Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 7715G

Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT PLC

24 November 2015

 

Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT plc ("the Company")

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

For the quarter ended 30 September 2015

Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT plc reports an Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 30 September 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 30 September 2015		At 30 June 2015
Net assets attributable to shareholders	£54,991,732	£54,608,824
Shares in issue	48,356,210	48,186,955
Net asset value (NAV) per share	113.72p	113.33p
Cumulative dividends paid	62.20p	60.20p
Total return (net asset value basis) per share since inception	175.92p	173.53p

The net asset value per share has risen by 0.39 pence over the quarter, after deducting a dividend of 2 pence per share, as referred to below.

CUMULATIVE DIVIDENDS

The Company paid an interim dividend of 2.00 pence per share (comprising 1.00 pence from capital and 1.00 pence from income) on 25 September 2015, bringing cumulative dividends paid per share to date to 62.20 pence.

NEW INVESTMENTS

There was one new investment of £0.90 million in the period. £1.13 million held in Vian Marketing Limited, a company preparing to trade, was used to invest in Tushingham Sails Limited, a leading supplier of stand-up paddleboards. This resulted in a net repayment from Vian of £0.23 million back to the Company.

After the period-end, in October 2015, amounts held in existing companies Tovey Management Limited (£1.50 million) and Knighton Management Limited (£1.50 million), both of which were companies preparing to trade, along with a further £0.24 million from the Company, were used to invest in Access IS Limited, a leading provider of data capture and scanning hardware.

DIVESTMENTS

There was one realisation in the period. The Company realised part of its loan stock and its entire equity investment in BG Training for net proceeds of £0.08 million, realising a capital gain of £0.01 million for the quarter. The Company has retained a loan stock holding of £0.01 million at cost. Total proceeds received to date have achieved a return of 0.86 times cost.

Also during the period, £0.35 million was received from Newquay Helicopters as an interim distribution resulting from the members' voluntary liquidation of the company. Further consideration of £0.004 million was received from Machineworks, an investment realised in an earlier period.

LOAN STOCK REPAYMENTS 

A total of £0.60 million was received in loan stock repayments and premiums during the quarter to 30 September 2015, from Jablite, Leap NewCo (trading as Ward Thomas, Bishopsgate and Aussie Man & Van), Fullfield (Motorclean), and Tessella.

After the period-end, further loan repayments totalling £0.16 million (including premium) were received from Fullfield (Motorclean) and Jablite.

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

The UK Finance Act 2015 became law on 18 November 2015. This has introduced rules that will ensure VCTs comply with new European Union ("EU") State Aid rules, while remaining able to provide finance to small and growing businesses.

Shareholders are reminded that the UK's VCT scheme must comply with the EU State Aid rules, as the tax relief given to investors is deemed to be State Aid to the companies in which the VCTs invest. EU State Aid rules prohibit governments from providing financial assistance to companies which are deemed capable of raising finance from investors, banks and other financial institutions without such assistance.

EU State Aid rules have recently changed under the EU's 2014 Risk Finance Guidelines, which became effective from the start of 2015. These new rules have introduced new criteria regarding:

·      the age of companies that will be eligible for investments (generally 7 years under UK Finance Act);

·      a lifetime cap on the total amount of state aided investment a company can receive (generally £12    million under UK Finance Act); and

·      rules that require VCT investment to be used for growth and development purposes only.

The practical consequences of the application of these EU State Aid rules by the UK Finance Act 2015 are that the range and size of potential investments open to generalist VCTs such as Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT plc will reduce. This is because VCTs are now required to focus more sharply upon the provision of growth capital to younger companies. In particular, the Government has decided that VCT investments made to finance the purchase of existing business owners' shareholdings and the acquisition of businesses will no longer be permitted. This will restrict significantly all VCTs' future participation in management buyout ("MBO") transactions.

Mobeus has a long record of making, and exiting, successful VCT investments, focusing in recent years on MBO transactions. The investments in MBOs that have already been made are not affected by these new rules. The UK Finance Act requires Mobeus to change its focus for new investments for each of its four advised VCTs, including your Company.   The UK government has announced an intention to permit VCTs to provide some replacement capital finance within investments, subject to agreement with the EU State Aid authorities. If this comes to pass, it would widen the pool of possible investment opportunities for VCTs, compared to the more restricted regime that now applies following Royal Assent of the Finance Bill.

Your directors are working closely with Mobeus and our other professional advisers to understand the full implications of the new rules for our future investment strategy. We will report back to shareholders in due course. In the meantime, your Board anticipates making investments in growth and development capital opportunities that comply with the new rules.

FUNDRAISING

The Board continues to monitor the Company's level of liquidity. It is not the Board's present intention to fundraise this tax year.

SHARE BUYBACKS

The Company did not purchase any shares for cancellation during the quarter ended 30 September 2015.

DIVIDEND INVESTMENT SCHEME

During the period, the Company issued 169,255 new ordinary shares on 25 September 2015 under the terms of the Dividend Investment Scheme at a price of 100.62 pence per share, following which a total of 48,356,210 shares were in issue.

For further information, please contact:

Jonathan McGuire, for Mobeus Equity Partners LLP, Company Secretary: 020 7024 7615.

 

END

 

 

IMSFZLFLEFFXFBB