Annual Financial Report

RNS Number : 4518X

Athelney Trust PLC

24 February 2017

 

ATHELNEY TRUST plc

FINAL RESULTS

Athelney Trust plc, the investor in small companies and junior markets announces its final results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2016.

Chairman's Statement and Business Review

 

I announce the results for the year ended 31 December 2016.  The salient points are as follows:

·      The total return, which is the increase in NAV plus the dividend, is 5.7 per cent (31 December 2015: 10.4 per cent)

·      Audited Net Asset Value ("NAV") was 251.1p per share (31 December 2015: 245p) an increase of 2.5 per cent.

·      Revenue return per ordinary share was 10p (31 December 2015: 9.3p).

·      Recommended final dividend of 8.6p per share (2015: 7.9p), an increase of 8.8 per cent.

 

Review of 2016

I'd rather take advice from my valet than from the Conservative Party Conference - Arthur Balfour, prime minister 1902-05.

The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient - Warren Buffett.

Lack of money is the root of all evil - George Bernard Shaw.

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable - John Kenneth Galbraith, economist.

Imagine a time-traveller, landing in the City of London in January 2016, proclaiming that the UK would vote to leave the EU, a presidential candidate who advocated debt renegotiation would be headed for the White House and that Italy would reject the reforms of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.  Surely, the men in white coats would have arrived, bundled him into the back of a van and then disappeared.  But the first shock of 2016 was the big sell-off in Chinese stock-markets when a clumsy attempt to calm market nerves in January back-fired spectacularly, sparking world-wide turmoil.  The price of oil dropped to its lowest level for 13 years.  All this meant that investors slowly worked out that there would have to be more helpful intervention rather than less.  And so it came to pass that Japan announced a surprise experiment with interest rates below zero, the Federal Reserve raised rates just once rather than the early forecast of four times, the Bank of England cut the bank rate after the referendum and the European Central Bank turned to new measures such as buying up corporate debt for the first time.  Because of the collapse in the British pound after the referendum, depressed sectors in London markets such as miners and oils suddenly perked up and finished the year on a strong note as the Chinese economy started to react positively to yet another economic stimulus having been applied by the government.  There was a strong correlation between markets which did comparatively well and the underlying economies where growth and employment statistics were improving.

Major markets ended on a strong note, tantalised by the thought that Donald Trump would cut corporate and personal tax rates and spend, spend, spend on infrastructure.  New York, Tokyo and London finished with rises of 14.4, 2.9 and 15.2 per cent respectively although Shanghai fell by 10.7 per cent.  Amongst lesser markets,  Egypt, Argentina and Pakistan rose by 80, 55.4 and 48.4 per cent whereas at the other end of the scale Sweden, Czech Republic and Italy rose by modest percentages of 0.2, 1.2 and 2 respectively.

I am indebted to the Private Eye satirical magazine for the full details of the new Police Degree Course:-

Introduction: Hello, hello, hello!

Lecture: Don't do that again, sonny.

Tutorial: Anything that you say will be written down and used against you.

Examination: What's all this, then?

As far as small companies were concerned, Athelney Trust did not have a good year with a total return (i.e. capital growth plus dividend) of just 5.7 per cent whereas the FTSE Small Companies, Fledgling and AIM All-share all did much better with rises of 11, 15.3 and 15.2 per cent respectively.  This under-performance was due to the heavy falls in commercial property shares immediately after the referendum and, although some recovery was experienced later in the year, it was not enough to make up for lost ground on the three indices.

Politics is a tough old game isn't it?  Imagine having to choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump?  Or, even better, an election with three candidates: the first is half paralysed with polio, suffers from high blood pressure, anaemia and numerous other serious diseases, has been known to lie, consults an astrologist, cheats on his wife, is a chain-smoker and drinks too many martinis; the second is obese, has already lost three elections, suffers from depression, has had two heart attacks, smokes cigars and in the evening glugs champagne, port, brandy and whisky before taking two sleeping tablets; the third is a decorated war hero, who respects women, loves animals, might drink a beer from time to time and doesn't smoke.  Did you reject one and two and go for three?  Congratulations, you rejected Roosevelt and Churchill and elected, er, Adolf Hitler.

No-one compiles lists of wealth destruction, if they did, it would be fair to say that the fall in the pound after the referendum would rank highly.  UK household net worth was valued at £16.5tn in January 2016 but just £14tn today.  In dollar terms, value equivalent to the market capitalization of the FTSE 100 Index has been destroyed.  Most Britons' wealth is held for paying sterling-denominated bills which, of course, did not leap by 15 per cent in 2016.  This highlights a bit of a problem: everything is valued in terms of a currency yet what is a currency really worth?  One answer is what it will buy - what Harold Wilson meant when talking about the pound in your pocket.  So now we get round to discussing purchasing power parity (PPP).  A silly example: in November, a pound suddenly bought less Toblerone than before.  PPP struggles with sharp foreign exchange movements so instead look at supply and demand.  Measured by nominal GDP (i.e. without making any adjustment for inflation), 2016 did not see a 15 per cent leap in demand for pounds and the prospect of exit from the EU rather hints at a lower demand for sterling.  More than this, sterling's attraction was based on London's deep and liquid financial markets that provide a home for trillions of pounds.  Britons could afford fuel, overseas holidays and, yes, Toblerone only because the City kept sterling high.  Brexit threatens this: if a strong pound is no longer sustainable, then previous living standards cannot be, either.

Aberdeenshire business-owner wins presidential election - The Buchan Observer, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.

Why do companies obsess over quarterly/six-monthly profits and yet fail to invest in the business for the longer-term?  Conventional wisdom places the blame squarely on the pursuit of shareholder value which, it is believed, has fuelled short-term thinking and irresponsible behaviour.  Wrong!  The culprits are executives, investment managers and the business press who think that the objective of shareholder value is to boost the share price by meeting the market's profit expectations.  What does managing for shareholder value mean?  It means managing for cash flow not earnings per share: it means managing for the long-term not the short-term.  It means that managers must control risk carefully when investing capital.  Many executives claim that they have no choice but to adopt a short-term approach given that the average holding period is about one year.  This reasoning is deeply flawed: what should matter is not portfolio turnover but the time horizons of those who are saving to meet long-term needs.  Shareholder value has not failed management: management has failed true shareholder value.

The U.K. government's approach to the Brexit negotiations could form a suitable addition to Charles Mackay's book about the South Sea Bubble.  It would fit neatly after the section on the prospectus seeking funds for a company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.

On the subject of Britain's exit from the EU, we have no doubt all heard the terms hard and soft Brexit to illustrate whether we leave or stay in the single market and/or the customs union but what about a train crash Brexit in which we fail to agree a sensible deal and we simply crash out of the EU with chaotic consequences for trade and diplomatic relations?  The problem is that the negotiations are too complicated to complete in the given time.  Britain and the EU will have to unpick and then reorder a legal, economic and trading relationship that has been knitted together over the course of more than 40 years.  But the two sides will just have two years to achieve and ratify a deal after Britain triggers Article 50, thus giving formal notice that it intends to leave.  If there was great goodwill on both sides no doubt that the talks could be accelerated but I believe that there is plenty of ill will on both sides of the Channel.  A major flashpoint is likely to be the EU's estimate of Britain's financial liabilities following exit, covering everything from money already pledged to the EU's budget to the pensions of retired bureaucrats: estimates in Brussels indicate a figure of €50bn-€60bn.  The right response would be to negotiate that figure down and then have it spread over a large number of years.  In reality, however, hard-liners in the Conservative party may be vigorously opposed and the only alternative might be to hand the problem to the European Court of Justice for arbitration.  Such a procedure is likely to take a very long time and our membership of the EU may simply lapse with damaging consequences for Europe-wide supply chains, ports would be clogged up with paper-work and financial services firms would lose the passporting rights which are required to do business across the EU.  Let us hope that this interpretation is too gloomy but it really is a shame that the coming dispute is so pointless and self-defeating.

Donald Trump is New York.  Glitz, greed, glamour and an ambition so colossal that it will probably not rest until he rules the world - which one day he just might.  Even when he seems to lose, at the last minute he comes out the winner.  Could Trump possibly make it to the White House?  Of course not, says everyone who knows anything about American politics.  It's a bad joke.  But then Trump has often done what can't be done and if the White House can take a senile movie star, why not a casino operator?  Polly Toynbee, Guardian, 26 May 1988.

If devaluation was the springboard to economic success then Britain should have the most successful economy in the world.  Alas, as we are all surely aware, one devaluation has followed another.  For most of the 1800s, the pound was worth just under $5: the Napoleonic War weakened the pound temporarily as did the US Civil War the dollar, which fell to $10 to the pound at one stage.  The financial burdens of the Great War saw sterling fall to $3.66.  Despite abandoning the Gold Standard, successive British governments still viewed fixed rates as desirable and so in 1940 the pound was pegged to $4.03 which, on the face of it, looks far too high.  $4.03 became $2.80 in 1949.  This was maintained until 1971 when currencies were allowed to float freely, since when the rate has drifted even lower due to the higher rate of inflation that we experienced in the UK, which had the effect of debasing the purchasing power of the pound.  Inflation is forecast to remain high compared with America so we can expect a further fall in due course, although I happen to feel that the pound has fallen too far and might perk up a touch if we can avoid a train crash Brexit. 

December. Beloved leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, walked out of a karaoke party for Labour MPs where they sang Tony Blair's 1997 election-winning anthem Things Can Only Get Better accompanied by chants of We want Tony!

The accord by OPEC members in November will come to symbolise the passing of one of the world's most powerful cartels.  After 50 years in control of the oil price, OPEC has submitted to the economic power of a much-changed global market.  The agreement to cut production by 1.2m barrels a day raised prices at the time by almost 10 per cent.  It is not, however, a deal which is capable of lifting prices to the preferred level of $60 or $70.  But will Iran limit its production when it desperately needs increased output to sustain its economy?  Will Russia cut production by 300,000 barrels a day?  When did Russia last participate in an OPEC quota?  Answer: never.  Then, there is a surge in production coming from Brazil, Canada and Kazakhstan to add to the present surplus.  The US shale business, furthermore, is entirely capable of ramping up production again.  For all these reasons, the current deal is inadequate and is likely to fail.  Too many of the promises are vague and the incentive to cheat is too high.  OPEC has no enforcement mechanism against those who break the agreement, the result being, I believe, that the oil price will fall back later in the year.  OPEC as a cartel is on its last legs and everyone will have to get used to the new reality.

In the run-up to Athelney Trust's year end, the Dow Jones Index almost reached 20,000.  I ignored all the kerfuffle.  Most indices are weighted by market capitalisation - the share price multiplied by the number of shares in issue.  So, companies with a higher market value get a higher weighting in the index tracking that market.  The Dow, on the other hand, weights companies by price not market cap.  This is because equity indices were a new concept when Charles Dow constructed it in 1896.  Back then, it included 12 companies and adding all the share prices together and dividing by 12 gave the value of the index.  Fast forward to today with 30 companies in the index but it really is rather silly that Goldman Sachs is the top share in the index just because its share price is a whopping $238 whereas Apple is only $116.  Yet Apple is the larger company by a country mile.

In 1920, America put its faith in a businessman-president called Warren Harding, whose slogan was America first!  This meant what it does now: anti-immigrant, nativism, and isolationist.  White working-class and rural Americans were defending a supremacy they saw coming under threat and they were responding to the fact that the economic boom of the 1920s did not extend its benefits much beyond the urban middle-class: there was a resurgence in the Ku Klux Klan.  Harding's successors, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, were also businessmen.  Their policies created the conditions for the 1929 crash and the depression: very dark days indeed.  The whole world has much to fear from President Trump's threat to tear up trade agreements and impose punitive restrictions on imports.  And even if he refrains from starting a trade war, the loose-tongued, fact-lite style he cultivated during the campaign could wreak serious damage: his hyperbole now carries the weight of the American presidency.  His victory was enough to chill some financial markets and marks an alarming step away from a liberal, open economy towards more isolationism and less prosperity for us all.  And another thing, isn't it rather worrying that he now has access to the nuclear codes yet seemingly can't control his Twitter account?

Henry Gatewood, corrupt banker in the classic 1939 movie Stagecoach, wished that the US president was a businessman. America for Americans, he said.  Don't let the government meddle with business!  Reduce taxes!  What the country needs is a businessman for president!  So why did it take 77 years? Presumably because of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover………

Chancellor Philip Hammond is a worried man.  The tax system is getting out of touch with the way Britons live and work, leading to a hole in projected tax revenues from the rapid rise in incorporated small businesses.  The shortfall is set to grow to £3.5bn a year by 2020/21 so something must be done to protect the tax base.  The chancellor is right to be concerned: there was a 25 per cent rise in such small companies in 2015 alone.  Much of this stems from the gig economy in which companies increasingly trade services with others rather than hire employees.  But self-employed and small companies pay less tax than employees for exactly the same work.  These tax advantages can be shared between those who want to buy services and those who sell them - the 13.8 per cent payroll tax being the most important.  Ration your sympathy for chancellors, though, since government decisions have been just as important as changing work practices.  National Insurance raised about half income tax revenues in 1979 but now, following a number of stealth increases, it now raises 70 per cent.  The rise in personal allowances from £6,475 a year in 2010/11 to £11,500 in 2017/18 along with an additional £5,000 dividend tax allowance provides the opportunity for some couples to extract £26,328 a year free of income tax and national insurance.  No-one should be surprised or disappointed that so many wish to incorporate: after all, one by one child benefit, the personal allowance and pension tax relief are all tapered at different levels of income, creating wide bands where the effective rate of tax is 60 per cent.  One final thought: the Office of Budget Responsibility thinks that almost half of the £50bn annual increase in income tax revenues he wants to collect by 2020 will come from the 1.5 per cent of taxpayers earning over £150,000 a year.  It is exactly this kind of individual that can shift money about.  He should not be worried about these tax revenues failing to materialise: he should be scared stiff.

Long before Somerset Maugham branded Monaco a sunny place for shady people the tax haven that Philip and Tina Green call home was given an even worse review by brief visitor Karl Marx.  The arch critic of capitalism described Monaco in 1882 as a robber's nest.

Finally, under this heading, I am pleased to report that in April Athelney Trust raised £407,000 before expenses by placing 174,800 shares at 233.2p.  I look forward to welcoming personally the new investors to their first Annual General Meeting in Spring, 2017.

Capital Gains

During the year the Company realised capital profits before expenses arising on the sale of investments in the sum of £294,251 (31 December 2015: £332,648).

Portfolio Review

Holdings of Cape, Custodian REIT, Forterra, Lavendon, Ocean Wilsons, Schroder European, Target Healthcare, TP Icap and XL Media were all purchased for the first time.  Additional holdings of Air Partner, Andrew Sykes, Begbies Traynor, Epwin, Gattaca, Greencore, KCOM, McColls Retail, Photo-me, Picton Property Income, Trinity Mirror and Vianet   were also acquired. Amlin and Stanley Gibbons were sold.  In addition, five holdings were top-sliced to provide capital for the new purchases.

Corporate Activity

The holdings of Premier Farnell, UK Mail and Wireless were taken over at a capital profit of 41.2, 47.0 and 94.5 percent respectively.

Dividend

The Board is pleased to recommend an increased annual dividend of 8.6p per ordinary share (2015: 7.9p). This represents an increase of 8.8 per cent over the previous year. Subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting on 30 March 2017, the dividend will be paid on 6 April 2017 to shareholders on the register on 10 March 2017.

For those patient investors who subscribed for Athelney Trust shares in the IPO of 1994, the annual return has now risen to 17.5 per cent net of basic rate tax on the capital originally invested.

Update

The unaudited NAV at 31 January 2017 was 250.4p whereas the share price on the same day stood at 240.5p. Further updates can be found on www.athelneytrust.co.uk

Prospects

While 2016 was the year the unlikely became true, investors entered 2017 no better equipped to tell the difference between reality and illusion.  Nevertheless, one or two hints are starting to emerge: the global economy has picked up, inflation is rising, central banks are still being helpful and US investors remain committed to the view that President Trump will deliver on tax cuts and infrastructure spending, yet will not upset the apple-cart by starting trade wars or grabbing the nuclear codes.  It is right, I think, to be cautiously optimistic but I would be the first to admit that there is much which could go wrong.  It is important that Athelney Trust buckles down to the task of identifying good companies, with many of the old-fashioned virtues, capable of steady growth in profitability, out of which would come a rising dividend.

Dr. E C Pohl

Chairman

22 February 2017

Income Statement

				For the Year Ended 31 December 2016							For the Year Ended 31 December  2015
	Note		Revenue					Capital	Total		Revenue		Capital			Total
			£					£	£		£			£		£
Gains on investments held at fair value		8	-					236,357	236,357		-			391,473		391,473
Income from investments		2	242,157					-	242,157		218,309			-		218,309
Investment Management expenses		3	(5,210)					(46,933)	(52,143)		(5,149)			(46,910)		(52,059)
Other expenses		3	(25,519)					(63,393)	(88,912)		(28,782)			(59,514)		(88,296)
Net return on ordinary			211,428					126,031	337,459		184,378			285,049		469,427
activities before taxation
Taxation		5	-					-	-		-			-		-
Net return on ordinary activities after taxation         6			211,428					126,031	337,459		184,378			285,049		469,427
Net return per ordinary share		6	10p					6p	16p		9.3p			14.4p		23.7p
Dividend per ordinary share paid during the year              7			7.9p								6.7p

The total column of this statement is the profit and loss account for the Company.

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.

No operations were acquired or discontinued during the above financial years.

A statement of movements of reserves is given overleaf.

A Statement of Comprehensive Income is not required as all gains and losses of the Company have been reflected in the above Statement.

Statement of Changes in Equity for the Year Ended

31 December 2016

	Called-up		Capital	Capital		Total
	Share	Share	reserve	reserve	Revenue	Shareholders'
	Capital	Premium	realised	unrealised	reserve	Funds
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Balance brought forward at 1 January 2015	495,770	545,281	1,336,934	1,851,828	291,857	4,521,670
Net profits on realisation
of investments	-	-	332,648	-	-	332,648
Increase in unrealised
appreciation	-	-	-	58,825	-	58,825
Expenses allocated to
Capital	-	-	(106,424)	-	-	(106,424)
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	184,378	184,378
Dividend paid in year	-	-	-	-	(132,866)	(132,866)
Shareholders' Funds at 31 December 2015	495,770	545,281	1,563,158	1,910,653	343,369	4,858,231

Balance brought forward at 1 January 2016	495,770	545,281	1,563,158	1,910,653	343,369	4,858,231
Net profits on realisation
of investments	-	-	294,251	-	-	294,251
Decrease in unrealised
appreciation	-	-	-	(57,894)	-	(57,894)
Expenses allocated to
Capital	-	(28,127)	(110,326)	-	-	(138,453)
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	211,428	211,428
Dividend paid in year	-	-	-	-	(156,663)	(156,663)
Shares issued in the year	43,700	363,933	-	-	-	407,633
Shareholders' Funds at 31 December 2016	539,470	881,087	1,747,083	1,852,759	398,134	5,418,533

Statement of the Financial Position as at

31 December 2016

Company Number: 02933559

Note			2016		2015
			£		£
Fixed assets
Investments held at fair value through profit and loss	8		5,117,268		4,709,749
Current assets
Debtors	9		256,964		124,368
Cash at bank and in hand			59,133		39,493
			316,097		163,861
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	10		(14,832)		(15,379)
Net current assets			301,265		148,482
Total assets less current liabilities			5,418,533		4,858,231
Provisions for liabilities and charges			-		-
Net assets			5,418,533		4,858,231
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital	11		539,470		495,770
Share premium account			881,087		545,281
Other reserves (non distributable)
Capital reserve - realised			1,747,083		1,563,158
Capital reserve - unrealised			1,852,759		1,910,653
Revenue reserve (distributable)			398,134		343,369
Shareholders' funds - all equity			5,418,533		4,858,231
Net Asset Value per share	13		251.1p		245p

Statement of Cash flows for the Year Ended

31 December 2016

			2016			2015
				£		£
Cash flows from operating activities
Net revenue return				211,428		184,378
Adjustment for:
Expenses charged to capital				(110,326)		(106,424)
Decrease in creditors				(547)		(447)
Increase in debtors				(132,596)		(37,122)
Cash (used)/from operations				(32,041)		40,385
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of investments				(741,319)		(755,023)
Proceeds from sales of investments				570,157		868,860
Net cash from investing activities				(171,162)		113,837
Financing activities
Share issue				379,506		-
Net cash from financing activities				379,506		-
Equity dividends paid				(156,663)		(132,866)
Net increase in cash				19,640		21,356
Cash at the beginning of the year				39,493		18,137
Cash at the end of the year				59,133		39,493

Notes to the Financial Statements

For the Year Ended 31 December 2016

1.  Accounting Policies

1.1  Statement of Compliance and Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements

The financial statements are prepared in accordance with applicable United Kingdom accounting standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ("FRS 102"), the Companies Act 2006 and with the AIC Statement of Recommended Practice ("SORP") issued in November 2014 (amended January 2017), regarding the Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies and Venture Capital Trusts. All the Company's activities are continuing.

1.2  Income

Income from investments including taxes deducted at source is recognised when the right to the return is established (normally the ex-dividend date).  UK dividend income is reported net of tax credits in accordance with FRS 102 "Income Tax".  Interest is dealt with on an accruals basis.

1.3  Investment Management Expenses

All three directors are involved in investment management, 10% of their salaries or fees have been charged to revenue and the other 90% to capital.  All other investment management expenses have been charged to capital.  The Board propose continuing this basis for future years.

1.4  Other Expenses

Expenses (including VAT) and interest payable are dealt with on an accruals basis and charged through the Revenue and Capital Accounts in an allocation that the Board consider to be a fair distribution of the costs incurred.

1.5  Investments

Listed investments comprise those listed on the Official List of the London Stock Exchange. Unlisted investments are traded on AIM. Profits or losses on sales of investments are taken to realised capital reserve. Any unrealised appreciation or depreciation is taken to unrealised capital reserve.

Investments have been classified as "fair value through profit and loss" upon initial recognition.

Subsequent to initial recognition, investments are measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognised in the Income Statement.

Securities of companies quoted on a recognised stock exchange are valued by reference to their quoted bid prices at the close of the year, similarly, AIM-traded investments are valued using the closing bid price on 31 December.

1.6  Taxation

The tax effect of different items of income and expenses is allocated between capital and revenue on the same basis as the particular item to which it relates, using the Company's effective rate of tax for the year.

1. Accounting Policies (continued)

1.7  Deferred Taxation

Deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed by the balance sheet date. Deferred tax liabilities are recognised for all taxable timing differences but deferred tax assets are only recognised if it is considered more likely than not that there will be suitable profits from which the future reversal of the underlying timing differences can be deducted. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are calculated at the tax rates expected to be effective at the time the timing differences are expected to reverse. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are not discounted.

1.8  Capital Reserves

Capital Reserve - Realised

Gains and losses on realisation of fixed asset investments are dealt with in this reserve.

Capital Reserve - Unrealised

Increases and decreases in the valuations of fixed asset investments are dealt with in this reserve.

1.9 Dividends

In accordance with FRS 102 "Events after the end of the Reporting Period", dividends are included in the financial statements in the year in which they are paid.      

1.10 Share Issue Expenses

The costs associated with issuing shares are written off against any premium arising on the issue of Share Capital.

2. Income

Income from investments
	2016		2015
	£		£
UK dividend income	175,503		151,071
Foreign dividend income	46,439		56,033
UK Property REITs	20,210		11,144
Bank interest	5		61
Total income	242,157		218,309

UK dividend income
	2016		2015
	£		£
UK Main Market listed investments	115,086		93,474
UK AIM-traded shares	60,417		57,597
	175,503		151,071

3. Return on Ordinary Activities before Taxation

	2016		2015
	£		£
The following amounts (inclusive of VAT) are included
within investment management and other expenses:
Directors' remuneration:
-  Services as a director	21,000		17,291
-  Otherwise in connection with management	49,401		47,372
Auditors' remuneration:
-  Audit Services - Statutory audit	10,500		10,500
Miscellaneous expenses:
- Other wages and salaries	10,300		31,233
- Management services	22,140		-
- PR and communications	9,662		11,935
- Stock exchange subscription	6,420		6,180
- Sundry investment management and other expenses	11,632		15,844
	141,057		140,355

On 1 April 2016 the Company entered into a contract with J Girdlestone to provide management services at an annual cost of £24,600 plus VAT.

4. Employees

	2016		2015
	£		£
Costs in respect of Directors:
Wages and salaries	70,401		64,663
Social security costs	2,971		4,402
	73,372		69,065

Costs in respect of administrator:
Wages and salaries	6,687		25,250
Social security costs	642		1,581
	7,329		26,831

Total:
Wages and salaries	77,088			89,913
Social security costs	3,613			5,983
	80,701			95,896
Average number of employees:
Chairman	1		1
Investment	2		2
Administration	-		1
	3		4

5. Taxation

                 (i)  On the basis of these financial statements no provision has been made for corporation tax (2015: Nil).

(ii) Factors affecting the tax charge for the year.
The tax charge for the period is lower than (2015: lower than) the average small company rate of corporation tax in the UK of 20 per cent. The differences are explained below:
				2016							2015
				£						£
Total return on ordinary activities before tax				337,459					469,427
Total return on ordinary activities multiplied by the average small company rate of corporation tax 20% (2015: 20%)				67,492					93,885
Effects of:
UK dividend income not taxable				(34,430)					(36,876)
Revaluation of shares not taxable				11,578					(11,765)
Capital gains not taxable				(58,850)					(66,530)
Unrelieved management expenses				14,210					21,286
Current tax charge for the year				-					-

The Company has unrelieved excess revenue management expenses of £92,354 at 31 December 2016 (2015: £83,051) and £102,597 (2015: £102,597) of capital losses for Corporation Tax purposes and which are available to be carried forward to future years. It is unlikely that the Company will generate sufficient taxable profits in the future to utilise these expenses and therefore no deferred tax asset has been recognised.

For the year ended 31 December 2015, the Company received approval from HM Revenue and Customs under Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010, therefore the Company was not liable to Corporation Tax on any realised investment gains for 2015.  The Directors intend to continue to meet the conditions required to obtain approval and therefore no deferred tax has been provided on any capital gains or losses arising on the revaluation or disposal of investments.

6. Return per Ordinary Share

The calculation of earnings per share has been performed in accordance with FRS 102.
	2016					2015
	£	£		£		£	£		£
	Revenue	Capital		Total		Revenue	Capital		Total
Attributable return on
ordinary activities after taxation	211,428	126,031		337,459		184,378	285,049		469,427
Weighted average number of shares	2,104,868					1,983,081
Return per ordinary share	10p		6p	16p		9.3p		14.4p		23.7p

7. Dividend

		2016		2015
		£		£
Final dividend in respect of 2015 of 7.9p (2015: a final dividend of 6.7p was paid in respect of 2014) per share		156,663		132,866

Set out below is the total dividend payable in respect of the financial year, which is the basis on which the requirements of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 are considered.  

It is recommended that a final dividend of 8.6p (2015: 7.9p) per ordinary share be paid amounting to a total of £185,578. For the year 2015, a final dividend of 7.9p was paid on 14 April 2016 amounting to a total of £156,663.

		2016		2015
		£		£
Revenue available for distribution		211,428		184,378
Final dividend in respect of financial year ended   31 December 2016		(185,578)		(156,663)
Undistributed Revenue Reserve		25,850		27,715

8. Investments

			2016			2015
			£			£
Movements in year
Valuation at beginning of year			4,709,749			4,432,113
Purchases at cost			741,319			755,023
Sales - proceeds			(570,157)			(868,860)
- realised gains on sales			294,251			332,648
(Decrease)/Increase in unrealised appreciation			(57,894)			58,825
Valuation at end of year			5,117,268			4,709,749
Book cost at end of year			3,264,509			2,799,096
Unrealised appreciation at the end of the year			1,852,759			1,910,653
			5,117,268			4,709,749

UK Main Market listed investments			4,109,077			4,089,885
UK AIM-traded shares			1,008,191			619,864
			5,117,268			4,709,749

8. Investments (continued)

Gains on investments
				2016			2015
				£			£
Realised gains on sales				294,251			332,648
(Decrease)/Increase in unrealised appreciation				(57,894)			58,825
				236,357			391,473

The purchase costs and sales proceeds above include transaction costs of £3,695 (2015: £5,796) and £1,344 (2015: £3,605) respectively.

9. Debtors

		2016		2015
		£		£
Investment transaction debtors		249,295		119,311
Other debtors		7,669		5,057
		256,964		124,368

10. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

		2016		2015
		£		£
Social security and other taxes		2,623		3,056
Other creditors		172		172
Accruals and deferred income		12,037		12,151
		14,832		15,379

11. Called Up Share Capital

		2016		2015
		£		£
Authorised
10,000,000 Ordinary Shares of 25p		2,500,000		2,500,000
Allotted, called up and fully paid
2,157,881 Ordinary Shares of 25p		539,470		495,770
(2015: 1,983,081 Ordinary Shares of 25p)

12. Financial Instruments

The Company's financial instruments comprise equity investments, cash balances and debtors and creditors that arise directly from its operations, for example, in respect of sales and purchases awaiting settlement.

The major risks associated with the Company are market, credit and liquidity risk. The Company has established a framework for managing these risks. The directors have guidelines for the management of investments and financial instruments.

Market Risk

Market price risk arises mainly from uncertainty about future prices of financial investments used in the Company's business. It represents the potential loss the Company might suffer through holding market positions by way of price movements other than movements in exchange rates and interest rates.

The Company's investment portfolio is exposed to market price fluctuations which are monitored by the Investment Manager who gives timely reports of relevant information to the Directors.

Adherence to the investment objectives and the internal controls on investments set by the Company mitigates the risk of excessive exposure to any one particular type of security or issuer.

The Company's exposure to other changes in market prices at 31 December on its investments is as follows:

A 20% decrease in the market value of investments at 31 December 2016 would have decreased net assets attributable to shareholders by 47.4 pence per share (2015: 47.5 pence per share). An increase of the same percentage would have an equal but opposite effect on net assets available to shareholders.

	2016	2015
	£	£
Fair value through profit or loss investments	5,117,268	4,709,749

Market risk also arises from changes in interest rates and exchange risk.  All of the Company's assets are in sterling and accordingly the Company has limited currency exposure.  The majority of the Company's financial assets are non-interest bearing, as a result the Company's financial assets are not subject to significant risk due to fluctuations in the prevailing levels of market interest rates.

The carrying amounts of financial assets best represent the maximum credit risk exposure at the balance sheet date. Bankruptcy or insolvency of the custodian may cause the Company's rights with respect to securities held with the custodian to be delayed.

Liquidity Risk

Liquidity Risk is the risk that the Company may have difficulty in meeting obligations associated with financial liabilities.  The Company is able to reposition its investment portfolio when required so as to accommodate liquidity needs.  However it may be difficult to realise its investment portfolio in adverse market conditions.

Maturity Analysis of Financial Liabilities

The Company's financial liabilities consist of creditors as disclosed in note 10. All items are due within one year.

12. Financial Instruments (continued)

Capital management policies and procedures

The Company's capital management objectives are:

·           to ensure the company's ability to continue as a going concern;

·           to provide an adequate return to shareholders;

·           to support the company's stability and growth;

·           to provide capital for the purpose of further investments.

The Company actively and regularly reviews and manages its capital structure to ensure and optimal capital structure, taking into consideration the future capital requirements of the company and capital efficiency, projected operating cash flows and projected strategic investments opportunities. The management regards capital as total equity and reserves, for capital management purposes.

Fair values of financial assets and financial liabilities

Fixed asset investments (see note 8) are valued at market bid price where available which equates to their fair values. The fair values of all other assets and liabilities are represented by their carrying values in the balance sheet.

Financial instruments by category

The financial instruments of the Company fall into the following categories

31 December 2016	At Amortised Cost £	Assets at fair value through profit or loss £	Total £
Assets as per the balance sheet
Investments	-	5,117,268	5,117,268
Debtors	256,964	-	256,964
Cash at bank	59,133	-	59,133
Total	316,097	5,117,268	5,433,365
Liabilities as per the balance sheet
Creditors	14,832	-	14,832
Total	14,832	-	14,832
31 December 2015	At Amortised Cost £	Assets at fair value through profit or loss £		Total £
Assets as per the balance sheet
Investments	-	4,709,749		4,709,749
Debtors	124,368	-		124,368
Cash at bank	39,493	-		39,493
Total	163,861	4,709,749		4,873,610
Liabilities as per the balance sheet
Creditors	15,379	-		15,379
Total	15,379	-		15,379

12. Financial Instruments (continued)

Fair value hierarchy

In accordance with FRS 102, the Company must disclose the fair value hierarchy of financial instruments.

The fair value hierarchy consists of the following three classifications:

Classification A - Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Quoted in an active market in this context means quoted prices are readily and regularly available and those prices represent actual and regularly occurring market transactions on and arm's length basis.

Classification B - The price of a recent transaction for an identical asset, where quoted prices are unavailable.

The price of a recent transaction for an identical asset provides evidence of fair value as long as there has not been a significant change in economic circumstances or a significant lapse of time since the transaction took place. If it can be demonstrated that the last transaction price is not a good estimate of fair value (e.g. because it reflects the amount that an entity would receive or pay in a forced transaction, involuntary liquidation or distress sale), that price is adjusted.

Classification C - Inputs for the asset or liability that are based on observable market data and unobservable market data, to estimate what the transaction price would have been on the measurement data in an arm's length exchange motivated by normal business considerations.

The Company only holds classification A investments (2015: classification A investments only).

13. Net Asset Value per Share

The net asset value per share is based on net assets of £5,418,533 (2015: £4,858,231) divided by 2,157,881 (2015: 1,983,081) ordinary shares in issue at the year end.

		2016		2015
Net asset value		251.1p		245.0p

14. Dividends paid to directors

During the year the following dividends were paid to the directors of the Company as a result of their total shareholding:

Mr Robin Boyle                    £32,485²

Dr. Manny Pohl                    £-¹

Mr Simon Moore                  £2,030

Notes:

1.     Dr Manny Pohl's relationship with Global Masters Fund Limited is described in Note 1 to the table of Directors' interests on page 29. During the year a dividend of £23,491 was paid to Global Masters Fund Limited.

2.     This figure includes £30,936 paid to Trehellas House Limited. Mr Robin Boyle's interest in Trehellas House Limited is described in Note 2 to the table of Directors' interest on page 29.

For further information:

Robin Boyle, Managing Director

Athelney Trust plc

020 7628 7937

 

END

 

 

FR UARORBNAUUAR