Half Yearly Report

RNS Number : 7364U

Hansa Trust PLC

06 December 2013

 



HANSA TRUST PLC

 

HALF-YEARLY REPORT For the six months to 30 September 2013

Key Information

INVESTMENT POLICY AND BENCHMARK

To achieve growth of shareholder value, Hansa Trust PLC invests in a portfolio of special situations, where individual holdings or specific sectors may constitute a significant proportion of the portfolio or that of the equity of the companies concerned. This investment approach may produce returns which are not replicated by movements in any market index. Performance is measured against an absolute benchmark derived from the three-year average rolling rate of return of a five year UK government bond, plus 2% with interest being re-invested semi-annually. Investments are intended to add value over the medium to longer term through a non-market correlated, conviction based investment style.

 STATISTICS

	30 September 2013	31 March 2013	% change
Shareholders' Funds	£258.4m	£259.9m	(0.6)
Dividends (Interim/Full Year)	5.0p	15.0p
Net Asset Value (NAV) per share
Opening NAV	1,082.9p	1,117.5p
Dividends paid	(11.5)p	(14.0)p
Revenue and capital return	5.1p	(20.6)p
Closing NAV	1,076.5p	1,082.9p	(0.6)
Performance Benchmark	1.7%	3.8%
Ordinary Share Price	790.5p	837.0p	(5.6)
'A' non-voting Ordinary Share Price	779.0p	815.0p	(4.4)
FTSE All‑Share Index	3,444	3,381	1.9
Discount
Ordinary shares	26.6%	22.7%
'A' non-voting Ordinary shares	27.6%	24.7%
Total Return (Dividends Reinvested)
Ordinary Shares	(4.1)%	(7.3)%
'A' non‑voting Ordinary shares	(3.0)%	(4.8)%
FTSE All‑Share Index - Total Return	4.1%	17.4%

COMPANY REGISTRATION AND NUMBER

The Company is registered in England and its number is 126107.

Total Return Performance Graphs

NET ASSET VALUE

	6 months	1 year	3 years	5 years	10 years
Net Asset Value - dividends reinvested	0.5%	8.7%	9.2%	43.5%	250.2%
Benchmark	1.7%	3.5%	12.3%	24.5%	57.6%

SHARE PRICE

	6 months	1 year	3 years	5 years	10 years
Ordinary Share - dividends reinvested	(4.1)%	9.9%	(1.6)%	16.0%	222.6%
'A' Ordinary Share - dividends reinvested	(3.0)%	11.1%	(0.9)%	15.7%	219.8%
FTSE All-Share	4.1%	19.5%	35.5%	70.5%	151.0%

The returns in the above charts have assumed that the dividends paid by the Company have been re-invested on the payment date, at the prevailing Net Asset Value and Share Price.

Past Performance is not a guide to future performance.   Source: Internal Management Information

Chairman's Statement

THE ASSET VALUE (AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2013)

NAV: 1076.5p per share  (-6.4p; -0.6%) Benchmark: +1.7%

BACKGROUND TO MARKETS

The past six months have been a rather benign period for stock markets in the developed world but rather less so for those of emerging market countries, many of whose markets suffered from both declining share prices and particularly from falling currencies. In fact a feature of the period was the strength of Sterling, which rose against the US Dollar, the Euro, the Japanese Yen and particularly against the Brazilian Real.

The lack of any horrific news on the European front led to European bourses performing rather better than other developed world stock markets as the table below suggests - more out of a sense of relief one suspects. In any event developed world economies seem to be returning to growth mode, albeit at pretty slow rates - aided and abetted by continuing loose monetary and, in some countries, loose fiscal policies. Stock markets, as we have mentioned before, tend to be driven by a mixture of confidence and money, both of which helped drive them higher.

	Currency (v. £)	Stock Market (local currency)	Stock Market (in £s)
France (CAC)	-1.3%	+11.0%	+9.6%
Germany (DAX)	-1.3%	+10.3%	+8.8%
Japan (TOPIX)	-9.8%	+16.1%	+4.7%
UK (FTSE All Share)		+1.9%	+1.9%
USA (S&P 500)	-5.6%	+7.2%	+1.1%
China (Shanghai Comp)	-4.8%	-8.1%	-12.5%
Brazil (Bovespa)	-15.4%	-7.1%	-21.4%

Concern amongst international investors about the effect on emerging market economies of a normalisation of American monetary policy had an effect on their markets and their currencies generally and on the so called BRIC countries particularly; all four of them suffered declines when expressed in Sterling.  Most noticeably for us Brazil's BOVESPA Index (in £s) declined by 21.5%.  The news coming out of Brazil is not hugely encouraging at the moment, albeit the news from Ocean Wilsons (circa -9%) is really quite good.

Against this background our own net asset value declined by only 0.6% and our two share prices (ordinary and A ordinary) declined by circa 5.5% and 4.5% respectively (more about which later).

The net asset value declined by 0.6% over the first six months - largely as a result of the dividend of 11.5p per share declared at the year end. The decline in the value of our holding in Ocean Wilsons, which reduced the net asset value by circa 35p per Hansa Trust share (see the table below) was more than offset by the improvement in value of the rest of the portfolio. The rest of the portfolio made good progress, contributing circa 40p to the net asset value.  The holding in Ocean Wilsons apart, all of the top ten holdings made a positive contribution - with particularly good performances coming from our investments in Herald Investment Trust and Hansteen Holdings.

I should emphasise that we are never unduly concerned by the short term price movements of our holdings, which all too often bear little relationship with the underlying progress of the companies concerned.  Without wishing to sound complacent we are generally pleased with the progress being made by our investee companies, including, importantly, Ocean Wilsons.

Per Hansa share:	31-Mar-13	30-Sep-13	∆%
Ocean Wilsons holding:	405.3p	370.2p	-35.1p	-8.7%
Rest of Portfolio (incl. net income and current liabilities):	677.6p	717.8p	+40.2p	+5.9%
Dividend:		-11.5p	-11.5p	+2.1%
Net Asset Value per share:	1,082.9p	1,076.5p	-6.4p	-0.6%

We also place emphasis on our long-term performance - regarding five years as a minimum time period to make comparisons. Since the 30th September 2008 (shortly after the Lehman Brothers debacle) our net asset value has risen by 260.1p per share - albeit in a rather roller coaster manner given the volatility of the stock market - and we have paid out dividends of 75.5p, providing a total return of 335.6p or 41.1%. That compares with a total return of our benchmark of 24.5%.

THE SHARE PRICES

Ordinary shares: 790.5p (-46.5p; -5.6%)

"A" Ordinary shares: 779.0p (-36.0p; -4.4%)

The two share prices declined producing a slightly wider discount: 26.6% on the Ordinary shares and 27.6% on the A Ordinary shares. As I indicated in the last annual report and as discussed at the Company's annual general meeting, we have embarked upon a programme designed to raise the awareness of Hansa Trust in the market place. While we fully expect that raising our profile will, in time, create more demand for the Company's shares, it is not a short term-fix. Meanwhile the poor perception of Brazil in the eyes of investors is, we believe, affecting the demand for our shares because of our large investment in Ocean Wilsons (circa 34% of our net asset value at the end of September 2013).

However, as many shareholders will be aware, the share price of Ocean Wilsons itself sells at a discount to its underlying book value, comprising the holding of 58.25% of Wilson Sons and its own wholly owned investment subsidiary, Ocean Wilson Investments. That discount at the end of September amounted to 26.4%, which, when consolidated into our own net asset value, leaves our two shares - the Ordinary and the A Ordinary - selling on discounts of 34.6% and 35.6% respectively.

THE INTERIM DIVIDEND

The Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of 5.0p per share to be paid on 16 December 2013 to shareholders on the Register of Members on 29 November 2013 (ex-dividend 27 November 2013). In considering the interim dividend, the Board has taken into account the fact that - historically at least - most of the profit earned during the year has been earned in the first half. In order to partly even out the two payments, the Board has decided to declare a higher interim dividend of 5.0p (versus 3.5p last year). The dividend policy, however, remains unchanged - namely to pay out as dividends the profit earned in the year. It should not, therefore, be assumed that the total dividend for the current year will be more than was paid last year.

PROSPECTS

Once again John Alexander, our portfolio manager, has produced a detailed account of the portfolio and commentary on the state of those economic and financial affairs that are likely to affect us - so I won't go into great detail and repeat what he has written.

Our own prospects are in part influenced by the external financial environment, which is looking rather better than it has for quite some time and in part on ourselves and the portfolio that we look after. It is certainly the case that, no matter how well our investee companies do, it will be hard for their share prices to rise (and thence our own net asset value) in an adversarial financial environment. Given the commitments of governments to very loose monetary policies on a quite unprecedented scale (producing only quite modest economic growth) and the need to return to some form of financial integrity one day, it is hard to believe that the recovery won't hit a bump at some time. The effect on the American economy of the shutdown of its Government for a very short space of time illustrates the point. However given the overriding priority of most governments to get re-elected, the return to financial integrity may well be some way off.

Our portfolio's prospects of course depend on the progress of the companies in which we are invested. Here John goes into quite some detail on our important investments - most particularly - on Ocean Wilsons. The outlook for it continues, we believe, to be most promising benefiting as it does from excellent management and good commercial prospects.

It is also encouraging that a number of our other larger holdings in smaller companies are also doing well - particularly NCC Group, Herald Investment Trust, Kofax, Goals Soccer Centres, Hansteen Holdings and Galliford Try.

We, the Board of Directors, remain enthusiastic about the long-term prospects for our investee companies and thence the prospects for our own net asset value. However we need to improve the awareness of the "Hansa story" in order to address the issue of the large discount at which our shares sell in relation to the underlying net asset value. We have started that process, so that - hopefully - the combination of good portfolio returns and a declining discount on a long-term basis should produce good long-term returns for shareholders.

Alex Hammond-Chambers

Chairman

21 November 2013

Interim Management Report

The Directors present their Report and Condensed Financial Statements for the six months to 30 September 2013.

THE BOARD'S OBJECTIVES

The Board's primary objective is to achieve growth of shareholders value over the medium to long‑term.

THE BOARD

Your Board consists of the following persons each of whom brings certain individual and complementary skills and experience to the Board's workings. Individual profiles for each member of the Board can be found in the Company's Annual Report and on our website.

Mr Hammond‑Chambers (Chairman)    Professor Wood      Mr Davie
Mr Salomon                                             Lord Oxford

BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE SIX MONTHS TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2013

The business review, which includes an indication of important events which have occurred within the six months to 30 September 2013, are covered in the Chairman's Statement and the Investment Manager's Report.

KEY RISKS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2014

The key risks and uncertainties relating to the six months ended 30 September 2013 and for the six months to 31 March 2014 are covered in the Chairman's Statement and the Investment Manager's Report.

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

During the period, Hansa Capital Partners LLP charged investment management fees and company secretarial fees to the Company amounting to £673,778, excluding VAT (31 March 2013: £1,611,643). Amounts outstanding at 30 September 2013 were £147,786 (31 March 2013: £145,215).

THE BOARD'S RESPONSIBILITIES

The Board is charged by the shareholders with the responsibility for looking after the affairs of the Company. It involves the 'STEWARDSHIP' of the Company's assets and liabilities and 'THE PURSUIT OF GROWTH OF SHAREHOLDER VALUE'. Except for the items detailed below these responsibilities remain unchanged from those detailed in the last Annual Report.

The Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge that:

•    the condensed set of financial statements contained within the half-yearly financial report has been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 'Interim Financial Reporting' and on a going concern basis.

•    this Interim Management Report includes a fair review of the information required by 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R of the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

The above Interim Management Report including the Responsibility Statement was approved by the Board on 21 November 2013 and was signed on its behalf by:

Alex Hammond‑Chambers
Chairman
21 November 2013

Investment Manager's Report

The Investment Manager presents its report for the six months ended 30 September 2013.

INVESTMENT STYLE

We are patient, long only, investors and give things time to perform.

It is especially difficult to get market timing right and almost impossible to benefit consistently from short-term macro judgement calls. We prefer to spend most of our time focussing on the underlying companies in the portfolio, whilst keeping portfolio turnover to a minimum.

PORTFOLIO WEIGHTING AND PERFORMANCE

 Sector                                                     Sector Weighting at   Six months' Performance
                                                                  30 September 2013          to 30 September 2013
                                                                                                 %                                              %

Strategic                                                                               34.4                                           (6.5)

Growth                                                                                 29.3                                            4.3

Energy                                                                                  17.4                                            1.6

Property                                                                                11.3                                          12.2

Large Cap                                                                               6.0                                            8.6

Other                                                                                       2.2                                            2.9

Net current liabilities (inc. loans)                                             (0.6)                                        (0.7)

PORTFOLIO REVIEW

STRATEGIC (34.4% of NAV: -6.5% PERFORMANCE) OCEAN WILSONS HOLDINGS LIMITED - (Market Cap £338.6m: 34.4% of NAV: Performance -6.5%)

A Bermuda based Investment Company listed on both the Bermuda Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange in which Hansa Trust has a 26.45% holding. Ocean Wilsons Holdings Limited has two principal subsidiaries, firstly a 58.25% investment in Wilson Sons Limited, a Brazilian maritime infrastructure and logistics operator, and secondly a 100% investment in Ocean Wilsons Investments Limited, a Bermuda investment company holding a portfolio of  term returns.

WILSON SONS LIMITED - BRAZILIAN MARITIME INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS:58.25% Holding. (Market Val £306.6m: 23.2% of NAV: Performance -7.3%)

Wilson Sons Limited is an autonomous Bermuda company listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange ("BOVESPA") and Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Wilson Sons is one of the largest providers of maritime services in Brazil, with over six thousand employees, and benefits from key competitive advantages and strategic assets. Wilson Sons activities include harbour and ocean towage, container terminal operation, offshore support services, logistics, shipyards and ship agency. The first half of 2013 produced another solid operating performance for the Group. Shipyard revenue grew 56% in the period, benefitting from the completion of the new dry-dock facility at Guaruja, and the continued strong demand for new vessels from the offshore oil and gas industry, which saw the signing

Investment Manager's Report (continued)

of a U$131m contract for the construction of 3 Offshore Supply Vessels with Geonavegacao S.A., a confirmation of the strategy to increase construction of both own and third-party vessels. The completion of the acquisition of Briclog in the second half for U$40.5m and its subsequent expansion will help Brasco consolidate its position as one of the largest offshore support base operators for the Oil and Gas industry in Brazil, with its excellent location to provide support to the Campos and Santos oil producing basins. Towage, where Wilson Sons have a 50% market share, saw revenues increase mainly as a result of differentiated pricing for larger ships, heavier average dead-weights and higher volumes in 2013. The two container terminals give Wilson Sons a Brazilian market share of about 11%, making them the third largest operator in the country, while the locations of the terminals provide a competitive advantage.

Revenue at the container terminals ("Tecons") rose during the first half due to strong deep-sea import volumes which generate higher yielding warehousing services. Tecon Rio Grande can handle over 1.35 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) annually and is operating at about 50% of its current capacity following the completion of the expansion works, which makes it attractive to new cargoes and routes, and there are a number of initiatives to promote capacity utilisation. Tecon Salvador's new completed expansion program means it too is well positioned to attract new weekly cargo movement lines, so a key challenge going forwards will be to get volumes up in the Terminals Division.

Wilson Sons continues to invest in developing and expanding its business although at a reduced pace following completion of the recent Tecon Salvador and Guaruja capacity expansion programmes. All the major expansion projects have already been undertaken at a cost of some U$1bn over the last six year period, and capital expenditure over
the next five years is expected to total some U$500m, split roughly 80:20 in favour of growth over maintenance. At 30 June 2013 the Group had U$152.7m in cash and cash equivalents while Group borrowings were U$364.9m, which does not include U$238.4m of debt from the Company's 50% share of borrowing in the Offshore Vessels joint venture. 100% of the JV's debt is funded by the Merchant Marine Fund. The Net Debt to EBITDA annualised would have been 2.4x if the Offshore Vessels debt was consolidated which we consider, is reasonable in the context of an infrastructure business in Brazil. Wilson Sons has good access to low cost and long-term finance to fund expansion, with 89.2% of total debt long-dated at a weighted average cost of 3.6% per year as at the Interim Report ending 30 June 2013, as 62.1% of the total is extremely efficient debt, provided through BNDES and Banco do Brasil, as agents for the Merchant Marine Fund. Roughly 90% of the Company's operating cash costs are denominated in Brazilian Real ("BRL"), and approximately 62% of revenues are BRL denominated. A strengthening USD versus the BRL has a negative impact on revenues but is positive for costs and expenses. The key message is that management's focus for the Group has broadly shifted from capacity expansion to capacity utilisation and an increase in returns over the next five years, while capital expenditure should be materially lower in the next five years than it was in the last five.

OCEAN WILSONS INVESTMENTS LIMITED - 100% Holding. (Market Val £148.3m: 11.2% of NAV: Performance +3.6%)

As at the end of June 2013 57.3% of the wholly owned investment portfolio was invested in global equities, with 22.5% in private assets, 8.1% in market neutral funds and the balance of 12.1% in bonds, cash and liquidity funds, with an emphasis on emerging markets. The portfolio is globally diversified and contains a significant number of investments which would not normally be readily accessible to the average investor, with a large number of the holdings now closed to new investors.

Investment Manager's Report (continued)

MARKET DISCOUNT OF OCEAN WILSONS HOLDINGS Ltdas at 30 September 2013

Add the £306.6m market value of the 58.25% holding in Wilson Sons Limited and the £148.3m market value of the 100% holding in Ocean Wilsons Investments Limited and you get a total of £454.9m, compared with a market cap of £338.6m for Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd, whose shares trade at a 25.6% discount to the market value of the two component parts.

OUTLOOK FOR BRAZIL

Brazil currently suffers from weak growth, above-target inflation and an over indebted and disgruntled population. The country needs to become more competitive as a result of structural reforms including better infrastructure and education. However excessive foreign currency debt is not the main problem this time, as has been the case in past crises, and the correction of too large a current account deficit should be a more orderly process given the devaluation of the Brazilian Real and a period of slower domestic growth. Longer term, Brazil has the huge advantage of good underlying demographics, with the world's fifth largest population with a median age of 29 years, of which almost half could be considered middle-class with a growing disposable income, enabling the economy to become less reliant on exports.

THEMATIC NEWS UPDATES FROM TOP HOLDINGS OF +1% of NAV, TOTALLING 63.2% of NAV GROWTH (29.3% of NAV: +4.3% PERFORMANCE)

London quoted companies with a strong position in their home markets and who, in many cases, have the world as their market place. Companies which can grow sales organically, have pricing power and generate a good return on invested capital. Companies that have a moat around their business because their advantages are difficult to replicate, enabling them to weather downturns as well as keeping others from entering that business. Companies with the ability to grow by investing their free cash flow at attractive rates of return, either in their own business, through M&A or share buy backs, and return cash to shareholders in the form of a dividend which grows in real terms over time. We generally prefer companies which sell to other companies, business to business. We aim to find good well managed companies in which we can remain invested for a long period of time. We are patient investors, giving companies the time and support to evolve and grow, so turnover levels are generally very low. Historically we have been there for the cash bids, with takeover names like Glenmorangie, Warner Chilcott, Foseco, Kiln, Cathedral Underwriting, Resolution, Halladale, Brit Insurance and SSL Intl.

NCC Group(Mkt Cap £307.9m: 4.3% of NAV: Performance +9.3%) the international, independent provider of Escrow and Assurance offers a mix of high levels of recurring revenue and cash generation as well as structural growth, and Hansa Trust holds 3.6% of the company, while Rob Cotton the chief executive has a 5.2% holding. Escrow UK has always been and will continue to be the cornerstone of NCC's profitability, producing a substantial margin and very strong cash conversion as well as a high degree of recurring revenue, due to the consistent contracts renewals rate of over 88%. UK Escrow (forecast to represent over 70% of full year Escrow revenues) saw revenue growth of 6% over the four months ending September, while organic revenue growth for the whole Group and the Assurance division was 16% and 26% respectively over the same period. As the mix of business continues to change due to the increase in Assurance revenues, the cash conversion ratio of operating profit before interest and tax is expected

Investment Manager's Report (continued)

to fall to 100-110%. The compound annual growth rate of the dividend has been 29% since the Group's flotation in July 2004. The Group's global reach and product range provides a platform for sustained long term growth. In May 2012 the Group applied to register the .secure generic top level domain, with the aim to create a universal environment for companies to gain much needed higher security over new and existing domains in order for end users to operate and navigate the Internet with safety and security, while a new wholly owned subsidiary, Artemis Internet Inc, was established in San Francisco to develop the critical infrastructure and know-how to deliver this project. The systems, processes and environments developed so far are currently being beta tested in two major corporations from the Pioneer Group set up by Artemis. The total investment in the project as at the end of September was £4.0m, and the Group plans to invest progressively in Artemis and it expects to offer a service to its customers through secure or its own branded generic top level domain during the second half of the financial year.

Experian Group(Mkt Cap £11,806.2m: 4.1% of NAV : Performance +4.6%), the leading global credit information and marketing services Group, remains a long-term growth story as it continues on a journey of cash generation and expansion into new geographic markets and verticals, with a strong culture of innovation to develop new products and move in to new customer segments, as well as a long and successful history of growing by acquisition. Management continue to expect mid-to-high single-digit organic revenue growth, modestly improved margins and cash flow conversion of at least 90%. Given the visibility of cash flows, management will likely continue to hand back surplus cash to shareholders. Most recently Experian announced that it is paying U$324m for a US fraud prevention business, a strategic move to consolidate and develop the Group's fraud management capability, while also helping to improve client efficiency by reducing the number of false detections of potential fraud. The
deal takes Experian into transaction monitoring whereas to date its activities have been concentrated on authentication of applications. Another example of Experian's willingness to use cash to pay a high multiple for an entry point in to a high growth potential businesses with rich IP, adding to the story of addressing a dynamic, rapidly widening market place in which data and analytics confer comparative advantage and mitigate risk.

Weir Group(Mkt Cap £4,960.2m: 4.0% of NAV: Performance +4.4%) is a global engineering solutions provider to the mining, oil & gas and power markets. This focus, together with a growing emerging market presence, continued commitment to operational excellence, strong aftermarket revenues and value enhancing acquisitions has resulted in strong operating margins. Weir has been saying for some time that 2013 would be more about the aftermarket, which now represents over 55% of group revenues, rather than new projects. Global aftermarket activity continues to benefit from the growing installed base, with high margin spares volumes increasing. The mainstay products are slurry pumps for mining and pressure pumps for the hydraulic fracturing of shale gas and shale oil, both with high wear rates and in the case of mining the beneficiary of higher mine production levels as ore grades decline. In the longer term growth prospects appear strong driven by both structural and market demand as well as organic initiatives. Keith Cochrane, Weir's CEO, sees the UK's experience in the oil and gas sector making it "the obvious choice as a hub for Europe's nascent shale gas industry". Alongside substantially higher cash generation in 2013, the Group plans the eighth consecutive year of double digit dividend growth and the 30th consecutive year of dividend growth.

Herald Investment Trust (Mkt Cap £493.3m: 3.4% of NAV: Performance +10.6%) was launched in 1994 to invest in smaller quoted Technology, Media & Telecom stocks. About 70% of assets are invested in the UK market and the portfolio has

Investment Manager's Report (continued)

traditionally been very diversified with some 240 holdings, thereby reducing individual stock risk. Herald's closed-end structure enables it to hold some relatively illiquid long-term positions in the portfolio, and in this respect Herald has a number of similarities with an unlisted venture capital portfolio with liquidity often provided by M&A activity. It has the attractions of a clean fee structure, charging a simple 1% of net assets fee with no performance fee, and a straightforward capital structure, with no dilutive securities in issue. A little more interest has recently been shown by institutional and private investors in Herald Investment Trust, which has seen the discount to net asset value close in from 20% plus to something nearer 15%, but this area of the market is seeing very little in the way of IPO activity, leading to low valuations, thereby leaving the door open to takeover activity, particularly by US companies, a trend Herald has benefitted from in the past. The manager laments the ability of smaller TMT companies in the UK to attract equity finance and it is quite likely that the UK weighting will fall moving forwards given the proliferation of takeovers.

Andor (Mkt Cap £115.3m: 2.8% of NAV: Performance -4.7%) is a global leader in the development and manufacture of high performance scientific digital cameras for academic, industrial and government applications, and Hansa Trust holds 6.2% of the company. Andor enjoyed a CAGR in sales of 30% p.a. for fourteen years, until the government-funded "revenue shock" at the interim stage, namely the impact of US Federal Government spending cuts on research budgets and the US budget sequestration, which particularly impacted the OEM business. It is pleasing to see that order intake in H2 was better than management expectations, with a clear recovery seen in the OEM business, which is subject to the timing of the call-off of these orders. Innovation and new product delivery is key to Andor's continued growth, and the company has maintained its commitment to R&D and has a clear strategy for growth in the mid-range camera market, where the new mid-range Zyla camera has been well received. The company has been building up sizeable cash reserves over the past few years and paid a maiden interim dividend and intends to adopt a progressive dividend policy which reflects the long-term earnings and cash flow potential of the company. In October Andor announced the £6.8m cash acquisition of Spectral Applied Research Inc based in Toronto, Canada, which is a market leader in the design and manufacture of optical systems for the cell biology research community, whose products look a strong fit with Andor's existing operations, in addition to being complimentary in terms of customer base. Their sales have been mainly North American, so Andor will leverage its international sales team to reach out to a wider customer base. Equally, Andor is bringing in-house a component for its systems, which should enhance the Systems Division's margins.

Kofax (Mkt Cap £327.3m: 2.5% of NAV: Performance +16.1%) is a leading provider of innovative smart capture and process automation software and solutions for the business critical first mile of customer interactions, and Hansa Trust holds 2.0% of the company. Kofax software and solutions provide a rapid return on investment to customers in banking, insurance, government, healthcare, business process outsourcing and other markets. Kofax has spent the last few years investing the cash generated from the legacy business in selective acquisitions to fill technology and product gaps, in conjunction with a programme of intensive organic R&D, while strengthening its sales organisation and improving execution across all geographies and product lines. Kapow Technologies, a leading data integration software was acquired for Y$47.5m cash, helping Kofax move from capture to process, since when Kapow has announced it is working with Oracle on data integration for Oracle Endeca Information Discovery. Kofax also announced a U$7.6m software licence sale to a US government agency, the single largest software sale in the company's

Investment Manager's Report (continued)

history. Final results were in line with prior guidance, while Q4 momentum in licence sales supports the view that kofax is moving forwards positively and growing software licence sales again, which "represents a significant and positive turning point in the company's performance". Moreover while software licence revenue in the legacy capture business declined, software licence revenues in mobile capture and those of acquired companies grew by some 30% during the fiscal year. The company exits "fiscal year 2013 with momentum and enthusiasm" and has announced that it is migrating the holding company's domicile from the UK to Bermuda in order to list common shares rather than American Depositary Receipts on NASDAQ by way of an initial public offering. As Kofax becomes an increasingly US centric business the company needs to access the leading financial market for global software companies in order to better pursue its organic revenue growth and acquisition strategies.

United Business Media ("UBM") (Mkt Cap £1.8bn: 2.5% of NAV: Performance +4.1%) Following the disposal of Data Services for £160m, 75% of adjusted EBITA comes from Events, where UBM is the No1 operator in the ASEAN market as well as being the leading independent Events organiser in China, which represents 30% of Events revenues. Q3 figures included an encouraging outlook statement for the Events business in faster growing markets, including China, with forward bookings for the top 20 shows up 8.5% year on year, although softer conditions have been seen in Brazil and India, where there has been a reduction in the number of new launch events originally scheduled for Q4. Activity at P R Newswire has picked up after a slow summer period, while good progress is being made in restructuring Marketing Services. The Company now expects full year underlying revenue growth to be at or slightly below the bottom of their guidance range of 3-5%, but the adjusted full year operating margin to be at the upper end of the 22-23% range, in other words slower revenue growth in the short term. This year the shares have suffered from the company's Events exposure to emerging markets, especially China, but these events should do well over the next few years as the Chinese focus more of their GDP growth on the consumer. UBM announced that David Levin is to step down as CEO at the end of July 2014. He has done a good job of transforming UBM into a more structurally attractive business, but this still leaves the opportunity for UBM to break itself up or sell its P R Newswire assets, a business that has always been viewed as a drag on the rating, in order to focus wholly on Events. We are being paid a decent 4% yield while we wait.

Wolseley (Mkt Cap £8.8bn: 1.7% of NAV: Performance -1.6%) is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building materials in North America, the UK and Continental Europe. In the dark days of 2008-2009 shareholders, including Hansa Trust, supported a £1bn rescue rights issue, as debt was running at £3bn. That rights issue cash and another £2bn in operating cash flows has wiped out the debt. Capital discipline has allowed scope for £650m of special dividends over the last two years. New management has been driving up margins while capital discipline is pushing ROCE back up to levels not seen for twenty years, and the improvement in returns shows that management is raising the quality of the business. To quote the management, "Wolseley continues to be highly cash generative and we have adequate resources to fund future investment in the business alongside growth in ordinary dividends".

Cape (Mkt Cap £296.4m: 1.7% of NAV: Performance -18.6% ) is an international leader in the provision of essential industrial services to the energy and natural resources sectors, covering the full life of a plant, from initial build to decommissioning. A new team headed by Joe Oatley and Michael Speakman are making good progress in installing internal risk controls against the back-ground of a difficult market in Asia Pacific, particularly Australia. They are continuing to restructure the Australian

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business, reducing the number of operating branches from eleven to five. Cape has the brand and the scale, with leading market positions across its international footprint (particularly in the UK & Middle East), and balance sheet to capitalise on the opportunity to build a platform for sustainable growth given the expected increase in demand for Cape's services in the long term. Cape should be in a strong position to win work on LNG mega-projects Wheatstone and Ichtys.

Goals Soccer Centres (Mkt Cap £88.3m: 1.4% of NAV: Performance +23.7%) is the leading player in the fast-growing 5-a-side soccer market, with a 42% share of the UK branded 5-a-side football market, operating 43 centres in the UK, one in Los Angeles, with an established pipeline in excess of 40 sites, and Hansa Trust holds 4.0% of the company. Ontario Teachers' Pension Scheme recently bid 144p per share cash for the company, but the offer was rejected by just over 25% of shareholders on the grounds that it undervalued the business. The management are re-focusing on the established business, to enhance the return on capital from immature sites opened since 2008, in order to improve returns and deleverage the balance sheet. Interim figures show that the business is at an inflection point, with net debt falling, like for like sales improving as management initiatives to drive footfall succeed in improving asset utilisation, while a new modular build concept offers a significant improvement in returns from new centres, with capital expenditure reduced from £2.3m to £1.5m per centre and build time reduced from 22 to 14 weeks. The US site is performing strongly and confirms the potential for future rollout. Goals could potentially offer significant upside if the group bases its rollout programme on the new modular concept, with capex lowered by about 35% on average per site, but with returns still targeted at least 20%.

Brooks Macdonald's(Mkt Cap £173.6m: 1.0% of NAV: Performance -7.7%) Q1 IMS shows that the year has got off to a good start with another £170m of net new discretionary assets, driving a 5% increase in discretionary assets to £5.37bn. After the acquisition of Spearpoint the International division has returned to growth while the Property division's assets rose to almost £1.1bn, and the new third party administration services business now has assets of over £140m. A planned investment in IT infrastructure and reduced pricing of its Managed Portfolio Service will have an adverse impact on margins in the current year, while compliance and regulatory costs continue to increase, and now account for 8-9% of turnover, representing a real barrier to entry for the small wealth managers.

ENERGY (17.4% of NAV: +1.6% PERFORMANCE)

Oil prices have remained resilient at above U$100per barrel, although the oil majors are less sensitive to the oil price than the man in the street would generally perceive. The IEA's latest report suggests oil markets tightened in September, with OPEC output falling below 30mmbod for the first time in two years, led by a steep drop in Libya and Iraq output, while global demand was upgraded by 90Kbod for 2013. The report expects global demand to grow by a further 1.1mmbod in 2014 (+1.2% y/y growth). Saudi Arabia needs a high oil price having increased public sector pay by 17% across the board as an indirect way of ring-fencing itself from the Arab Spring, and it's budget continues to rise due to strong demographic growth. Even putting the social cost increases to one side, the cost of oil extraction is increasing significantly as the Gulf States have been forced to use gas injection technology to enhance recovery rates. Meanwhile the US shale revolution will only boost production if oil prices remain high and even then possibly temporarily, for the simple reason that while output from shale oil wells is initially prolific, production then declines rapidly because each well only taps a single pool of rock-trapped oil, rather than a whole reservoir. New wells constantly need to be drilled

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(good for Weir Group) and shale oil production has a relatively high cost compared with the traditionally cheap-to-extract reserves of the Middle East. In China the chief engineer for the Ministry of Land and Resources has said that expanding industrialisation and urbanisation would result in Chinese energy demand growing 4.5% annually over the next 20 years, which equates to 141% expansion of what is already the largest energy market in the world. As of the latest BP world energy statistics data, China consumed 21.2% of world energy production in 2011. In order for China's growth not to impinge on the energy supplies available to the rest of the world, world energy production growth would have to more than double from the preceding 20 years when it grew at 2.07% pa.

The oil majors have faced a very tough operating environment over the past few years, confronting a number of operational issues which could neatly be summed up as being "trapped in a cycle of spending more but finding less". Historically big oil had been regarded as being relatively well managed and enjoying a conservative balance sheet, with a consistent history of sustainable dividend growth, adding up to a defensive quality, a safe place to park money during periods of broader market weakness. However the list of operational issues has been numerous, namely BP's Macondo spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the company's perceived arrogant response, numerous other geopolitical and technical unscheduled production disruptions, slippage in project timelines, a strategic emphasis on more challenging projects in the hunt for elephants. In a nutshell the European Integrated Oil sector has been derated because of a sharp decline in returns. While cash generation is expected to improve, the market has decided that the expansion of the capital base will see returns do no more than stabilise at best, thereby undermining the case for a structural rerating. We believe big oil has been sent a loud and clear message by the market, that Boards are taking notice, that new CEO's have been appointed at BG Group, BHP Billiton and Shell, but the market continues to display a high level of apathy towards the names. The value over volume message has clearly been taken on board and companies are well down the path in terms of transitioning portfolios. Companies have moved the focus of guidance away from production and toward the constituents of free cash flow, namely operating cash flow, capital investment and net divestments. China holds substantial US government debt and may well look to diversify its overseas holdings in terms of currencies and in terms of assets held, which may prompt further Chinese investment in the natural resources sectors. Note Chinese involvement with EDF in the building of new UK nuclear capacity after Centrica withdrew from the consortium, while China National Petroleum Corp and China's CNOOC will each have a10% interest in the production rights to develop the offshore Libra oil field in Brazil, with Total and Royal Dutch Shell each having a 20% interest. We believe that the underlying potential is better than the recent quarterly results would suggest, and over prolonged time-horizons the compounding of a 5% p.a. dividend should favourably position big oil.

BG Group(Mkt Cap £40191.8m: 3.9% of NAV: Performance +6.0%). 2012 was BG's annus horribilis, with production growth stalled for 2012 and 2013 amid production problems, project delays and capex inflation in Australia. The latest Capital Markets day saw reduced 2014 production expectations from Egypt, Norway and the US, but with the long term growth case remaining intact. Critical developments in both Australia and Brazil are on track to deliver growth, and BG sees a tighter global LNG market stretching in to the next decade. Most of BG's growth is expected to come from Brazil and Australia, both of which enjoy high margins, so earnings are expected to grow faster than production. BG has switched its focus from volume/production to cash flow growth and realising value, which will involve taking a more active portfolio management approach to monetising its resources. Asset disposals will see the business focused on 10-15 high quality core asset, as well as increasing exploration spend.

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After 2015 annual capex should fall from U$12-13bn to U$8-10bn, and the balance sheet should have been deleveraged, so investors should expect positive free cash flow in 2016, putting the Group in a position to return cash to shareholders.

Hargreaves Services (Mkt Cap £277.6m: 3.3% of NAV: Performance +1.3%) the UK's leading supplier of solid fuels and bulk material logistics has been through a difficult period with the mothballing of Maltby Colliery following geological problems and stock irregularities at its Belgian facilities. Hargreaves has subsequently repositioned its production assets, regarding surface mining in the UK as an attractive sector with a more manageable risk profile than deep mining. In April Hargreaves raised £42.3m to pursue UK open-cast coal mining opportunities and invest in developing a profitable and sustainable surface mining business in Scotland. Following the acquisition of surface mining assets from the former ATH Resources in May 2013 and from the former Scottish Resources Group in July 2013, Hargreaves has added 2m tonnes p.a. of coal production at a cost of £48m, accelerating the development of the surface mining business to become the key coal producer and distributor in the UK market. Hargreaves has simultaneously reduced the capital intensity of the business while increasing the stability and predictability of operating cash flows. The UK business is strongly cash generative and profitable, and whilst overall coal demand in the UK is set to shrink over the coming years, the size of the coal market in the UK will be more than adequate to sustain the group for many years to come, providing the opportunity to grow the business on both a UK and international basis, searching out opportunities where risk can be adequately managed and the Group's services and skills can be deployed to create value. Meanwhile with the advent of new technologies in carbon capture and storage, the capture and storage of carbon released from burning fossil fuels, the possibilities of the UK and other countries turning again to coal as a reliable and cost-effective energy generator are more and more appealing. While the average dividend cover over the past three years has been set at between six and seven times, the Board has now set a target of increasing the dividend pay-out progressively over the next three years towards a dividend cover of around four times. Gordon Banham the chief executive and founder of the business owns 6.8% of the company, and Hansa Trust has a 3.0% holding.

Centrica's(Mkt Cap £19bn: 2.5% of NAV: Performance +3.7%) is the UK's largest energy supplier with 41% of the gas market. Adjusted operating profit for the half year was up across all main divisions and the dividend was raised 6%, supported by the £500m cost savings programme. The international upstream oil & gas business is performing well in line with the strategic shift of emphasis towards global upstream and North America. The upstream energy business should benefit from a tighter European gas market going forwards while improving UK consumer and business confidence should provide a better economic backdrop for energy services. Meanwhile the supportive £500m share buyback scheme remains on track while strong cash generation and a conservative balance sheet support capital deployment and dividend growth. However the company is coming under attack from all quarters because of rising household energy bills, as Ed Miliband announced his policy to freeze gas and electricity prices for the first 18 months of a labour government, which could cost the supply companies at least £4.5bn over 2015-17, increasing the political risk facing all players in the UK power market. Many of the large UK energy companies are arrogant organisations that routinely treat customers badly and they urgently need to be more customer friendly facing. In addition the market place needs to be reformed, by making it easier for customers to switch firms and for new entrants to shake-up the market, while the government must remove the green taxes and obligations that are pushing up prices and hurting the poor and manufacturers the hardest. Centrica has a big PR job on its hands.

BHP Billiton(Mkt Cap £38.4bn: 2.4% of NAV: Performance -1.1%) is the largest mining company in 

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the world with four key pillars of coal, copper, iron ore and petroleum, and a possible fifth pillar in potash. A unique portfolio with exposure to steel making, metals, energy and food. Tier 1, high volume, low production cost, long-life and expandable assets, diversified by commodity, geography and market. The dividend has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 18% over the last 10 years and in that period the company returned more than U$59bn in dividends and share buy-backs to shareholders. Andrew Mackenzie, the new CEO is "committed to drive an agenda of productivity" as the sector rapidly switches its focus from growth to a battle to protect profit margins by cutting costs. The Q1 FY14 operational update highlighted strong numbers from iron ore and petroleum, particularly the US onshore volumes, while the coal operations showed signs of a turnaround. The company reduced costs by £1.7bn last year and is targeting a further 25% reduction in the 2014 fiscal year. BHP is most likely to beat expectations on costs, as well as having an underappreciated cost of capital advantage in the industry. Capex is expected to fall from US22.6bn in 2013 to US11.5bn in 2016. This new prudence is going down well with investors who see the move as protecting cash for dividends or share buy backs and for new investment opportunities in the current downturn.

BP(Mkt Cap £81.6bn: 1.7% of NAV: Performance -3.4%) is a dark horse shrouded in the veil of uncertainty around Deepwater Horizon legal proceedings, but it certainly isn't a dead horse. Although BP reported lower than expected Q2 earnings, there is some operational momentum across the business confirming the confidence in delivering the commitment to materially increase operating cash flow in 2014. Production mix is shifting towards more oil in higher margin regions, with Angolan production coming on stream, the North Sea well positioned with project start-ups and the US Gulf of Mexico high margin activities making a recovery. BP's portfolio has been simplified following a significant divestment of mature barrels and a resolution to the problems in Russia. However the legal issues surrounding the Macondo oil spill continue to overshadow the Group and investors' concerns over the total liabilities appear to be rising, so the improving operational performance may only be recognised when some of the legal issues are resolved.

ENI(Mkt Cap £61.6bn: 1.6% of NAV: Performance +2.7%) long-delayed supergiant Kashagan field (a 16.8% stake holder in the consortium) in Kazakhstan remains the most material of new projects starting up in 2013-15, as it has finally produced its first oil after a total investment of US42bn. Kashagan is a good example of why big oil is losing operational and financial momentum, having a lot to do with low returns from mega-projects, highlighting the increasingly skewed risk/reward imbalance inherent in mega projects of this kind, and the fact that it is hard for projects of even this scale to lift underlying performance at big oil, beyond increasing reserves. The number of partners in the consortium meant no one group had a big enough stake to fully take control. The field, one of the world's largest and most challenging in its complexity is estimated to hold as much as 35bn barrels of oil. ENI's target is to grow volumes by more than 3%p.a. over 2011-15, after adjusting for the Libyan outage, followed by growth of 3% p.a. from 2015-21. The Italian government continues to maintain its holding in ENI at 30%.

Royal Dutch Shell(Mkt Cap £53.3bn: 1.2% of NAV : Performance +0.3%) Q2 results were disappointing, hit by mostly higher upstream costs, exploration charges and adverse exchange rate effects and challenges in Nigeria. Although cash generation remained resilient, cost pressures and unsuccessful exploration took their toll, leaving Shell to focus on financial performance and portfolio management to deliver free cash flow growth to support a progressive dividend distribution through the business cycle, rather than targeting oil and gas production volumes. Shell should be able to deliver a steadily growing dividend, and over prolonged time-horizons the compounding of a 5.3% dividend should leave it favourably positioned.

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PROPERTY (11.3% of NAV: +12.2% PERFORMANCE)

Property shares thrive when there is plenty of liquidity in the financial system, and this can be as, if not more important than short-term interest rates or bond yields. Thus it came as no surprise that the quoted property sector suffered a setback after the US Federal Reserve's May announcement of its intention to "taper" its current U$85bn monthly asset purchase programme, since any tapering of US quantitative easing over the next 12 months will reduce the liquidity in the financial system. It's important to get things into perspective as any reduction in the pace of asset purchases would not amount to a tightening of US monetary policy, with the Fed committed to a very low interest rate policy for the foreseeable future to help the US economy achieve "escape velocity". Indeed, the main central banks have promised to maintain very stimulative policies for a long period into the recovery. We decided to sit tight on our quoted property sector holdings, with the bulk of Hansteen's returns coming from growing income and dividends in the short term, with capital returns becoming more significant later on in the cycle. There are two commercial property markets in the UK, Central London and the rest, with Great Portland Estates firmly in the former, offering a well-funded and value enhancing development pipeline. Overseas investor's appetite for prime Central London commercial property shows no signs of abating. Then there is the unquoted DV4. Residential portfolio transactions in London and South East England have been popular as funds look to diversify into residential property, with investors considering build-to-rent opportunities in an effort to acquire larger lot sizes. In its search for better value DV4 has purchased land without planning consent, and then worked up plans with local Council's planning committees, thereby gaining better value.

There were clear signs of improvement in the UK housing market before the government's housing schemes came in to effect, particularly the recent and much criticised bringing forward of the second part of "Help to Buy" which will stimulate the secondary housing market. We think house prices bottomed out at fair value rather than "crashing" because of the record level of affordability, a function of very low interest rates, which also made owner-occupation cheaper than renting, while there was no downward price pressure from new housing supply, where we have seen a woefully low new build rate. The shortage of supply continues to put pressure on prices and rents. House prices are not in a bubble when one looks at family incomes rather than the earnings of a single male worker. P&L costs are continuing to fall because of the lower cost land element, and this is leading to higher margins. Since housing wealth is a very large part of the UK household balance sheet its recovery has implications for the Trust's holding in plumbing supplier Wolseley (20% sales in UK) and UK-facing Lloyds Banking Group, because of higher gross mortgage volumes, lower loan losses and lower capital requirements.

Hansteen Holdings (Mkt Cap £629.3m: 2.9% of NAV: Performance +18.9%) invests in secondary industrial properties, primarily in Continental Europe, with a heavy weighting in Germany (53%), with a strategy of buying high yielding properties at less than replacement cost. Industrial properties are simple, flexible and economical, characteristics which guarantee that, as long as there is economic activity, there will be a need for this type of property. The Group's portfolio is substantial and diverse, both geographically and occupationally, with management teams in each core region which are clearly focused on extracting value from the properties they manage. The Key is price paid, financing structure and management approach. Hansteen believes that when purchased carefully, financed prudently and managed in a vigorous and hands-on fashion, a large and diverse industrial portfolio can combine secure high current returns with a resilient and growing income stream. Since 2005 the company has paid a covered dividend which has grown 50% over the period, and the

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Board intends to maintain a progressive dividend policy, helped by the fact that there is still nearly 18% of the existing portfolio vacant and available for letting to improve earnings and NAV. At the end of June Hansteen successfully launched a EU100m convertible bond due 2018, with a coupon of 4% and an initial conversion price of 98.92p, a premium of 22.5% to the then prevailing market price. Under the terms of the bonds, the company will have the right to elect to settle any conversion entirely in shares, cash or a combination of shares and cash. Thus Hansteen diversified its medium term sources of finance in a very flexible manner, keeping its average cost of debt low, whilst refinancing some existing debt and providing it with funds for future growth without tapping the equity market near term. In August Hansteen announced that it is taking a 26.3% stake in the Ashtenne Industrial Fund at a total cost of £52m, which will increase the estimated proforma UK exposure to 33%, as well as complete Hansteen's UK management platform while being both NAV and earnings enhancing. The overall portfolio continues to perform well from an operational point of view, but values of secondary industrial property have not yet shown the yield compression evident in relation to prime industrial property, although if investor sentiment continues to improve it is expected to do so, as investors increasingly look for higher yields beyond Central London.

Great Portland Estates (Mkt Cap £1846.9m: 2.9% of NAV: Performance +9.3%) is at completely the other end of the commercial property market spectrum to Hansteen, being a fully exposed London offices and retail REIT, with an 80% weighting in London's West End, with the balance of the portfolio in the City and Southwark. Management remain confident on the outlook for Great Portland Estates' markets, pointing to increasing imbalances in both the occupational and investment markets, while demonstrating that the delivery of new space into such a market has proved to be fruitful, and suggesting that the outlook for both rents and capital values remains favourable for the next few years. The company is currently on site at four schemes (580,000sqft), which are already 57% pre-let, with capital expenditure still to come of £79.8m. The company has a further five schemes (659,900sqft), including its proposed major mixed use development at Rathbone Place, W1 (414,100sqft), with potential starts in the next 24 months and associated capital expenditure of around £338m. Taken together, the company's total potential development programme extends to 2.4msqft spread over the next decade. In the middle of October Great Portland Estates announced that it has received a resolution to grant planning permission for its proposed mixed use development at Rathbone Place, W1, its largest ever development, 50 yards north of Crossrail Oxford Street, and the project is on track for a late 2016 completion. Rathbone Place is one of the company's two large development schemes, alongside Hanover Square, located in prime West End locations close to Oxford Street and Crossrail. We might see a 50:50 JV on the scheme at this stage which could raise Great Portland at least £100m of cash as well as halving the £250m capex. The company has a strong track record in accessing funding on competitive terms from a range of sources, including raising £166m in the May 2009 rights issue, which Hansa Trust supported, reflecting its focused business strategy, prime central London property portfolio and conservative capital structure. In September the company launched a £150m convertible due 2018, with a coupon of 1.0% and an initial conversion price of 714.5p, a premium of 35% to the then prevailing market price. The company intends to use the net proceeds to refinance the acquisition of Oxford House W1 and to help fund its significant committed and near term development programme.

DV4 Limited(£1bn committed by investors, £10m committed by Hansa Trust, 70.8% drawn down: 2.8% of NAV: Performance +6.6%). Shareholder capital drawn to date stands at £854.2m (80% of Total Commitments) and with current loans to shareholders amounting to £98.2m, means

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effective drawn capital of £756.0m (70.8% of Total Commitments). The portfolio split is 48% Residential, 19% Offices, 16% Retail, 15% Education, 2% Other. The main focus of acquisitions for the DV4 portfolio in the recent past and going forwards has been towards London and the South East, in the two principal markets where momentum exists, namely residential and prime offices. The Olympic Village (50:50 joint venture with Qatari Diar) will require substantial equity at completion due March 2014 following retro-fitting of units post the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Meanwhile work is well underway to launch the first phase of the private rented apartments, with the first retrofitted residential units being delivered by the Olympic Delivery Authority in September. Successful planning consents for residential and retail developments have been gained at the historic Ram Brewery site in Wandsworth and a revised scheme has been submitted for the Odeon and adjacent former post office site in Kensington. Contracts have been completed for the disposal of the majority of the residential development site in Dartford Town Centre to Barratts PLC for the construction of 650 homes, with DV4 retaining ownership of the land, but receiving a fixed percentage of all proceeds from the sale of the houses to be built, reflecting a bullish view of house prices. DV4 has retained ownership of the "Mill Pond" site which is to be marketed shortly, and which can accommodate approximately 350 units as well as 28,500sqft of commercial property. Approximately 220,000sqft has now been let in the Walbrook office building in the City, leaving 170,000sqft of office space available in addition to 40,000 sqft of retail and restaurant accommodation. There has also been a great deal of activity at Alpha Plus Group, the premier private education platform in the UK, with a London focus, which successfully issued a 5.75% 2019 retail bond with aggregate nominal amount of £48.5m. The management believe the fund's pipeline will ultimately benefit from increased financing liquidity as the landscape of debt providers continues to broaden, with the greatest quantity and cheapest financing available for the best quality assets with stable income.

Galliford Try(Mkt Cap £849.0m: 2.6% of NAV: Performance +14.5%) the UK house building (Linden Homes) and construction group (Galliford Try) which set out a strategy in September 2009 to transform and grow its house building business. £125m was raised by way of a rights issue, which Hansa Trust supported, with the ambitious target of doubling the size of the division by the end of the third year while targeting a significant increase in profits and return on capital. The plan was to create a business that could deliver around 3000 units a year with a deliberate focus on the south of England. These objectives have been exceeded, and in addition the Group has maintained a high quality and profitable construction order book. Management have enhanced the quality of earnings and improved cash flow which has enabled the Group to pursue a progressive and sustainable dividend distribution policy. Recent figures showed that Linden Homes was the driver of profits growth, which came from margin expansion, not increased volumes. Strategic land development activities are being accelerated, in conjunction with the purchase of more ready-to-build inventory, as land banks can currently be re-stocked on good potential margins, all of which could see volumes rising from 3000 units to 4000 units per annum, while simultaneously delivering a house building operating margin of 17-18% by 2018. Meanwhile bank lending constraints are making it harder for smaller builders to climb back in to the sector, limiting competition. The construction division has continued to perform well in a difficult and highly competitive market which is now showing signs of improvement.

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LARGE CAP (6.0% of NAV: +8.6% PERFORMANCE)

GlaxoSmithKline(Mkt Cap £76.1bn: 2.4% of NAV : Performance +3.7%) wants to focus on medicines with growth potential through the delivery of its late-stage pipeline of new drugs, and has been disposing of non-core businesses like Lucozade and Ribena as well as mature businesses like the sale of two thrombosis brands to South Africa's Aspen Group. GSK talks about its "unprecedented late-stage pipeline", where the general outlook is positive. Of the six products that have been put before regulators in America this year, four have been approved and there will be a decision on the fifth before the end of the year. The FDA gave a reasonably positive analysis of GSK's new Anoro repiratory drug, with analysts predicting that with full approval the drug could generate as much as US2bn in annual revenues. Japanese authorities have just approved Relvar Ellipta for the treatment of bronchial asthma. However there was disappointment when phase-111 trials of its MAGE-A3 cancer vaccine performed little better than a placebo, and following the investigation on selling practices in China (3.6% of 2012 revenues), which has seen the share price pull back by 15%. In September the FDA published draft guidance for the development of substitutable generic copies of combination inhaled drugs, which could result in increased competition to GSK's biggest selling drug Advair, which represents some 18% of group revenues and 25% of profits. GSK itself participated in this process and clearly feels there still remains a significant barrier to entry, "we believe the manufacture of combination respiratory medicines such as Advair presents significant hurdles and remains extremely challenging", while "patents relating to the Advair device run until mid-2016". The share buy-back programme continues with share repurchases of £1-2bn planned for the year, of which £1.3bn has been purchased in the year to date.

HSBC Holdings(Mkt Cap £124.8bn: 2.3% of NAV: Performance -2.3%). Many emerging markets' economies growth rates are coming off cyclical peaks, while advanced economies are strengthening, taking the shine off HSBC's share price performance. HSBC benefits from a high level of geographic diversity, and revised GDP growth forecasts lead to a weighted GDP growth forecast of 2.5% for HSBC based on its geographic exposure. The economic background continues to improve for US banking, as rising house prices are beneficial for loan loss write-backs as well as amplifying broader housing market-related economic confidence. The prospect of QE tapering is steepening the yield curve which is potentially beneficial for net interest margins. HSBC is well into its three year restructuring plan to simplify the business, re-directing the emphasis of its business towards higher growth regions. Strong internal capital generation will support both risk weighted assets growth and an enhanced dividend pay-out.

Lloyds Banking Group (Mkt Cap £52.5bn: 1.3% of NAV: Performance 51.1%) has now disposed of more than £200bn of non-core assets, leaving less than £100bn left before its plan to re-focus the bank on UK retail and commercial banking is complete. The bank has exited 18 countries so far following the sale of its Australian Operations in October for £0.9bn payable in cash, further evidence of non-core deleveraging. Lloyds has made a decent start to 2013 and has the wind in its sails, benefiting from falling loan loss charges, a pick-up in the outlook for revenue growth based on a stronger UK economy, with rising mortgage approvals and continued good cost control. Continued improvements in core profitability, further non-core deleveraging and significant capital releases should support an early resumption of dividend payments, with Antonio Horta-Osorio hinting that dividend pay outs could equate to 70% of earnings. He has publicly said the bank's domestic focus, retail and commercial specialisation, cost-cutting, low financial leverage and non-core sales should give the bank a "unique competitive advantage" and the lowest cost of equity in the sector. The wheels are firmly in motion for the sale of the government's 39% stake.

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THE 35.0% DOUBLE DISCOUNT PROPOSITION as at 30 September 2013

The market value of Hansa Trust's Ord + A Shares = £187.9m Ocean Wilsons Holdings sells at a 25.6% discount to the market value of its two parts totalling £454.9m. Hansa Trust's 26.45% holding in the above is valued at £120.3m. Adding £120.3m to the market value of the rest of the portfolio gives a "look through NAV" total of£289.9m for Hansa Trust.

The market value of the two classes of shares of £187.9m stands at a 35.2% discount to the "look through NAV" of £289.9m.

OUTLOOK

The emerging market turmoil has encouraged a shift in investor sentiment back towards developed economies where business surveys are pointing to the fact that a cyclical economic upswing is underway in the G7, the industrialised nations of the US, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada. Unlike Europe, Japan or the UK, the level of US real GDP surpassed its pre-crisis peak in 2011, and has been stronger and more consistent than elsewhere. While the US Federal Reserve unexpectedly decided to maintain the current pace of monthly asset purchases, the Fed is still expected to become less accommodative before any of the other major central banks, although a reduction in the pace of asset purchases would not amount to a tightening of US monetary policy, so tapering but not tightening looms within the next twelve months. The jump in the US ISM non-manufacturing index in August to a seven-year high suggests that the US economic recovery is gathering a real head of steam, especially when combined with the rise in the ISM manufacturing index which points to an acceleration in annualised GDP growth in the third quarter of about 4%, from the second quarter's 2.5%. The Eurozone has finally emerged from recession after six consecutive quarters of painful economic decline, with business output growing in August at its fastest pace in over two years, with some of the most troubled economies like Italy and Spain moving from contraction to growth. A surge in Germany's industrial production shows that Europe's locomotive is picking up speed. However Mario Draghi has reiterated the ECB's pledge to maintain record low interest rates for an extended period of time, saying "I am very, very cautious

about the recovery. These shoots are still very, very green". Time itself is a great healer and a crisis postponed as the euro crisis has been, can eventually become a crisis resolved, although in this case European banks still need to come clean on their losses and raise more capital, as impaired balance sheets are preventing lenders from extending credit to businesses, thereby choking off growth. Germany and France make up almost half of the Eurozone's output, so the euro bloc remains far from coherent and the on-going crisis of divergence remains, creating serious problems for the one-size-fits-all policies of the Euro-zone. A flagship "solution" to the Eurozone crisis requires a genuine banking union, some sort of fiscal union and finally some euro-wide debt mutualisation. The Bank of Japan has announced that it will continue with its programme of radical monetary easing until its 2% inflation target is met, and is getting closer to escaping from 15 years of persistent deflation, with the expectation that higher prices will prompt the Japanese to spend and invest more. The trick will be simultaneously managing to contain the level of bond yields, given the record levels of public debt. The news from China is more encouraging, with the new leadership committed to the "rebalancing agenda" in terms of restructuring the economy towards a situation where consumption will continue to contribute more to GDP growth than investment/exports, while preserving social stability. In the meantime it appears that advanced economies are expanding fast enough to compensate for any temporary slowdown.

Overall, prospects for the global economy in 2014 are better than at any point since the onset of the great financial crisis, with the caveat that central bankers need to tread a careful line between the threat of deflation if stimulus is withdrawn too early, and a spike in inflation and rising interest rates if the tap is left running for too long. The rhetoric of central banks can have an impact on valuations and equity multiples in the near term, but investors need to see equity market performance driven more by improving corporate fundamentals, rather than continuing to be addicted to the heady cocktail of monetary policy support. It is growth that is the ultimate arbiter of share prices over longer time horizons, and while higher interest rates and bond yields are a good thing as they reflect the normalising of markets, with risk and the cost of money being priced more correctly, volatility is inevitable when a policy change is in the offing. Earnings trends will be clearly watched to see if growth manifests itself in top line revenue and bottom line earnings forecasts which can be revised higher. It is notable that there are currently more earnings per share beats than revenue beats, as companies are finding it harder to grow the top line. Corporate profit margins are currently elevated and there has been a resurgent IPO Market. The verdict is out, and we are mindful that the current level of valuations does not leave much room for disappointment.

Hansa Capital Partners LLP

Investment Manager

21 November 2013

Portfolio Information

at 30 September 2013

Investments	Fair Value £000	Percentage of Net Assets
Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd	88,851,315	34.4
NCC Group PLC	11,118,750	4.3
Experian PLC	10,593,000	4.1
The Weir Group PLC	10,238,800	4.0
Herald Investment Trust PLC	8,875,395	3.4
Andor Technology Ltd	7,096,835	2.7
Kofax PLC	6,570,000	2.5
UBM PLC	6,426,000	2.5
Wolseley PLC	4,402,138	1.7
Cape PLC	4,283,125	1.7
Goals Soccer Centres PLC	3,528,000	1.4
Brooks Macdonald Group PLC	2,594,345	1.0
Total Growth	75,726,388	29.3
BG Group PLC	9,939,810	3.8
Hargreaves Services PLC	8,395,000	3.2
Centrica PLC	6,352,500	2.5
BHP Billiton PLC	6,097,000	2.4
BP PLC	4,330,000	1.7
Eni S.p.A.	4,248,098	1.7
Royal Dutch Shell PLC B shares	3,066,551	1.2
Investments less than 1% of NAV	2,623,903	1.0
Total Energy	45,052,862	17.5
DV4 Ltd#	7,504,934	2.9
Galliford Try PLC	6,603,595	2.6
Great Portland Estates PLC	7,420,363	2.9
Hansteen Holdings PLC	7,521,818	2.9
Investments less than 1% of NAV	11,925	0.0
Total Property	29,062,635	11.3
GlaxoSmithKline PLC	6,230,000	2.4
HSBC Holdings PLC	5,925,204	2.3
Lloyds Banking Group PLC	3,433,556	1.3
Total Other Large Cap	15,588,759	6.0
Other Investments less than 1% of NAV	5,591,197	2.1
Net Current Liabilities	(1,499,306)	(0.6)
	258,373,850	100.0
# Unquoted

Condensed Group Income Statement

for the six months ended 30 September 2013
		(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2013			(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2012			(Audited) Year ended 31 March 2013
	Revenue		Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£000		£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Losses on investments held at fair value	-		(2,460)	(2,460)	-	(27,736)	(27,736)	-	(8,809)	(8,809)
Exchange losses on currency balances	-		(1)	(1)	-	(6)	(6)	-	-	-
Investment income	4,923		-	4,923	4,428	-	4,428	6,193	-	6,193
	4,923		(2,461)	2,462	4,428	(27,742)	(23,314)	6,193	(8,809)	(2,616)
Investment management fees	(824)		-	(824)	(737)	-	(737)	(1,512)	-	(1,512)
Other expenses	(394)		-	(394)	(364)	-	(364)	(753)	-	(753)
	(1,218)		-	(1,218)	(1,101)	-	(1,101)	(2,265)	-	(2,265)
Profit/(loss) before finance costs and taxation	3,705		(2,461)	1,244	3,327	(27,742)	(24,415)	3,928	(8,809)	(4,881)
Finance costs	(19)		-	(19)	(19)	-	(19)	(42)	-	(42)
Profit/(loss) before taxation	3,686		(2,461)	1,225	3,308	(27,742)	(24,434)	3,886	(8,809)	(4,923)
Taxation	(4)		-	(4)	(4)	-	(4)	(16)	-	(16)
Profit/(loss) for the period	3,682		(2,461)	1,221	3,304	(27,742)	(24,438)	3,870	(8,809)	(4,939)
Return per Ordinary and 'A' non-voting Ordinary share	15.3p		(10.2)p	5.1p	13.8p	(115.6)p	(101.8)p	16.1p	(36.7)p	(20.6)p

The Company does not have any income or expense that is not included in the profit for the period. Accordingly the "Profit for the period" is also the "Total comprehensive income for the period", as defined in IAS 1 (revised) and no separate Statement of Comprehensive Income has been presented.

All of the profit and total comprehensive income for the period is attributable to the Company's shareholders.

The total column of the statement is the Income Statement of the Company prepared in accordance with IFRS. The supplementary revenue and capital columns are presented for information purposes as recommended by the Statement of Recommended Practice issued by the Association of Investment Companies.

The Statement above is regarded as being in a condensed form due to the fact that fewer explanatory notes are included than would be the case in the Annual Report.

Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity

for the six months ended 30 September 2013 (Unaudited)
	Share Capital £000	Capital redemption reserve £000	Retained Earnings £000	Total £000
Net assets at 1 April 2013	1,200	300	258,408	259,908
Profit for the period	-	-	1,221	1,221
Dividends	-	-	(2,760)	(2,760)
Net assets at 30 September 2013	1,200	300	256,869	258,369

Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity

for the six months ended 30 September 2012 (Unaudited)
	Share Capital £000	Capital redemption reserve £000	Retained Earnings £000	Total £000
Net assets at 1 April 2012	1,200	300	266,707	268,207
loss for the period	-	-	(24,438)	(24,438)
Dividends	-	-	(2,520)	(2,520)
Net assets at 30 September 2012	1,200	300	239,749	241,249

Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity

for the year ended 31 March 2013 (Audited)
	Share Capital £000	Capital redemption reserve £000	Retained Earnings £000	Total £000
Net assets at 1 April 2012	1,200	300	266,707	268,207
loss for the period	-	-	(4,939)	(4,939)
Dividends	-	-	(3,360)	(3,360)
Net assets at 31 March 2013	1,200	300	258,408	259,908

The Statements above are regarded as being in a condensed form due to the fact that fewer explanatory notes are included than would be the case in the Annual Report.

Condensed Group Balance Sheet

at 30 September 2013
	(Unaudited) 30 September 2013 £000	(Unaudited) 30 September 2012 £000	(Audited) 31 March 2013 £000
Non-current investments
Investments held at fair value through profit and loss	259,873	242,802	262,403
Current Assets
Trade and other receivables	426	719	439
Cash and cash equivalents	1,701	594	126
	2,127	1,313	565
Current Liabilities
Trade and other payables falling due within one year	(3,631)	(2,866)	(3,060)
Net current assets	(1,504)	(1,553)	(2,495)
Net assets	258,369	241,249	259,908
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital	1,200	1,200	1,200
Capital redemption reserve	300	300	300
Retained earnings	256,869	239,749	258,408
Total equity shareholders' funds	258,369	241,249	259,908
Net asset value per Ordinary and 'A' non-voting Ordinary share	1,076.5p	1,005.2p	1,082.9p

The Statement above is regarded as being in a condensed form due to the fact that fewer explanatory notes are included than would be the case in the Annual Report.

Condensed Group Cash Flow Statement

for the six months ended 30 September 2013
	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2013 £000	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2012 £000	(Audited) Year ended 31 March 2013 £000
Cash flows from operating activities
Gain before finance costs and taxation	1,244	(24,415)	(4,881)
Adjustments for:
Realised losses on investments	2,772	2,121	2,121
Unrealised (gains)/losses on investments	(312)	25,615	6,688
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	1	6	-
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables	13	(425)	(145)
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables	(29)	(22)	22
Taxes paid	(4)	(4)	(16)
Purchase of non‑current investments	(1,073)	(469)	(1,319)
Sale of non‑current investments	1,143	875	1,051
Net cash inflow from operating activities	3,755	3,282	3,521
Cash flows from financing activities
Interest paid on bank loans	(19)	(19)	(42)
Dividends paid	(2,760)	(2,520)	(3,360)
Repayment of loans	600	(280)	(130)
Net cash outflow from financing activities	(2,179)	(2,819)	(3,532)
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	1,576	463	(11)
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April	126	137	137
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	(1)	(6)	-
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1,701	594	126

The Statement above is regarded as being in a condensed form due to the fact that no explanatory notes are included as would be the case in the Annual Report.

Notes to the Condensed Financial Statements

1.  ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Financial Statements of the Group have been prepared under the historical cost convention, except  for the measurement at fair value of investment, and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRS') as adopted by the European Union.

The Half-Year Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 "Interim Financial Reporting" and is consistent with the basis of the accounting policies set out in the Group and Company's Annual Report and Accounts at 31 March 2013.

These Financial Statements are presented in Sterling which is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the Group operates.

2.  INCOME

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2013 £000		(Unaudited) Six months ended 30 September 2012 £000		(Audited) Year ended 31 March 2013 £000
Income from quoted investments
UK dividends	1,920	2,082		3,436
Overseas dividends	2,913	2,323		2,686
Property income distributions	90	23		71
Total Income	4,923	4,428		6,193

3.  RETURNS PER SHARE

The returns stated below are based on 24,000,000 shares, being the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period.

	Revenue		Capital		Total
Period	£000	Pence per share	£000	Pence per share	£000	Pence per share
Six months ended 30 September 2013 (Unaudited)	3,682	15.3	(2,461)	(10.2)	1,221	5.1
Six months ended 30 September 2012 (Unaudited)	3,304	13.8	(27,742)	(115.6)	(24,438)	(101.8)
Year ended 31 March 2013 (Audited)	3,870	16.1	(8,809)	(36.7)	(4,939)	(20.6)

Notes to the Condensed Financial Statements (continued)

4.  FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The financial information contained in this Half-Yearly report is not the Company's statutory accounts as defined in section 434-436 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial information for the six months ended 30 September 2013 and 30 September 2012 is not for a financial year, has not been audited or reviewed by the Auditors and has been prepared in accordance with accounting policies consistent with those set out in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013.

The statutory accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2013 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and received an audit report which was unqualified, did not include a reference to any matters to which the Auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying the report, and did not contain statements under section 498 (2), (3) and (4) of the Companies Act 2006.

The Half-Yearly financial information was approved by the Board of Directors on 20 November 2013.

5.  NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE

The Net Asset Value per share is based on the net assets attributable to equity shareholders of £258,369,000 (six months ended 30 September 2012: £241,249,000; year ended 31 March 2013: £259,908,000) and on 24,000,000 shares, being the number of shares in issue at the period ends.

6.  COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Company has entered into a commitment agreement with DV3 Limited, an unquoted property investment company. DV3 Ltd is in solvent liquidation and whilst it is not expected that the liquidator will call upon the outstanding commitment of £327,438 it is expected to remain in place until the completion of the orderly winding up of the company. The amount outstanding at 30 September 2013 was £339,753 (six months ended 30 September 2012: £807,438; year ended 31 March 2013: £327,438).

The Company entered into a further commitment agreement with DV4 Limited, also an unquoted property investment company. The commitment was for £10m for a period of five years from 7 March 2008 and the amount outstanding at 30 September 2013 was £3,161,880 (six months ended 30 September 2012: £3,852,480; year ended 31 March 2013: £3,474,000) On 6 March 2013, DV4 agreed with investors to extend the investment period of their fund by a further two years. In order to ensure that there were no issues with this amendment, DV4 agreed with the Company, and other investors, to draw down an element of the outstanding committed capital at that time but then to immediately return these monies to investors by way of an interest free loan. In this way, DV4 felt that it had secured future use of these funds, whilst not holding the cash in its account tying up investors cash and impacting the overall investment performance of DV4. As a result, as at 30 September 2013, £1,999,000 of committed capital remains undrawn (31 March 2013, £1,999,000) with the remaining £1,162,880 (31 March 2013, £1,475,000) being noted as called capital but loaned back to Hansa Trust. The Company has disclosed this transaction in its Financial Statements as the net investment in DV4 at 30 September 2013 (current valuation £7,165,000; 31 March 2013, £6,432,000) reflecting the substance of the investment.

Notes to the Condensed Financial Statements (continued)

7. PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

 A review of the half year, including reference to the risks and uncertainties that existed during the period, and the outlook for the Company can be found in the Chairman's Statement and in the Investment Manager's Review. The principal risks faced by the Company fall into the following broad categories: market price risk; interest rate risk; portfolio performance; operational and regulatory risk; credit risk; liquidity risk; investment management key person risk; availability of bank finance. Information on each of these areas is given in the Business Review and Note 21 to the Financial Statements within the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013.

In the view of the Board these principal risks and uncertainties are applicable to the remaining six months of the financial year as they were to the six months under review.

Hansa Trust PLC is a London quoted investment trust company, which invests in a portfolio of special situations.

The Company currently manages its affairs, so as to be a qualifying investment trust for ISA purposes for both the Ordinary and 'A' non voting Ordinary shares.  It is the present intention that the Company will conduct its affairs so as to continue to qualify for ISA products.

In addition, the Company currently conducts its affairs so that the shares issued by Hansa Trust PLC can be recommended by Independent Financial Advisers to ordinary retail investors, in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA's) rules in relation to non-mainstream investment products, and intends to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The shares are excluded from the FCA's restrictions which apply to non-mainstream investment products, because they are shares in an investment trust.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

The Company has 8,000,000 Ordinary shares of 5p each and 16,000,000 'A' non-voting Ordinary shares of 5p each in issue. The Ordinary shareholders are entitled to one vote per Ordinary share held. The 'A' non-voting Ordinary shares do not entitle the holders to vote or receive notice of meetings, but in all other respects they have the same rights as the Company's Ordinary shares.

Investor Information

Hansa Trust PLC is a London quoted investment trust company, which invests in a portfolio of special situations.

The Company currently manages its affairs, so as to be a qualifying investment trust for ISA purposes for both the Ordinary and 'A' non voting Ordinary shares.  It is the present intention that the Company will conduct its affairs so as to continue to qualify for ISA products.

In addition, the Company currently conducts its affairs so that the shares issued by Hansa Trust PLC can be recommended by Independent Financial Advisers to ordinary retail investors, in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA's) rules in relation to non-mainstream investment products, and intends to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The shares are excluded from the FCA's restrictions which apply to non-mainstream investment products, because they are shares in an investment trust.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

The Company has 8,000,000 Ordinary shares of 5p each and 16,000,000 'A' non-voting Ordinary shares of 5p each in issue. The Ordinary shareholders are entitled to one vote per Ordinary share held. The 'A' non-voting Ordinary shares do not entitle the holders to vote or receive notice of meetings, but in all other respects they have the same rights as the Company's Ordinary shares.

Investor Information

CONTACT DETAILS

Please contact the Investment Manager, as below, if you have any queries concerning the Company's investments or performance.

Hansa Capital Partners LLP
50 Curzon Street
London W1J 7UW
Telephone: [phone]
www.hansagrp.com

Please contact the Registrars, as below, if you have a query about a certificated holding in the Company's shares.

Capita Registrars
The Registry
34 Beckenham Road
Beckenham
Kent
BR3 4TU
Tel: [phone]
(Calls cost 10p per minute plus network charges)
Email: [e-mail]
www.capitaregistrars.com

WEB SITE ADDRESS AND CONTENTS

The Company's website, www.hansatrust.com contains information on the Company and includes the following:

Monthly Fact Sheets

Interim Management Statements

Annual and Half‑Yearly Reports

Stock Exchange Announcements

Details of the Board and Investment Manager

Share Price Data

SHARE PRICE LISTINGS

The price of your shares can be found in the Financial Times under the heading Investment Companies.

In addition, share price information can be found under the following:

ISIN No                                        Code

Ordinary Shares                            GB0007879728

'A' non‑voting Ordinary shares      GB0007879835

Sedol No

Ordinary Shares                            0787972

'A' non‑voting Ordinary shares      0787983

Reuters

Ordinary shares                             HAN.L

'A' non‑voting Ordinary shares      HANA.L

Bloomberg

Ordinary shares                             HAN LN

'A' non‑voting Ordinary shares      HANA LN

SEAQ

Ordinary shares                             HAN

'A' non‑voting Ordinary shares      HANA

USEFUL INTERNET ADDRESSES

The Association of

Investment Companies                  www.theaic.co.uk

London Stock
Exchange                 www.londonstockexchange.com

Edison              www.edisoninvestmentresearch.com

Morningstar                          www.morningstar.co.uk

TrustNet                                      www.trustnet.com

Interactive                                          www.iii.co.uk

FINANCIAL CALENDAR

Company year end                                   31 March

Preliminary full year results announced             June

Annual Report sent to shareholders                   July

Annual General Meeting held                         August

Final Dividend payment                               August

Announcement of half‑yearly results  21 November

Half‑yearly Report sent to shareholders 5 December

Interim Dividend payment                   16 December

Interim Management Statements   January and July

Company Information

Registered in England & Wales number: 126107

Mr Hammond-Chambers (Chairman)

Professor Wood

Mr Davie

Mr Salomon

Lord Oxford

SECRETARY AND REGISTERED OFFICE

Hansa Capital Partners LLP

50 Curzon Street

London W1J 7UW

INVESTMENT MANAGER

Hansa Capital Partners LLP

50 Curzon Street

London W1J 7UW

AUDITORS

Grant Thornton UK LLP

30 Finsbury Square

London EC2P 2YU

SOLICITORS

Eversheds

One Wood Street

London EC2V 7WS

REGISTRAR

Capita Ragistrars

The Registry

34 Beckenham Road

Beckenham

Kent BR3 4TU

CUSTODIAN

BNP Paribas Securities Services

10 Harewood Avenue

London NW1 6AA

STOCKBROKER

Winterflood Investment Trusts

The Atrium Building

Cannon Bridge

25 Dowgate Hill

London EC4R 2GA

ADMINISTRATOR

Phoenix Administration Services Limited

Springfield Lodge

Colchester Road

Chelmsford

Essex CM2 5PW

Hansa Trust PLC

50 Curzon Street, London W1J 7UW

Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Website: www.hansatrust.com

Email: [e-mail]

 

END

 

 

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