BLACKROCK SMALLER COMPANIES TRUST PLC
Interim Management Statement - 3 months to 30 November 2008
To the members of BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust plc
This interim management statement has been produced solely to provide
additional information to shareholders as a body to meet the relevant
requirements of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure & Transparency Rules. It
should not be relied on by any other party for any other reason.
This interim management statement relates to the period from 1 September 2008
to 30 November 2008, and contains information that covers this period, and up
to the date of publication of this interim management statement. Please note
more detailed performance information, in particular the, September, October
and November 2008 month end announcements are available on the Manager's
website - www.blackrock.co.uk/its.
The Company invests mainly in smaller UK quoted companies, and seeks to achieve
long term capital growth for shareholders. The portfolio is managed by Mike
Prentis of BlackRock.
Stock Performance
Cumulative Performance (%):
One Three One Three Five
Month Months Year Years Years
Net Asset Value -7.1% -41.3% -45.1% -26.2% 9.6%
Share Price -13.4% -48.7% -50.8% -37.7% -0.3%
HGSC ex Investment Trusts & AIM* -5.8% -39.2% -50.6% -45.5% -31.2%
*With effect from 1 September 2007 the Hoare Govett Smaller Companies plus AIM
(ex Investment Companies) Index replaced the FTSE SmallCap Index (ex Investment
Companies) as the Company's benchmark. For three year and five year periods
above the index has been blended to reflect this.
All performance figures are in £ on a capital only basis.
Ten Largest Equity Holdings (in alphabetical order) at 30 November 2008
Brewin Dolphin Holdings
Chemring Group
Connaught
Dechra Pharmaceuticals
Mouchel
Rathbone Brothers
Rotork
Spirax-Sarco Engineering
Ultra Electronics Holdings
Victrex
Financial position and performance as at 30 November 2008
Gross Assets (£m)* 128.0
Short term borrowings (£m) Nil
7.75% Debenture 2022 at par (£m) 14.8
7.75% Debenture 2022 at fair value(£m) 17.4
Net asset value - capital only (debt at par) 229.37p
Net asset value - capital only (debt at fair value) 223.88p
Net asset value - cum income (debt at par) 233.41p
Net asset value - cum income (debt at fair value) 227.92p
Share Price 162.00p
Ordinary Shares in Issue** 48,509,708
Actual Gearing 13.6%
Discount to NAV*** 29.37%
Average Discount over the Period 20.37%
*Includes current year revenue
** Excluding 1,483,815 shares held in treasury
***Calculated on a capital only (at par) basis
Material Events & Transactions
There were no material events or transactions during the period.
The Board is not aware of any significant events or transactions, except as
disclosed herein, occurring between 30 November 2008 and the date of
publication of this interim management statement which would have a material
impact on the financial position of the Company. Latest information is
available by typing, www.blackrock.co.uk/its on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on
Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal).
Contact details:
Caroline Driscoll
Secretary
Tel: 020 7743 2427
28 January 2009
*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:
Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;
Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;
Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;
Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;
Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
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