Henderson Technology Trust PLC
27 July 2000
HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
THURSDAY 27 JULY 2000
At the Annual General Meeting of Henderson Technology
Trust held today, Brian Ashford-Russell, Fund Manager and
Director commented that:
'The Company's new financial year has got off to a good
start. By 25 July, our total net assets had risen by
approximately 9% to £732m from our 30 April year end.
This compares very satisfactorily with our composite
technology index which has risen by less than 1% and a
rise of under 4% in the FTSE World Index (Sterling
adjusted).
Technology shares in the USA have recovered strongly from
their mid - May lows and have also bottomed - albeit less
convincingly - in both Europe and Asia. Second quarter
earnings figures from the US Technology sector provided
convincing evidence of accelerating spending in areas
such as web enabled applications software and broadband
communications. Moreover, recent evidence of a
deceleration in the pace of the US economy's growth has
provided a more sanguine background for technology
investors. NASDAQ's recovery has helped to stabilise
technology shares elsewhere in the world. However, it is
notable that both share prices and the earnings growth of
European and Asian technology companies have markedly
underperformed those of their US counterparts. We have
benefited from this development following our decision in
the Spring to reorient our portfolio towards the USA.
Over the short term, we expect the technology sector to
be 'range - bound'. High absolute valuations, a
continuing flow of new and secondary issues together with
investor concerns about the direction of the US economy
all provide sufficient fuel for the bears to cap the
sector's upside. However, outstanding earnings growth
and the absence of it in other parts of the market, still
strong mutual fund flows and the prospect of a soft
landing in the US provide counter balancing ammunition
for the bulls. Longer term we remain very optimistic
about the outlook for technology shares and expect a more
sustainable uptrend to commence some time in the fourth
quarter.'
For further information please contact:
Brian Ashford-Russell/Norman Brown or
Peter Binns/Simon Ellis
Henderson Technology Trust PLC
Binns & Co.
or Vicki Staveacre, Henderson Press Office
Tel: 020 7786 9600
Tel: 020 7410 4100
Notes to Editors:
The Benchmark is a blend of worldwide technology indices,
comprising 50% Pacific SE Technology, 15% Morgan Stanley
Eurotec, 7.5% Techmark, 7.5% Euro NM, 15% Datastream
Asian Electronics and 5% JASDAQ. The second part
comprises a longer term incentive and will be at the rate
of 5% of the amount, if any, by which the increase in the
undiluted net asset value of the ordinary shares over
each three year period exceeds LIBOR +5% over the same
period. Each three year period will be discrete and
hence the first will end on 30 April 2003
Pacific SE Technology- A long standing and broadly
based US technology index against
which the US part of the portfolio
has been benchmarked for many years.
Morgan Stanley Eurotec - Is Morgan Stanley's index
of mid and large cap pan European
technology stocks.
Euro NM - The leading Stock Exchange for
growth stocks in continental Europe.
Datastream Asian Electronics - Is Datastream's index
of electronic manufacturers in Asia
including Japan.
JASDAQ - Japan's answer to the NASDAQ.
An index with Japanese growth
stocks.
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