company")

                                                INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT      

For the quarter ended 31 December 2015

The Income & Growth VCT plc presents an Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 31 December 2015.  The statement also includes relevant financial information between the end of the period and the date of this statement.

NET ASSET VALUE AND TOTAL RETURN PER SHARE

	At 31 December 2015	At 30 September 2015
Net assets attributable to shareholders	£77,646,538	£75,202,296
Shares in issue	70,693,007	70,693,007
Net asset value (NAV) per share	109.84p 1	106.38p
Cumulative dividends paid to date per share since inception	68.50p	68.50p
Total return per share since inception (NAV basis)	178.34p	174.88p

¹ This figure is before deducting the final dividend of 6.00 pence per share for the year ended 30 September 2015 described below.  The payment of this dividend on 15 February 2016 will reduce the net asset value per share to 103.84 pence and increase cumulative dividends paid per share since inception of the current share class to 74.50 pence.

DIVIDENDS

No dividends were paid during the quarter.

A final dividend of 6.00 pence per share for the year ended 30 September 2015 was approved by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 10 February 2016 ("the AGM").  This dividend will be paid on 15 February 2016 to shareholders on the share register on 15 January 2016 and will bring cumulative dividends paid to shareholders in respect of the last five years to 70.00 pence per share.

SHARE BUY-BACKS

There were no share buy-backs during the quarter.

INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

New Investments

On 2 October 2015, amounts held in existing companies preparing to trade, Knighton Management Limited (£1.55 million) and Tovey Management Limited (£1.50 million), were used to invest in Access IS Limited, a leading provider of data capture and scanning hardware.  A further non-qualifying loan of £0.26 million was made to Access IS Limited.    The Company's total investment in this company is now £3.31 million.

A follow-on loan investment was also made into Racoon International of £0.03 million on 7 October 2015.

Realisations

On 2 December 2015, the Company realised its investment in Tessella Holdings Limited.  The Company received cash proceeds of £4.04 million from the sale and realised a gain over cost of £2.68 million.  As part of the transaction, the Company has retained a small investment in Preservica, a data archiving business previously held within Tessella.  Total cash proceeds received over the life of this investment were £4.91 million and represent a multiple of 2.8 times original investment cost of £1.75 million.

On 8 December 2015, the Company realised its investment in Westway Services Holdings (2014) Limited for cash proceeds of £2.80 million and generated a realised gain of £2.74 million.  Total proceeds received over the life of this investment were £3.77 million which is a multiple of 6.7 times the original cost of investment £0.56 million.

During January 2016, a total of £0.12 million was received as deferred consideration from earlier disposals of Monsal Holdings, Focus Pharma Holdings, Youngman Group and ATG Media Holdings.

Loan Stock Repayments

A total of £0.41 million was received in loan stock repayments and premiums during the quarter to 31 December 2015, from Jablite, Leap New Co (Ward Thomas), and Fullfield (Motorclean).

After the period end, a further £1.20 million in loan stock repayments and premiums was received from Leap New Co (Ward Thomas) and Fullfield (Motorclean).

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS 

In its Annual Report to shareholders for the year ended 30 September 2015 dated 17 December 2015 ("the Annual Report"), the Board proposed a revised Investment Policy to shareholders in response to the new legislation contained in the UK Finance (no 2) Act 2015, which had become law on 18 November 2015.  In summary, the new rules are designed to ensure that VCT investment is used only for growth and development purposes. Investments by VCTs to finance the acquisitions of businesses, such as MBO investments, are no longer permitted.  An explanation of the proposed changes to the Investment Policy had been disclosed in the Annual Report.  Shareholders approved the revised Investment Policy at the AGM held on 10 February 2016.

The Board continues to work with the Investment Adviser and other professional advisers to understand the full implications of the new rules for the type of investments the Company will make in the future.  Alongside this process, the Investment Adviser is focusing upon investment opportunities that comply with the new legislation.

Please note that all of the information above is unaudited.

Other than as described above, there were no material events during the period and to the date of this announcement.

For further information, please contact:

Sarah Penfold, for Mobeus Equity Partners LLP, Company Secretary: 020 7024 7600.

 

END

 

 

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