Final Results
North Atlantic Smlr Co Inv Tst PLC
18 May 2005
NORTH ATLANTIC SMALLER COMPANIES INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
AUDITED PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2005
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
2005 % change 2004
Revenue
Gross income (£'000) 3,671 2,736
Net revenue after tax (£'000) 245 (685)
Basic return per Ordinary Share - revenue (pence) 1.96 (5.62)
- capital (pence) 224.16 215.77
Assets
Total assets less current liabilities (£'000) 177,457 22.7 144,612
Net asset value per 5p Ordinary Share:
Basic (pence) 1,334 13.3 1,177
Fully Diluted (pence) 860 18.9 723
Mid-market price of the 5p Ordinary Shares at 31 January 794.5 27.8 621.5
(pence)
Discount to fully diluted net asset value 7.6% 14.0%
Indices and exchange rates at 31 January
Standard & Poor's Composite Index 1,181.3 4.4 1,131.1
Russell 2000 624.0 7.4 580.8
Sterling/US Dollar exchange rate 1.8861 3.6 1.8203
Standard & Poor's Composite Index - Sterling adjusted 626.3 0.8 621.4
Russell 2000 - Sterling adjusted 330.8 3.7 319.1
FTSE All Share Index 2,441.2 11.6 2,187.1
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLC
Chairman's Statement
During the year ended 31 January 2005, the net asset value of a share in the
Trust rose by 18.9% thereby outperforming by a considerable margin the rise in
the Standard & Poor's Composite Index which rose by 4.4%. The Company's share
price also rose sharply increasing from 621.5p to 794.5p over the same period.
The revenue account showed a profit of £245,000 after taxation (2004: loss of
£685,000). Consistent with the Company's long term policy, the Directors are not
recommending a dividend for the current year.
Quoted investments
The United States portfolio continued to suffer from the weakness of the dollar
which weakened from $1.8203 to $1.8861 at the year end. Individual stocks,
however, performed well, American Opportunity Trust PLC considerably
outperformed the Standard & Poor's index. Denison was acquired at a substantial
premium whilst other major holdings, LESCO, W-H Energy and Sterling Construction
all performed better than their benchmarks.
The United Kingdom portfolio also performed well during this period with
substantial profits being made in Whatman, Mentmore, Oryx International Growth
Fund, Primary Health Properties and TBI.
Unquoted investments
In the unquoted portfolio, the year's major event was the sale of Waterbury,
concluded in February 2005, at a significant uplift to the previous valuation,
the actual price being approximately nine times our initial dollar cost. In
addition, Wichford went public at a significant premium whilst Executive Air
Support was sold for a profit in excess of 100% of our last year's holding cost.
Wagamama (now Ramen Holdings) was refinanced generating a significant profit and
it is possible that this will go public in the current year. Worldport
Communications was successful at mitigating liabilities which resulted in an
uplift in valuation.
AllianceOne failed to meet forecasts and it was deemed prudent to write down
this investment.
Finally a new investment was made in the USA - Glass America. The company is one
of the largest providers of automatic windscreens; to date, results have been
encouraging.
Outlook
The recovery that began in March 2003 in small and mid-cap securities continued
into 2004. Regrettably there are now few bargains left for value investors such
as ourselves.
The Company has built its cash resources to approximately £40 million at the
time of writing, which will enable us to fully participate should attractive
opportunities arise or to continue our policy of buying back the Company's
Convertible Loan Notes.
Interest rates in the UK and USA are, in my opinion, likely to rise and this
will most probably subdue the outlook for equity markets over the next twelve
months. Furthermore, with the election cycle over it is likely that politicians
will take measures to offset structural deficits rather than prolong the feel
good factor of asset inflation supporting unsustainable levels of consumer
expenditure and debt.
Enrique Foster Gittes
Chairman
18 May 2005
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN
(incorporating the revenue account*) for the year ended 31 January
2005 2004
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Gains on investments - 28,303 28,303 - 25,541 25,541
Exchange differences - 661 661 - 1,173 1,173
Dividends and interest 3,671 - 3,671 2,736 - 2,736
Investment management fee (1,777) (930) (2,707) (1,528) (395) (1,923)
Other expenses (650) - (650) (530) - (530)
Net return before finance
costs and taxation 1,244 28,034 29,278 678 26,319 26,997
Interest payable and
similar charges (979) - (979) (1,350) - (1,350)
Return/(deficit) on
ordinary activities before 265 28,034 28,299 (672) 26,319 25,647
taxation
Taxation on ordinary
activities (20) - (20) (13) - (13)
Return/(deficit) on
ordinary activities after
taxation 245 28,034 28,279 (685) 26,319 25,634
Dividend - - - - - -
Transfers to/(from)
reserves 245 28,034 28,279 (685) 26,319 25,634
Return per Ordinary share: pence pence pence pence pence pence
Basic 1.96 224.16 226.12 (5.62) 215.77 210.15
Diluted# 1.41 140.38 141.79 (3.24) 132.04 128.80
* The revenue column of this statement is the consolidated profit and loss
account of the Group.
# Although Financial Reporting Standard No. 14: Earnings per share states that
diluted capital returns per share and non diluted return per share are not
disclosed, they have been shown here for information.
All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing
operations.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
at 31 January
2005 2004
£'000 £'000
Fixed Assets
Investments 138,454 141,536
Investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries 10,828 9,653
149,282 151,189
Current assets
Investments held in subsidiary company 137 48
Debtors 858 549
Cash at bank 28,862 13,776
29,857 14,373
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Bank loans and overdrafts - 19,248
Other creditors and accruals 1,682 1,702
1,682 20,950
Net current assets/(liabilities) 28,175 (6,577)
Total assets less current liabilities 177,457 144,612
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
Bank loans 4,566 -
Debenture loan - Convertible Unsecured Loan Stock 2013 350 384
172,541 144,228
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital 647 613
Share premium account 629 629
Capital reserve - realised 141,956 118,383
Capital reserve - unrealised 34,550 30,089
Revenue reserve (5,241) (5,486)
Equity shareholders' funds 172,541 144,228
Net asset value per Ordinary share: pence pence
Basic 1,334 1,177
Fully diluted 860 723
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
for the year ended 31 January
2005 2004
£'000 £'000
Net cash outflow from operating activities (849) (187)
Servicing of finance
Bank interest paid (1,204) (1,067)
CULS interest paid (35) (38)
Expenses of bank loan - (40)
Net cash outflow from servicing of finance (1,239) (1,145)
Taxation
Tax recovered - 5
Investing activities
Purchases of fixed asset investments (71,210) (49,943)
Proceeds from sale of fixed asset investments (including option 102,557 56,287
premiums)
Repayment of loan made to Ryder Court Investments Limited - 2,667
Net cash inflow from investing activities 31,347 9,011
Net cash inflow before financing 29,259 7,684
Financing
Repayment of fixed term borrowings (14,321) (3,009)
Net cash outflow from financing (14,321) (3,009)
Increase in cash 14,938 4,675
Notes:
The above results for the year to 31 January 2005 are audited.
The Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend for the year (2004:
nil).
Basic return per Ordinary share has been calculated using the weighted average
number of Ordinary Shares in issue during the year, being 12,506,381 (2004:
12,197,459).
Basic net asset value per Ordinary Share is based on net assets of £172,541,000
(2004: £144,228,000) and on 12,932,672 Ordinary Shares (2004: 12,254,313) being
the number of Ordinary Shares in issue at the year end.
The fully diluted net asset value per Ordinary share as at 31 January 2005 is
calculated on the assumption that all of the outstanding 2013 Loan Stock was
fully converted at par and that all 692,500 Share Options were exercised at the
prevailing exercise prices, giving a total of 20,624,552 issued Ordinary Shares
(2004: 20,624,552).
The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's
statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2005 but is derived
from and has been prepared on the same basis as those financial statements. The
above results for the year ended 31 January 2004 are an abridged version of the
Company's full accounts which received an audit report that was unqualified and
did not contain any statements under section 237(2) or (3) Companies Act 1985.
The accounts for the year ended 31 January 2004 have been filed with the
Registrar of Companies.
The statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2005 will be
finalised on the basis of the financial information presented by the Directors
in this preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of
Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The Annual General
Meeting will be held on 28 June 2005 at 11.00am in the Board Room, Ground Floor,
Ryder Court, 14 Ryder Street, London SW1Y 6QB. The Annual Report will be posted
to shareholders and those individuals on the Company's mailing list as soon as
practicable after printing and will also be available on request from the
Company Secretary, J O Hambro Capital Management Limited, Ground Floor, Ryder
Court, 14 Ryder Street, London SW1Y 6QB.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange