THE THROGMORTON TRUST PLC
All information is at 31 August 2008 and unaudited.
Performance at month end is calculated on a cum income basis
One Three One Three
Month Months Year Years
Net asset value# 2.2% -13.6% -30.5% -9.9%
Net asset value* -2.9% -17.8% -33.9% -14.3%
Share price -1.8% -15.1% -31.5% -10.1%
HGSC plus AIM (ex Inv Cos) 3.2% -12.1% -22.4% 4.9%
#NAV prior to costs of repaying the debentures early
*NAV after costs of repaying the debentures early
Sources: BlackRock & Datastream
At month end
Net asset value Capital only (debt at redemption value): 142.38p
Net asset value incl Income (debt at redemption value): 143.95p
Share price: 122.25p
Discount to Capital only NAV (debt at redemption value): 14.1%
Net yield: 1.84%
Total assets: £240.0m **
Gearing: 21.5%
Ordinary shares in issue: 137,251,872
** includes current year revenue.
Ten Largest Sector Weightings^ % of Total Assets
Software & Computer Services 15.6
Financial Services 9.0
Industrial Engineering 8.2
Aerospace & Defence 7.0
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 5.3
Support Services 5.2
Mining 5.0
Oil & Gas Producers 4.0
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 3.7
Media 3.1
----
Total 66.1
====
Ten Largest Equity Investments (in alphabetical order)
Company^
Aveva Group
Cambrian Mining
Domino Printing Sciences
Endace
Fenner
NetStore
Rathbone Brothers
Rensburg Sheppards
SDL
UMECO
^Excludes 9.5% held in ML Institutional Liquidity Units
Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis and Richard Plackett, representing the
Investment Manager noted:
Stockmarkets remained highly volatile during August. Our performance was
materially affected by the early redemption of the Company's high coupon
debentures. These debentures were repaid for a consideration of £43.4m,
compared to a par value of £32.2m, resulting in a 5.1% reduction in NAV and
monthly performance. Stripping this out, the portfolio underperformed its
benchmark by 1.0%.
The largest positive contributor to performance was our holding in NetStore
which rose 32.6% during the month following announcement of an agreed cash bid.
The worst performer in relative contribution terms was our holding in Fenner,
which supplies conveyor belting principally to the mining sector. Its share
price seems to have suffered along side the mining sector, although an early
September trading statement confirms trading remains sound.
We have continued to restructure the portfolio by reducing or selling holdings
we feel do not offer the prospect of good returns. Often the decision to sell
has been taken after meeting company management. Liquidity for some of these
securities is very poor, especially in current highly volatile markets, and
given the lack of interest in small and microcap companies. In some cases it
has proved difficult to find buyers, and where we have, the realisation price
achieved has often been below our initial hopes impacting relative performance.
Our first priority was to use the proceeds from sales to build up sufficient
cash to repay the debentures. Thereafter we have been building up our core
holdings, focussing particularly on more liquid, often midcap, companies,
recognising that a proportion of every holding will be transferred to the
tender pool, following the outcome of the Tender Offer and will then be
sold.
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).
19 September 2008
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