Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 7188C

F&C U.S. Smaller Companies PLC

18 November 2009

 



F&C US Smaller Companies PLC

Interim Management Statement

For the four month period ended 31 October 2009

Investment Objective

To achieve long-term capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of quoted US smaller and medium sized companies.

Performance summary

	31 October  2009	30 June  2009	Movement
Net assets	£65.99m	£60.61m	8.9%
Net asset value (NAV) per share	318.64p	292.69p	8.9%
Share price	296.50p	253.50p	17.0%
Russell 2000 Index    (sterling adjusted)	341.41	308.64	10.6%
Discount to NAV per share	6.9%	13.4%

Four month review

The NAV per share rose 8.9% in the four months to 31 October 2009.  This compares to a rise of 10.6% in the benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index (sterling adjusted) during the same period. Currency had little effect on returns in the four months.

Performance was helped by a number of stocks including ACCO Brands and Five Star Quality Care, as well as a bid for Avocent, but hindered by poor results at Conn's, Premiere Global Services and CapitalSource.

We sold 17 holdings including several energy stocks, reflecting the recovery in the oil price, and bought five new positions. Three of these were aerospace/defence related.

The Company is not currently geared.

There have been no share buybacks during the period.

The Board is not aware of any significant events or transactions which have occurred between 31 October 2009 and the date of publication of this statement which would have a material impact on the financial position of the Company.

  Ten Largest Holdings

31 Oct  2009	30 June  2009	Company Description	Percentage of  total investments
1	24	CRA International Business consultant	2.1
2	52	Allegheny Technologies Specialised alloys	2.1
3	6	GATX Rail truck leasing	2.0
4	36	Crawford & Company Claims adjusting	1.9
5	46	Actuant  Diversified manufacturer	1.9
6	53	ACI Worldwide Software for electronic funds transfer	1.9
7	11	Roper Industries  Diversified manufacturer	1.9
8	8	Markel Specialised non-life underwriter	1.9
9	43	Airgas Bottled gas distributor	1.8
10	-	FLIR Systems Infra red equipment	1.8

Industrial Classification

	31 October 2009 Percentage of total investments	30 June  2009 Percentage of  total investments
Producer Durables	29.7	26.8
Financial Services	20.6	19.9
Consumer Discretionary	9.5	10.1
Technology	9.0	9.2
Healthcare	7.7	7.9
Other Energy	7.2	12.2
Materials & Processing	7.0	7.5
Utilities	5.0	3.5
Consumer Staples	4.3	2.9

Outlook

There are signs that the economy is beginning to recover slowly. The market has made a very substantial advance and may need to pause before making further gains.

Annual General Meeting

The Directors announce that all resolutions proposed at the Annual General Meeting held earlier today were duly passed.

Daily and Key Information

Further information regarding the Company, including monthly factsheets and daily NAVs published since the end of the period are available on the internet at www.fandcussmallers.com

By order of the Board

F&C Management Limited, Secretary

18 November 2009

 

END

 

 

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