Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 5322M

Intl. Biotechnology Trust PLC

16 July 2014

 



INTERNATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC (the "Company")

Interim Management Statement (Unaudited)

For the three months ended 31 May 2014

Introduction

The Board of International Biotechnology Trust plc is pleased to announce its Interim Management Statement ("IMS") in accordance with the requirements of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. The IMS covers the three month period ended 31 May 2014, together with relevant information up to the date of this announcement.

Investment Objective

The Company's investment objective is to achieve long-term capital growth by investing primarily in biotechnology and other life sciences companies that are either quoted or unquoted and possess the potential for high growth. The Company invests in companies whose shares are considered to have good prospects, with experienced management and strong potential upside through the development and/or commercialisation of a product, device or enabling technology. 

Material Events

On 22 April 2014 the Company released its Half Yearly Financial Report announcement for the six months ended 28 February 2014.  As before, there was no dividend declared. 

During the three months ended 31 May 2014, the Company bought back a total of 25,000 Ordinary 25p shares to be held in treasury.  Subsequent to the period end, the Company bought back a total of 800,000 Ordinary 25p shares to be held in treasury. No shares were cancelled from treasury during the period.  Following these buybacks, the Company has 54,332,663 Ordinary 25p shares in issue and 1,425,000 shares in treasury as at the date of this announcement.

No other material events took place in the period that had any significant impact on the financial position of the Company. 

Material Transactions

No material transactions, other than those mentioned above, took place in the period that had any significant impact on the financial position of the Company.

Company Statistics*

	31 May 2014	28 February 2014
Total Net Asset Value	£186.6m	£209.4m
Net Asset Value ("NAV") per Ordinary Share	338.5p	380.4p
Share Price	278.1p	330.8p
Share Price Premium/(Discount) to NAV	(17.8)%	(13.1)%
Total Value of Unquoted Investments	£17.9m	£26.4m
Total Number of Portfolio Holdings	90	95
Cash	2.3% NAV	2.6% NAV
Cash Committed and Reserved to Unquoted Investments	(3.2)% NAV	(3.0)% NAV

*Data Source for all Statistical Data: HSBC/SV Life Sciences

Cumulative Performance to 31 May 2014**

Performance Over	9 months	1 year	3 years	5 years
NAV per share (Cum)	8.1%	14.0%	88.7%	146.1%
Share Price	3.4%	7.6%	82.1%	154.0%
NASDAQ Biotech Index Return (Sterling adjusted)	14.1%	21.3%	116.5%	245.9%
FTSE All-Share Index (Total Return)	5.6%	9.2%	31.7%	96.2%

**Data Source for all Performance Data: Bloomberg

Portfolio Information as at 31 May 2014

Ten Largest Investments 

Investment	Weighting (% NAV)	Country
Gilead	8.6	USA
Alexion	8.2	USA
Biogen	7.4	USA
Celgene	7.0	USA
Amgen	5.7	USA
Illumina	3.9	USA
Mylan	3.2	USA
Vertex	3.1	USA
Regeneron	2.7	USA
Shire	2.6	UK

^… Unquoted company investment.

Sector Allocation (Plus Cash Committed)  

Sector	Weighting (% NAV)
Therapeutics	76
Specialty Pharma	14
Medical Devices	6
Life Sciences, Tools, Diagnostics & Services	4

General Company Information

SEDOL Code	0455934 GB
Sector	Sector Specialist - Biotechnology
Launch Date	May 1994
Financial Year End	31 August
Next Continuation Vote	2015 AGM

A copy of this IMS is available on the Company's website at: www.ibtplc.com

Enquiries:

Carl Harald Janson/Ailsa Craig

SV Life Sciences Managers LLP          

Investment Manager 

Tel: [phone]

Susan Gledhill

BNP Paribas Secretarial Services Limited

Company Secretary

Tel: [phone]

16 JULY 2014

 

END

 

 

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