Interim Results

Proven VCT PLC
14 November 2003

ProVen VCT plc
Interim Statement Six Months ended 31 August 2003

Financial Summary

                                                      Six months      Six months    Year ended
                                                           ended           ended
                                                                                   28 February
                                                       31 August       31 August
                                                                                          2003
                                                            2003            2002


Revenue return per share                                    0.1p            1.0p          1.2p

Total return per share                                     13.2p          (8.3)p       (16.1)p

Dividend per share                                             -            1.0p          1.0p

Cumulative dividend per share                               5.7p            5.7p          5.7p

Net asset value per share                                  84.6p           79.1p         71.4p

Net asset value plus cumulative dividend per               90.3p           84.8p         77.1p
share

Mid-market price per share                                   65p             40p           65p

Shareholders' funds (£000)                                18,488          17,358        15,639


CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

 I have pleasure in presenting the interim report for the six months ended 31
August 2003.  During this time, UK stock markets made significant gains from
their low point during March and venture capital activity showed signs of
continued improvement.  Beringea, the investment manager, continued to attract a
strong flow of investment opportunities and to work closely with existing
portfolio companies.



At 31 August 2003, the Company had a qualifying investment total of 87%,
comfortably ahead of the 70% required by the Venture Capital Trust regulations.



Investment Portfolio

During the period your Company made two new investments to the portfolio and
made follow-on investments in two existing companies, totalling £2.1 million.
Since the end of August, a further follow-on investment of £92,000 has been
made. In addition, the Company realised £307,000, at cost, of its AIM
investments.  Further details of these investments and realisations are provided
in the investment manager's review.



During the period to 31 August 2003, the value of funds under management
increased by 18% compared to rises of 28% in the FTSE AIM Index and 17% in the
FTSE All Share Index. At 31 August 2003, the Company's unquoted and AIM
portfolio comprised 25 companies at a total cost of £17.5 million and a
valuation of £16.8 million.  During the period the AIM portfolio rose in value
by 79%.  All AIM investments, with one exception, performed strongly ahead of
the AIM Index.  The value of the unquoted portfolio rose by 6% which is largely
the result of recent investments being valued at cost.



The Company benefited from a revaluation of its unquoted investment in Espotting
Media, following the company agreeing terms to merge with FindWhat.com, a US
NASDAQ listed company.  Even allowing for the risk that the transaction does not
proceed, Espotting has made significant progress since our investment which, the
directors believe, justifies its valuation in this report.   In addition, the
board accepted the investment manager's recommendations and increased the
valuations for Espresso Broadband, Ashcol, Linguaphone and Copyright Promotions
Group, and made a further provision against Horncastle Industries.



Net Asset Value and Interim Dividend

The unaudited net asset value per share at 31 August 2003 was 84.6p.  This
represents an increase of 18% over the net asset value at 28 February 2003.



As I mentioned in my statement in the Annual Report, future dividends are likely
to be substantially dependent upon future realised capital profits.  Given the
relatively small realisations to date, the board does not recommend the payment
of a dividend for the period under review.



Share Buy Backs

Shareholders are reminded that the Company is authorised to make market
purchases of its own shares.    In the period under review, the Company
purchased 69,300 shares in the market at a cost of £41,000, representing a
discount of 17% to the net asset value at 28 February 2003.  Any shareholder
wishing to sell shares should contact Downing Corporate Finance.


Board Change

On 16 May 2003, Gordon Power resigned from the board.   Gordon has had a very
positive effect on both our new and existing investments and we are fortunate
that he is to continue to take an interest in some of our investments.
Alexander Spiro Jr. was appointed a non-executive director of the Company at the
same time. Mr Spiro is a senior managing director of Beringea LLC, the
investment manager's US parent company.



Prospects

ProVen VCT is effectively fully invested with cash resources being used largely
to fund developments in portfolio companies and meet running costs of the
Company where these are not met through income from portfolio companies.  Future
new investments, and dividends as outlined earlier, are likely to be dependent
upon successful realisations of existing investments, the timing of which cannot
be predicted with any certainty.  However, the upswing in the markets and
improving hopes for the economy are reflected in the portfolio and the board
retains its positive view on the future prospects for the Company and the
generation of tax free returns for its shareholders.





Andrew Davison

14 November 2003



INVESTMENT MANAGER'S REVIEW



Introduction

This review covers the six month period ended 31 August 2003 during which the
climate for venture capital activity showed continued signs of improvement.  As
we stated in our annual report to 28 February 2003, our focus has been on
maximising value from the existing portfolio of companies, although we have
taken the opportunity to complete new and follow-on investments where
opportunities have arisen.  The qualifying investment total at 31 August 2003
was 87%, and at the date of this report 86%, providing comfortable headroom over
the 70% required by the Venture Capital Trust regulations.



New Investment and Portfolio Activity

In the six months under review, a total of £1.75 million was invested in two new
companies and a further £344,000 in follow-on investments.  These investments
are discussed below.



Zenith Group Limited

Television production company



In March 2003, ProVen VCT invested £800,000 alongside other Beringea managed
funds in the management buyout of this leading independent television production
company.  Zenith's successes include Inspector Morse, Byker Grove and SM:tv Live
/CD:uk.



SPC International Limited

Hardware support services



SPC specialises in the repair and refurbishment of electronic equipment in the
IT, banking and retail sectors.  ProVen VCT invested £950,000 in June 2003 in a
secondary buyout from another private equity company.



Cardpoint plc

Independent ATM operator



ProVen VCT invested a further £250,000 in the heavily oversubscribed Placing &
Open Offer in June 2003.  This raised funds of £6 million to enable Cardpoint to
acquire the ATM estate of Securicor Corporation.



Espresso Broadband Limited

Development & delivery of educational material to schools



Proven VCT invested a further £94,000 as part of its ongoing commitment to
Espresso.  The company has made substantial progress in the last year.  A
further £92,000 was invested in September 2003.



Realisations

We took the opportunity to take profits from part of the Company's holdings in
Cardpoint and Centurion Electronics.  A loss was made on the disposal of part of
the Company's holding in ID Data.



In June 2003, the management of Sport Entertainment & Media Group (SEM) offered
27.5p to existing shareholders to take SEM into private ownership.  The
transaction was concluded in July 2003 and ProVen VCT converted its holding into
ordinary shares in the new company, Sports Holdings Limited.



Since 31 August 2003, we have taken advantage of further rises in the share
prices of Cardpoint and Centurion Electronics and taken additional profits.  In
total, the VCT has now realised capital profits of almost £200,000 in Centurion
Electronics and over £130,000 in Cardpoint whilst still holding 40% and 83%
respectively of its original holdings in these companies.



Portfolio Valuation

At 31 August 2003, the Company's unquoted and AIM portfolio comprised 25
companies at a total cost of £17.5 million and a valuation of £16.8 million.  In
addition, the Company had listed fixed interest investments of £1.4 million.



In total, the Company's unquoted and AIM portfolio increased in value by 23%
over the six months to 31 August 2003, compared to a rise of 28% in the FTSE AIM
index over the same period.



The Company's AIM portfolio increased in value by £2.5 million or 79%.  All the
Company's AIM stocks, with one exception, performed strongly ahead of the AIM
index.



The Company's unquoted portfolio increased in value by £600,000 or 6%.  This in
part reflects the increase in stock markets which has affected quoted PE
multiples, and therefore the value of investments valued on this basis, and also
the strong performance of specific portfolio companies.  Many investments are,
however, relatively recent and valued at cost.



The Company benefited from a revaluation of its investment in Espotting Media UK
Limited as outlined in the Chairman's Statement.  The board of directors have
also accepted our recommendations to increase the value of the Company's
investments in Espresso Broadband, Ashcol, Linguaphone, and Copyright Promotions
Group following improved performance.  Offsetting this, we have taken a further
provision against the Company's investment in Horncastle Industries to reflect
continued underperformance from one of its divisions.



Prospects

We continue to invest time in our existing portfolio companies and seek
attractive exit/investment opportunities, whilst at the same time ensuring
continued compliance with the Venture Capital Trust regulations.  Whilst it is
too early to predict an outcome for individual investments, the progress made by
stock markets in general and our portfolio companies in particular, gives us
grounds to be cautiously optimistic about the long term prospects for the
Company as a whole.





Beringea Limited


14 November 2003



INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

At 31 August 2003


                                                                 Book Cost    Valuation       % of net
                                                                                                assets
                                                                      £000         £000
Qualifying holdings
Cardpoint plc *                                                      1,136        1,893           10.2
UBC Media Group plc *                                                1,101        1,389            7.5
Ashcol Limited                                                       1,000        1,127            6.1
LFR plc (t/a Loch Fyne Restaurants)                                  1,000        1,000            5.4
Nectar Taverns Plc                                                   1,000        1,000            5.4
Notability Solutions Limited                                         1,000        1,000            5.4
SPC International Limited                                              950          950            5.1
Espresso Broadband Limited                                           1,146          885            4.8
Zenith Group Limited                                                   800          800            4.3
mergermarket Limited                                                   780          780            4.2
Oasis Healthcare plc *                                                 670          740            4.0
Ma Potter's Limited                                                    700          700            3.8
Linguaphone Group plc                                                  605          605            3.3
Horncastle Industries Limited                                        1,001          600            3.3
Pilat Media Global plc*                                                315          585            3.2
Centurion Electronics plc*                                             137          369            2.0
Sports Holdings Limited                                                800          361            2.0
Chiaros Holdings Limited (t/a TMI)                                     800          280            1.5
VI Group plc*                                                          250          180            1.0
Transcomm plc*                                                         380           97            0.5
ID Data plc*                                                           262           27            0.1
Bond iT Limited                                                        500            0            0.0

Total qualifying holdings                                           16,333       15,368         83.1**

Non-qualifying holdings
Espotting Media (UK) Limited                                           333          626            3.4
Copyright Promotions Group Limited                                     266          582            3.1
Baby Innovations S.A. (t/a Steribottle)                                594          178            1.0

Total non-qualifying holdings                                        1,193        1,386            7.5

Total venture capital investments                                   17,526       16,754           90.6

Listed fixed interest investments                                    1,434        1,431            7.8


Total investments                                                   18,960       18,185           98.4

Net current assets                                                                  303            1.6


Shareholders' funds                                                              18,488          100.0





* Investment traded on the Alternative Investment Market ('AIM')



** Expressed as a percentage of the Company's net assets at 31 August 2003 as
distinct from total investments (as defined in the Venture Capital Trust
regulations) which are the basis for the calculation of the qualifying
investment totals referred to in the Chairman's Statement.



UNAUDITED STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN  (incorporating the Revenue Account)

For the six months ended 31 August 2003


                                          Six months ended 31      Six months ended 31      Year ended 28 
                                              August 2003              August 2002            February 2003
                                                                                                    
                                        Revenue Capital   Total Revenue   Capital    Total Revenue Capital   Total

                                           £000    £000    £000     £000     £000     £000    £000    £000    £000
Gains/(losses) on investments
- realised                                    -    (81)    (81)        -    (628)    (628)       -   (761)   (761)
- unrealised                                  -   3,078   3,078        -  (1,275)  (1,275)       - (2,790) (2,790)
Income                                      181       -     181      440        -      440     662       -     662
Investment management fee                  (43)   (130)   (173)     (57)    (171)    (228)   (105)   (315)   (420)
Other expenses                            (114)       -   (114)    (119)        -    (119)   (222)       -   (222)


Return on ordinary activities before         24   2,867   2,891      264  (2,074)  (1,810)     335 (3,866) (3,531)
taxation


Tax (charge)/credit on ordinary               -       -       -     (53)       34     (19)    (67)      67       -
activities


Return on ordinary activities after          24   2,867   2,891      211  (2,040)  (1,829)     268 (3,799) (3,531)
taxation

Dividends                                     -       -       -    (219)        -    (219)   (219)       -   (219)
Transfers to/(from) reserves                 24   2,867   2,891      (8)  (2,040)  (2,048)      49 (3,799) (3,750)


Return per ordinary share

Basic and fully diluted                    0.1p   13.1p   13.2p     1.0p   (9.3)p   (8.3)p    1.2p (17.3)p (16.1)p



The revenue column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the
Company.  All revenue and capital items in the above statement are from
continuing operations.  Other than shown above, the Company had no recognised
gains and losses.  The Company has only one class of business and derives its
income from investments made in shares and securities and from bank deposits.


UNAUDITED BALANCE SHEET
At 31 August 2003
                                      31 August       31 August 2002          28 February 2003
                                           2003                                             
                                           £000                 £000                      £000
                                                                                            
Fixed assets
Investments - unquoted                   11,474                5,577                     8,671
Investments - AIM quoted                  5,280                3,756                     3,213
Fixed interest                            1,431                6,537                     2,629


                                         18,185               15,870                    14,513

Net current assets                          303                1,488                     1,126


 Net assets                              18,488               17,358                    15,639
Capital & reserves
Share capital                             1,092                1,097                     1,096
Reserves                                 17,396               16,261                    14,543

 Equity shareholders' funds              18,488               17,358                    15,639
                                                                                         71.4p

Net asset value per share                 84.6p                79.1p



Notes



1.                    The unaudited interim financial statements for the six
months ended 31 August 2003 and 31 August 2002 do not constitute statutory
accounts within the meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985 and have
not been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.  The results for the year
ended 28 February 2003 have been extracted from the financial statements for
that year, which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies; the
auditors' report on those financial statements under Section 235 of the
Companies Act 1985 was unqualified.



2.                    The financial information contained in this interim report
has been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies set out in the Annual
Report 2003. Unquoted investments are valued in accordance with British Venture
Capital Association (BVCA) valuation guidelines. New guidelines were issued by
the BVCA in June 2003. AIM quoted investments are valued at mid market prices
discounted, where necessary, to reflect any lack of liquidity.  The Directors do
not believe a discount is appropriate at this time.



3.                    Returns per ordinary share are based on 21,893,566
ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of shares in issue during the
period. There were 21,848,155 ordinary shares in issue at 31 August 2003.



4.                    Earnings for the period should not be taken as a guide to
the results for the full year.



5.                    Copies of the Interim Report will be mailed to
shareholders and are available from the Registered Office of the Company at
17-18 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8QH.




UNAUDITED CASH FLOW STATEMENT


For the six months ended 31 August 2003
                                                 Six months       Six months                  Year

                                                      ended            ended                 Ended
                                                  31 August        31 August           28 February

                                                       2003             2002                  2003
                                                       £000            £000                   £000

Net revenue from operating activities
Net revenue from ordinary activities before tax          24              265                   335
Decrease in debtors                                      47               36                    43
Decrease in creditors                                  (23)             (38)                  (55)
Management fees charged to capital                    (130)            (171)                 (315)
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating               (82)               92                     8
activities


Financial investment
Purchases of investments                            (3,662)          (5,957)              (12,549)
Sales of investments                                  3,479            6,720                13,003


Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financial              (183)              763                   454
investment



Corporation tax paid                                      -                -                  (78)

Equity dividends paid                                     -            (285)                 (504)

Net cash (outflow)/inflow before financing            (265)              570                 (120)



Financing
Purchase of ordinary shares for cancellation           (41)                -                  (17)
Net cash outflow from financing                        (41)                -                  (17)

(Decrease)/increase in cash in period                 (306)              570                 (137)




Analysis of cash balance
At start of period                                      360              497                   497
Net cash (outflow)/inflow for the period              (306)              570                 (137)

At end of period                                         54            1,067                   360






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