Final Results

RNS Number : 5893E

RIT Capital Partners PLC

01 June 2012

 



1 June 2012

RIT Capital Partners plc

Annual Results for the 12 months ending 31 March 2012

Annual Financial Highlights

●	NAV per share at 31 March 2012 of 1,249.3 pence (down 3.1% year-on-year)
●	NAV per share increase of 43% over 3 years, 19% over 5 years and 158% over 10 years
●	Significant increase in dividend to 28 pence per share to be paid on 24 August 2012 (August 2011:
	4 pence)

Annual Investment & Strategic Highlights

●	Rothschild family link strengthened through joint venture with Edmond de Rothschild
	Group and appointment of Baroness Ariane de Rothschild as Honorary Vice Chairman of RIT
●	Exited Agora Oil & Gas (£73 million profit over 2 years) and Harbourmaster (£72 million profit
	over 7 years)
●	Founding investor in Tamar Energy, a new anaerobic digestion business, alongside Fajr Capital,
	J Sainsbury plc and the Duchy of Cornwall
●	First close of J Rothschild Creat Partners, our joint venture private equity fund for Chinese investors
	to make investments outside of China

Post-period Highlights

●	Most recent NAV of 1,207 pence (at 25 May, estimated and unaudited); a decline of 3.4% since our
	year-end, compared with a 7.4% decline in the MSCI World Index in Sterling
●	Establishment of strategic partnership with Rockefeller & Co, Inc. including acquisition of a
	significant minority stake

Year-end Change

●	Moving to a December year end, interim report to 30 September 2012 to be followed by 9 month
	report to 31 December 2012

Commenting on the results, Lord Rothschild, Chairman of RIT Capital Partners, said;

"The Western world may have finally woken up last year: it realised that the crash of 2008 was not just another market event, quickly to be recovered from.  Recovery may come, but not in months. Unless one has a long horizon, investment success in public markets has become a game of timing rather than fundamentals.

On the public market side we are therefore concentrating on investments with fund managers and individual companies that can grow despite the state of their local markets. On the private investment side, our direct investments in unquoted companies have produced considerable successes, with two profitable exits in the year."

"Success in the future lies in our continuing to find exceptional opportunities throughout the world.  I have no doubt that the links we have forged with distinguished groups such as Rockefeller, Edmond de Rothschild and Creat in the USA, Europe and China can only help us in our endeavours in the years ahead."

ENQUIRIES:

Brunswick Group LLP:

Tom Burns / Fiona Micallef-Eynaud

020 7404 5959

About RIT Capital Partners plc:

RIT Capital Partners plc is an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange with net assets of some £1.9 billion. It is chaired by Lord Rothschild, whose family interests retain a significant holding. For 2011 it won the Best Large Trust award from the Investment Trust Journal, for its outstanding performance. www.ritcap.com 

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

The Western world may have finally woken up last year: it realised that the crash of 2008 was not just another market event, quickly to be recovered from.

Peoples, electors and governments in America and Europe at last began to see that they had experienced not just one more asset bubble pricked by reality. This time, outside Asia, South America and Africa, there can be no quick re-explosion of growth. The debt mountain in government and households is just too high. The legacy of debt has first to be worked off.

And that - people and markets now see - will take years. Recovery may come, but not in months. There are signs now that the impact from the loss of Western spending power has started to affect China too. In this reality, markets oscillate as before. But the ups do not last. And they are succeeded by falls. Unless one has a long horizon, investment success in public markets has become a game of timing rather than fundamentals.

Your Company's record reflects this major change in reality. Over ten years we have greatly outstripped any benchmark: the value of your Company's net asset value per share (NAV) increased by 158% over ten years - almost ten times the rise in the MSCI World Index in Sterling (MSCI). Through the volatility of the past five years, your Company's NAV has advanced by 19.3%, almost three times the gain of the MSCI.

However, over the past three years, as markets recovered from the crash of 2008 - we have barely level-pegged: your NAV has grown by nearly 43% over the past three years, compared to almost 46% for the MSCI. The financial year under review saw our NAV down by 3.1% to 1,249.3 pence compared to falls of 1.3% in the MSCI and 2.1% in the FTSE-All Share. Our unaudited 30 April NAV was 1,220.3 pence, a decline of 2.3% over the month compared to a 2.8% fall in the MSCI.

I do not take the changes lightly. When the economic facts change, we strive to adapt. Let me describe how.

Within RIT's overall portfolio strategy, there are two dominant but complementary strands.

The first strand consists of our own direct investments in unquoted companies. These have produced considerable successes and a quarter of the portfolio, over time, has been invested there.

The second strand - the greater part of our assets - is represented by our investments with external managers and through our directly managed listed equities. Here, our record over time is strong, but its contribution to our recent returns has been mixed. In part this has reflected public markets. But in part it has also been a consequence of our considered policy. For a prime objective of this Company is to preserve your capital by avoiding significant losses during periods of market weakness but to participate in rising markets.

Our results will be determined by asset allocation, our ability to find and select exceptionally talented external managers, our success in stock selection even in difficult market conditions and disciplined risk adjustment through making use of derivatives and other instruments particularly in periods of duress. Seeing the dangers, we have remained more conservative than in the former more exuberant era pre-2008. On the public market side, we thus perform well against benchmarks in down-turns, such as the period to September 2011, then miss the full extent of any quick market upturn such as occurred in late 2011 and early 2012. As I have said previously, "if we miss some periods of market strength, we will bear the disappointment".

In implementing our strategy, we are concerned that markets in the West, and economic activity, have, frankly, been propped up by central banks printing money - feeding the problem, in my view, not the solution. In the process, companies, particularly large ones, have stocked up on cash, cut costs and shored up profits. They have deleveraged, while governments and populations in America and Europe - the main consumers of what companies produce - have failed or struggled to reduce their indebtedness.

On the public market side, we therefore are concentrating on investments with fund managers and individual companies that can grow despite the state of their local markets. For instance, those strong by virtue of well established franchises with robust balance sheets and whose shares are priced at relatively low multiples of free cash flow. We also look to companies in advanced technology, many of them American and whose future does not depend on boom or bust, or on the pump-priming of central banks. We have been bolder in pursuing this aim and have established a number of new manager relationships to enhance our participation in these areas at the same time as continuing to reduce exposure to former favoured sectors. Gold, the best performing asset class of the past few years, has been a feature in our portfolio for some time through gold futures and gold shares. We have now taken out call options as an alternative to gold futures. Under current conditions, our preferred route is to use such options as an insurance policy against inflation at a time when so many countries are seeking to devalue their currencies.

On the private investment side, we are gearing up to repeat our successes. We had two profitable exits in the past year: Harbourmaster, the credit fund manager on which our profit over almost seven years was £72 million; and Agora Oil & Gas, the exploration company which has focused on the Norwegian and British North Sea. The Agora sale was announced on 3 April 2012 and we have reflected the value uplift in our year-end NAV. Completion in May realised a profit of £73 million in just over two years. Since the year-end, Brazil's leading investment bank, BTG Pactual, in which we became shareholders in December 2010, has successfully gone public with a realised profit of 31% on the shares we made available at the time of the Bank's IPO.

Recently RIT invested together with Reinet Investments, chaired by Johann Rupert, in Renshaw Bay, a company created by Bill Winters in 2011. Until 2010 he had run JPMorgan's global investment banking business, and he recently served on the UK's Independent Commission on Banking . This company will seek to invest in markets left under-served by traditional lenders and investors following the financial crisis. To date your Company has committed capital to one fund which focuses on trading and investing in structured corporate credit markets. Further credit related funds are in the course of being set up.

On the green energy front, we have taken the initiative as the founding investor in Tamar Energy, the anaerobic digestion business. We have been supported by a strong investor base including Fajr Capital (backed by prominent sovereign funds from Abu Dhabi, Brunei and Malaysia and the Al Subeaie Group), the Duchy of Cornwall and J Sainsbury plc. With an attractive return profile, the objective is to make Tamar one of the leading companies in this country in the 'waste to energy' field.

Strategy

Our first joint and strategic investment with Chinese investors has come about through the establishment of J Rothschild Creat, with commitments to provide funds from a number of limited partners in China. This initiative, the first of its kind, will focus on investing in corporations outside China with direct relevance to China and its economic development.

The link with the Rothschild family has been strengthened by our joint venture with the Edmond de Rothschild (EdeR) Group which has commenced with our acquisition of a 49% stake from the EdeR Group in the management company of Capital Holdings, which has some $2.7 billion invested with external managers, for a consideration of around £14 million in RIT shares. Rick Sopher, who serves as a non-executive Director of RIT, has played an important role in Capital Holdings' investment success over many years. The EdeR Group has a strong position in asset management in France, Switzerland and Luxembourg with assets under management of around $150 billion. We are already cooperating closely with Capital Holdings in the area of investment manager selection and will be exploring ways of working more closely with the EdeR Group in the years ahead.

Baroness Ariane de Rothschild, Vice Chairman of the EdeR Group, has become Honorary Vice Chairman of RIT. In a reciprocal arrangement I am now Honorary Vice Chairman of La Compagnie Financière Saint-Honoré, the French holding company of the EdeR Group. Jean Laurent-Bellue, the General Secretary of Edmond de Rothschild Holdings, has joined our Board as a non-executive Director. I know that shareholders will give a warm welcome to the strengthening of the 'Rothschild link'.

Opportunities are more often than not brought about through strong relationships. We are therefore delighted to have announced the partnership we will be entering into with Rockefeller & Co, Inc.  Dating back to 1882, John D. Rockefeller established one of the first family offices to manage his financial legacy. Today Rockefeller & Co. is a leading global investment advisory and wealth management firm, with $34 billion of assets under administration. As a first step in our relationship, we will become significant minority investors in the holding company of Rockefeller & Co. alongside Rockefeller family members and trusts. We will be looking at ways to develop further our mutual businesses through this partnership between two such recognisable names.

Your Company's success in the future lies in our finding exceptional opportunities throughout the world. I have no doubt that the links we have forged with such distinguished groups in the USA, Europe and China can only help us in our endeavours in the years ahead.

Year-end Change

This year we have also decided to move to a December year-end in order to bring our reporting cycle in line with the majority of the asset management industry. We will therefore prepare an interim report to 30 September 2012 as normal, followed by a report for the nine months to 31 December 2012.

Dividend Policy

Since your Company became a listed investment trust in its present form in August 1988, its policy has been to deliver long-term capital growth and in this it has been successful - net assets have increased from £281 million to £1,920 million, a gain of over £1.6 billion. Your Company's main benchmark is the MSCI and an equivalent investment in this index would have shown gains of £580 million during this period. We have therefore outperformed our index by almost £1.1 billion. For an investor who has held the shares over this period, the share price has increased by approximately 15 times.

Additionally, dividends and buybacks of £254 million were returned to shareholders over this period. The greater part of the total gains have therefore been retained by your company so that it now enjoys a substantial permanent capital base. Shareholders may also be aware that, following changes in tax legislation, investment trust companies are now able to pay dividends from capital reserves. We therefore decided it was timely to review our dividend policy. We will be seeking shareholder approval to an appropriate change in our Articles to allow greater flexibility in paying such dividends. We will be recommending a dividend of 28 pence per share to be paid on 24 August 2012 to shareholders on the register at 15 June. This would bring our dividend yield more in line with our peer group. We expect to maintain or increase this level in the years ahead as long as this does not come into conflict with your Company's primary objective of capital preservation and growth.

Rothschild

31 May 2012

NET ASSETS BY CATEGORY (%)

	31 March 2012	31 March 2011
Quoted Equity - Internally Managed	19%	19%
Quoted Equity - Externally Managed	45%	47%
Unquoted Direct	15%	12%
Unquoted Funds	14%	14%
Real Assets	6%	5%
Absolute Return & Credit, Government Bonds and Currency	7%	1%
Net Liquidity/Borrowing/other	-6%	2%
Total	100%	100%

NET ASSETS BY CURRENCY (%)

	31 March 2012	31 March 2011
US dollar	53%	34%
Sterling	15%	19%
Singapore dollar	13%	9%
Canadian dollar	11%	10%
Mexican peso	6%	-
Norwegian krone	3%	5%
South Korean won	1%	4%
Australian dollar	1%	5%
Chinese renminbi (yuan)	-	6%
Euro	-5%	1%
Other	2%	7%
Total	100%	100%

NET ASSETS BY GEOGRAPHY  (%)

	31 March 2012	31 March 2011
North America	40%	32%
United Kingdom	14%	13%
Europe	13%	14%
Emerging Markets	15%	19%
Global	10%	7%
Japan	4%	6%
Other countries	5%	4%
Asia	-	1%
Liquidity, borrowings, currency	-1%	4%
Total	100%	100%

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

	Revenue	Capital
	return	return	Total
For the year ended 31 March 2012	£ million	£ million	£ million
Income
Investment income	27.8	-	27.8
Other income	3.0	-	3.0
Gains on dealing investments held at fair value	13.8	-	13.8
Total income	44.6	-	44.6
Gains/(losses) on portfolio investments held at fair value	-	(61.1)	(61.1)
Exchange losses on monetary items and borrowings	-	(2.6)	(2.6)
	44.6	(63.7)	(19.1)
Expenses
Administrative expenses	(18.3)	(2.0)	(20.3)
Investment management fees	(3.8)	(0.5)	(4.3)
Loss before finance costs and tax	22.5	(66.2)	(43.7)
Finance costs	(12.1)	-	(12.1)
Loss before tax	10.4	(66.2)	(55.8)
Taxation	1.3	(0.4)	0.9
Loss for the year	11.7	(66.6)	(54.9)
Earnings per ordinary share - basic	7.6p	(43.3p)	(35.7p)
Earnings per ordinary share - diluted	7.6p	(43.3p)	(35.7p)

The total column of this statement represents the Group's Consolidated Income Statement, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The supplementary revenue return and capital return columns are both prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies. All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

	Revenue	Capital
	return	return	Total
For the year ended 31 March 2012	£ million	£ million	£ million
Loss for the year	11.7	(66.6)	(54.9)
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange movements arising on consolidation	-	-	-
Actuarial loss in defined benefit pension plan	(2.8)	-	(2.8)
Total comprehensive loss for the year	8.9	(66.6)	(57.7)

The amounts included above are net of tax where applicable.

 CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

	Revenue	Capital
	return	return	Total
For the year ended 31 March 2011	£ million	£ million	£ million
Income
Investment income	35.4	-	35.4
Other income	1.1	-	1.1
Gains on dealing investments held at fair value	0.1	-	0.1
Total income	36.6	-	36.6
Gains/(losses) on portfolio investments held at fair value	-	175.1	175.1
Exchange losses on monetary items and borrowings	-	(1.9)	(1.9)
	36.6	173.2	209.8
Expenses
Administrative expenses	(17.2)	(3.5)	(20.7)
Investment management fees	(3.3)	(3.3)	(6.6)
Profit before finance costs and tax	16.1	166.4	182.5
Finance costs	(14.6)	-	(14.6)
Profit before tax	1.5	166.4	167.9
Taxation	3.9	-	3.9
Profit for the year	5.4	166.4	171.8
Earnings per ordinary share	3.5p	108.2p	111.7p

The total column of this statement represents the Group's Consolidated Income Statement, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The supplementary revenue return and capital return columns are both prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies. All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

	Revenue	Capital
	return	return	Total
For the year ended 31 March 2011	£ million	£ million	£ million
Profit for the year	5.4	166.4	171.8
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange movements arising on consolidation	(0.2)	-	(0.2)
Actuarial loss in defined benefit pension plan	(0.5)	-	(0.5)
Total comprehensive income for the year	4.7	166.4	171.1

The amounts included above are net of tax where applicable.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

	31 March	31 March
	2012	2011
	£ million	£ million
Non-current assets
Investments held at fair value	2,024.1	2,139.7
Investment property	40.4	35.5
Property, plant and equipment	0.3	0.4
Retirement benefit asset	-	0.5
Deferred tax asset	2.7	3.1
	2,067.5	2,179.2
Current assets
Derivative financial instruments	27.2	23.8
Sales for future settlement	7.7	11.3
Other receivables	31.5	7.6
Tax receivable	0.9	2.8
Cash at bank	75.1	65.6
	142.4	111.1
Total assets	2,209.9	2,290.3
Current liabilities
Bank loans and overdrafts	(250.1)	(249.0)
Purchases for future settlement	(8.1)	(10.6)
Derivative financial instruments	(13.8)	(25.9)
Provisions	(0.9)	(2.0)
Tax payable	(0.1)	-
Other payables	(4.8)	(7.2)
	(277.8)	(294.7)
Net current liabilities	(135.4)	(183.6)
Total assets less current liabilities	1,932.1	1,995.6
Non-current liabilities
Derivative financial instruments	(4.7)	(1.0)
Provisions	(5.6)	(10.1)
Finance lease liability	(0.5)	(0.5)
Retirement benefit liability	(1.3)	-
	(12.1)	(11.6)
Net assets	1,920.0	1,984.0
Equity attributable to equity holders
Ordinary shares	153.9	153.9
Capital redemption reserve	36.3	36.3
Own shares reserve	(5.8)	-
Share based payment reserve	5.7	-
Foreign currency translation reserve	0.2	0.2
Capital reserve	1,666.8	1,733.4
Revenue reserve	62.9	60.2
Total shareholders' equity	1,920.0	1,984.0
Net asset value per ordinary share - basic	1,251.7p	1,289.4p
Net asset value per ordinary share - diluted	1,249.3p	1,289.4p

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

Year ended 31 March 2012	Share capital £ million	Capital redemption reserve £ million	Own shares reserve £ million	Share based payment reserve £ million	Foreign currency translation reserve £ million	Capital reserve £ million	Revenue reserve £ million	Total £ million
Balance at 31 March 2011	153.9	36.3	-	-	0.2	1,733.4	60.2	1,984.0
Loss for the year	-	-	-	-	-	(66.6)	11.7	(54.9)
Ordinary dividend paid	-	-	-	-	-	-	(6.2)	(6.2)
Movement in own shares reserve	-	-	(5.8)	-	-	-	-	(5.8)
Movement in share based payment   reserve	-	-	-	5.7	-	-	-	5.7
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange movements arising     on consolidation	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Actuarial loss in defined benefit     pension plan	-	-	-	-	-	-	(2.8)	(2.8)
Balance at 31 March 2012	153.9	36.3	(5.8)	5.7	0.2	1,666.8	62.9	1,920.0

Year ended 31 March 2011	Share capital £ million	Capital redemption reserve £ million	Cash flow hedging  reserve £ million	Foreign currency translation reserve  £ million	Capital reserve £ million	Revenue reserve £ million	Total  £ million
Balance at 31 March 2010	153.9	36.3	(3.4)	0.4	1,567.0	61.5	1,815.7
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	166.4	5.4	171.8
Cash flow hedges: transferred  to the income statement for  the year	-	-	3.4	-	-	-	3.4
Ordinary dividend paid	-	-	-	-	-	(6.2)	(6.2)
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange movements arising    on consolidation	-	-	-	(0.2)	-	-	(0.2)
Actuarial loss in defined benefit    pension plan	-	-	-	-	-	(0.5)	(0.5)
Balance at 31 March 2011	153.9	36.3	-	0.2	1,733.4	60.2	1,984.0

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

	31 March	31 March
	2012	2011
	£ million	£ million
Cash inflow/(outflow) before taxation and interest	28.6	(26.1)
Taxation paid	(1.7)	(5.7)
Interest paid	(8.3)	(3.5)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities	18.6	(35.3)
Investing activities:
Purchase of property, plant and equipment	(0.1)	(0.3)
Sale of property, plant and equipment	-	-
Net cash outflow from investing activities	(0.1)	(0.3)
Financing activities:
(Purchase)/disposal of ordinary shares by Employee Benefit Trust1	(5.8)	-
Repayment of long term loan	-	(133.6)
Movement in short term loans and overdrafts	-	91.4
Equity dividend paid	(6.2)	(6.2)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financing activities	(12.0)	(48.4)
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the year	6.5	(84.0)
Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year	99.1	185.0
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(2.6)	(1.9)
Cash and cash equivalents at the year end	103.0	99.1
Reconciliation:
Cash at bank	75.1	65.6
Money market funds (included in portfolio investments)	27.9	33.5
Cash and cash equivalents at the year end2	103.0	99.1

Notes

1	Shares are disclosed in 'own shares reserve' on the consolidated balance sheet.
2	The reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents for the year ended 31 March 2011 included bank loans and overdrafts of £249.0 million. Bank loans and overdrafts have been reclassified as financing activities in accordance with IAS 7 and the corresponding year restated.

EARNINGS PER ORDINARY SHARE - BASIC AND DILUTED

The basic earnings per ordinary share for the year ended 31 March 2012 is based on the net loss of £54.9 million (31 March 2011: £171.8 million profit) and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period of 153.7 million (31 March 2011: 153.9 million).

	Year ended	Year ended
	31 March	31 March
	2012	2011
	£ million	£ million
Net revenue profit	11.7	5.4
Net capital (loss)/profit	(66.6)	166.4
	(54.9)	171.8
	Pence	Pence
	per share	per share
Revenue earnings per ordinary share - basic	7.6	3.5
Capital earnings per ordinary share - basic	(43.3)	108.2
	(35.7)	111.7

The diluted earnings per ordinary share for the year ended 31 March 2012 is based on the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period adjusted for the weighted average dilutive effect of SARs awards at the average market price for the year ended 31 March 2012. There were no potentially dilutive awards for the year ended 31 March 2011.

	Year ended	Year ended
	31 March	31 March
	2012	2011
Weighted average number of shares in issue (million)	153.7	153.9
Weighted average effect of SARs (million)	0.3	-
	154.0	153.9
	Pence	Pence
	per share	per share
Revenue earnings per ordinary share - diluted	7.6	3.5
Capital earnings per ordinary share - diluted	(43.3)	108.2
	(35.7)	111.7

NET ASSET VALUE PER ORDINARY SHARE - BASIC AND DILUTED

Net asset value per ordinary share is based on the following data:

	31 March	31 March
	2012	2011
Net assets (£ million)	1,920.0	1,984.0
Number of shares in issue (million)	153.9	153.9
Own shares (million)	(0.5)	-
	153.4	153.9
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares
SARs (million)	0.3	-
Diluted shares	153.7	153.9

	31 March	31 March
	2012	2011
	Pence	Pence
	per share	per share
Net asset value per ordinary share - basic	1,251.7	1,289.4
Net asset value per ordinary share - diluted	1,249.3	1,289.4

During the year ended 31 March 2012 the Group amended the terms of the SAR plan. It is the intention of the Group to settle all SAR exercises using the ordinary shares of the Company rather than settling in cash. Shares held by the Group's employee benefit trust of 0.5 million are deducted from the total number of shares in issue of 153.9 million. The intention to use the shares of the Company to settle a potential future liability has a dilutive effect of 0.3 million. This results in a diluted net asset value per ordinary share of 1,249.3p.

DIVIDEND

Years ended 31 March	2012	2011	2012	2011
	Pence per	Pence per
	share	share	£m	£m
Dividends paid in year	4.0	4.0	6.2	6.2

The above amounts were paid as distributions to equity holders in the relevant periods. The Directors proposed an interim dividend in respect of the financial year ended 31 March 2012 of 4.0p per share, which was paid on 19 August 2011 to shareholders on the register at 5 August 2011 and amounted to £6.2 million.

The Board recommends the payment of a dividend of 28.0p per share payable on 24 August 2012 to shareholders on the register at 15 June 2012. This consists of a proposed final dividend in respect of the year ended 31 March 2012 of 8.0p and an interim dividend in respect of the 9 months ending 31 December 2012 of 20.0p. The latter is contingent on shareholders approval of appropriate changes to the Company's Articles of Association at the AGM and the Directors confirming such interim dividend is payable at the AGM. In aggregate the 28.0p dividend will reduce the Company's distributable reserves by approximately £43 million, of which £12.3 million will be charged against the Company's revenue reserve.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The financial information contained in this announcement has been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies set out in the statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2012.  Whilst the financial information included in this announcement has been computed in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as adopted by the European Union, this announcement does not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRS.  The financial information does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 March 2012 or 31 March 2011, but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2011 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for the year ended 31 March 2012 will be delivered following the Company's annual general meeting.  The auditors have reported on those accounts: their reports were unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis and did not contain statements under s498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.

ANNUAL REPORT

It is intended that the Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2012 will be posted to shareholders on or around Tuesday 12 June 2012.  Copies of this announcement and the Annual Report and Accounts will be available to the public at the Company's registered office at 27 St James's Place, London SW1A 1NR.

A copy of the Company's Annual Report and Accounts is available on the Company's website at www.ritcap.com.

 

END

 

 

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