Final Results
TriVest VCT PLC
01 December 2005
TRIVEST VCT PLC
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2005
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
I am pleased to present to Shareholders the preliminary results of the Company
for the year ended 30 September 2005.
The performance of the portfolio this year has been excellent. Capital gains
have been realised in the year which has resulted in the Board proposing to pay
to Shareholders an interim capital dividend of 2.5 pence per share in respect of
the year ending 30 September 2006. Provided that the performance of the
portfolio is satisfactory, the Board expects to be able to pay a similar capital
dividend at the beginning of the 2007 calendar year. This interim capital
dividend is in addition to the proposed final dividend for the year ended 30
September 2005 of 0.75 pence per share to be paid from income.
Net Asset Value
At 30 September, 2005, the Company's Net Asset Value (NAV) per share had risen
to 122.98 pence (2004: 80.02 pence), a rise of nearly 54%. The Company,
including the proposed final income dividend of 0.75 pence per share and the
proposed capital dividend of 2.5 pence per share referred to above, will have
distributed dividends of 8.7 pence per share since the Company's launch. This
total return since launch (including these dividends) of 129.18 pence compares
with the initial NAV (after the launch expenses of the issue) of 94.5 pence per
share (excluding tax reliefs available to Shareholders).
Economic Background
The economy has been growing modestly at around 1.5% pa over the recent period.
Notwithstanding the impact of oil prices the FTSE 100 has continued to rise,
possibly aided by the low interest rate environment. The AIM index has also
rallied well since its low point in May 2005. Commentators suggest continued
positive growth in the economy, although there are worries in the retailing
sector, to which the Company is not overly exposed.
TriVest's Portfolio
At present, Foresight Venture Partners Limited (Foresight) manage some 54% of
the portfolio with Matrix Private Equity Partners (MPEP) managing 39% and Nova
Capital Management Limited (Nova) the balance. By market sector, the portfolio
is dominated by investments in technology companies at 59%, with manufacturing
companies at 11%, construction and building materials at 9% and the balance in a
variety of other sectors. When the portfolio is considered by stage of
development, the portfolio is more evenly spread with over 44% invested in MBO /
MBI situations, 43% in AIM quoted stocks, 11% in development capital companies
and 2% in early stage investments.
The last six and twelve months have seen active periods in the Foresight
portfolio. In June and September 2005 further investments of £62,496 and
£159,624 were made into Aigis Engineering Solutions Limited. In September 2005
this company changed its name to Aigis Blast Protection Limited. In May and
August 2005 additional investments of £28,181 and £100,000 were made into
Camwood Limited and Aquasium Technology Limited respectively. A further
investment of £62,000 was made as a loan to DCG Datapoint Group Limited in
September 2005. Disappointingly, Broadreach Group did not prove a successful
investment for the Manager. TriVest's investment in Broadreach Train Services
Limited was disposed of for £16,050 in September and Broadreach Networks Limited
was sold shortly after the year-end. In January 2005 a further investment of
£459,375 was made into Oxonica Limited as part of a rights issue. In May 2005
the company made a pre-float capital re-organisation which was followed in July
this year by the conversion by shareholders of the loan stocks into equity. On
20 July 2005, Oxonica was floated on the AIM market. The company is currently
standing at a substantial premium to both our cost and float prices. Blue Curve
Limited was sold to Mondas plc during November 2005.
Within the MPEP portfolio Holloway White Allom ('HWA') continues to trade
strongly. In April 2005, TriVest made a partial divestment of 16,472 ordinary
shares of HWA at a price of £63.15 per share which realised proceeds of £1.16m
and profit of £1.13m. In June 2005 TriVest also realised its Cumulative
Convertible Redeemable Participating Preference Shares in HWA for £250,000
crystallising a capital profit of £212,000. In May 2005, a further investment of
£436,047 was made into the Hunter Rubber Company. In August 2005, a new
investment of £150,000 was made into the ordinary shares of Sectorguard plc, a
security company providing manned guarding, mobile patrols and alarm response
services. In September 2005, this was followed by a new investment of £721,280
into Ministry of Cake Limited (previously Maynard Scott Limited), a manufacturer
and seller of frozen desserts to the foodservice industry. In October 2005,
after the year end, a new investment of £1,000,000 was made into the Youngman
Group Limited a manufacturer and supplier of aluminium access towers and
ladders.
Within the Nova portfolio, TriVest's interest in Watkins Books was disposed of
in August 2005 for £17,299. An additional investment of £87,170 was made in
September 2005 into Biomer Technology.
Revenue Account
The return on ordinary activities after taxation has fallen by £88,464.
Principally, this is because underlying total income has fallen by £67,231. This
decline is due to the redemption/disposal of several loan stocks and a
preference share investment that generated higher loan interest and dividends in
the previous year. Such income fell by £178,233. Against this, the proceeds
arising from these transactions generated higher levels of income from the lower
yielding OEIC money-market funds, which earned £424,720 this year, compared to
£313,817 last year, a rise of £110,903.
Fund management fees charged to the revenue account increased this year by
£41,546 as the increase in underlying portfolio values during the year started
to feed through to higher fees. Overhead costs have remained broadly constant.
Dividends
The Company's revenue return per Ordinary Share was 0.80 pence per share (2004:
0.99 pence per share). As noted above, your Board will be recommending a final
dividend of 0.75 pence per Ordinary Share in respect of the year under review at
the Annual General Meeting to be held on 31 January 2006. The Board also
proposes to pay an interim capital dividend of 2.5 pence per Ordinary Share in
respect of the year ending 30 September 2006. The dividends will be paid on 14
February 2006 to shareholders on the Register on 13 January 2006.
Dividend Investment Scheme
We are also proposing to offer to Shareholders the opportunity to re-invest all
or part of their dividends into new Ordinary Shares of the Company at the latest
published NAV per share at the time of issue. Members of the Board have
indicated that they will be mandating their holding to the Dividend Investment
Scheme for the purposes of the dividends referred to above. Full details of the
Dividend Investment Scheme are included with this Report, together with an
election form. The form should be returned to Capita Registrars at the address
given on the form to arrive by 31 January 2006 to ensure that, subject to
Shareholder approval at the AGM, you qualify to participate in the Dividend
Investment Scheme for the dividends referred to above.
Valuation Policy
All quoted stocks have been valued at their mid-market prices. It is worth
commenting that the Fund does hold a number of relatively early stage AIM listed
stocks. AIM stocks can experience considerable volatility. Additionally,
limited marketability can mean that the price at which a sizeable block of
shares could be traded, if at all, may vary significantly from the market price
used. Next year, in compliance with IFRS, the Company will apply bid prices to
its quoted investments. If applied to this year's valuations, this would have
reduced valuations by £472,000, or 3% of the quoted portfolio, and a reduction
in the net asset value of 1.12 pence per share.
Share buy-backs
During the year ended 30 September 2005, the Company continued to implement its
buy-back policy and, accordingly, bought back 1,122,264 Ordinary Shares
(representing 2.8%) of the shares in issue at the period end) at a total cost of
£869,045 (net of expenses). These shares were subsequently cancelled by the
Company.
Summary Financial Statement
You will have received an earlier letter from me proposing to distribute a
Summary of the Annual Report to Shareholders rather than the full version
(unless you opted to receive the latter). In recent years the Company's Annual
Report and Accounts have become longer and more complex, principally due to the
requirements of new statutory, corporate governance and other reporting
regulations. As a result, we have decided to follow the example of a number of
other companies and produce a Summary Financial Statement for the year to 30
September 2005 and subsequent financial years. We hope that this will be more
informative for many of our Shareholders and that running costs will be reduced.
TriVest Website
The Company is about to finalise its own website and the full Annual Report and
Accounts will be available once published at www.trivestvct.co.uk.
Investor Allstars 2005 Awards
At the recent Investor Allstars 2005 Awards ceremony, Matrix Private Equity
Partners won the award for the Venture Capital Trust Manager of the Year based
in part upon its TriVest performance numbers. Foresight Venture Partners,
another of our Managers, was also a finalist in this category. Jamie Richards, a
manager with Foresight Venture Partners, won the award for Young Personality of
the Year.
This has been a busy and a positive year for the Board with a number of
initiatives having been undertaken, which are highlighted above. The Board is
pleased with the growth the portfolio has made and we look forward to continuing
this progress over the coming months. I would like to take this opportunity to
thank Shareholders for their continued support.
Colin Hook
Chairman
30 November 2005
STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN
(incorporating the Revenue Account of the Company)
for the year ended 30 September 2005
Year ended 30 September 2005 Year ended 30 September 2004
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
Unrealised gains on
investments - 16,602,058 16,602,058 - 2,774,109 2,774,109
Realised gains on
investments - 1,080,192 1,080,192 - 666,281 666,281
Income 1,163,788 - 1,163,788 1,163,180 - 1,163,180
Investment management fees (193,717) (581,150) (774,867) (152,171) (456,512) (608,683)
Other expenses (537,493) - (537,493) (441,468) - (441,468)
Return on ordinary
activities before taxation 432,578 17,101,100 17,533,678 569,541 2,983,878 3,553,419
Tax on ordinary activities (106,870) 106,047 (823) (155,369) 131,914 (23,455)
Return on ordinary
activities after taxation 325,708 17,207,147 17,532,855 414,172 3,115,792 3,529,964
Dividend (299,376) - (299,376) (515,996) - (515,996)
Transfer to/(from) reserves 26,332 17,207,147 17,233,479 (101,824) 3,115,792 3,013,968
Return per Ordinary Share -
basic and diluted 0.80p 42.19p 42.99p 0.99p 7.48p 8.47p
The revenue column is the profit and loss account of the Company.
All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing
operations.
No operations were acquired or discontinued in the period.
BALANCE SHEET
as at 30 September 2005
as at 30 September 2005 as at 30 September 2004
£ £
Fixed assets
Investments 39,223,922 20,746,041
Current assets
Debtors and prepayments 1,386,381 424,795
Current investments 6,345,873 7,926,941
Cash at bank 2,926,233 4,633,219
10,658,487 12,984,955
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Corporation tax - 24,456
Other creditors 335,798 546,681
Accruals 159,721 128,131
(495,519) (699,268)
Net current assets 10,162,968 12,285,687
Net assets 49,386,890 33,031,728
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 401,574 412,797
Capital redemption reserve 16,441 5,218
Special reserve 32,229,429 38,777,875
Capital reserve - realised 3,410,293 (3,215,081)
Capital reserve - unrealised 13,099,065 (3,152,837)
Revenue reserve 230,088 203,756
49,386,890 33,031,728
Net asset value per Ordinary Share - basic and diluted 122.98p 80.02p
CASH FLOW STATEMENT
for the year ended 30 September 2005
Year ended Year ended
30 September 2005 30 September 2004
Operating activities £ £
Investment income received 1,105,903 1,028,129
Investment management fees paid (774,866) (601,168)
Other cash payments (426,129) (415,146)
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating activities (95,092) 11,815
Taxation
UK Corporation tax paid (25,279) (96,917)
Investing activities
Acquisition of investments (3,660,979) (4,589,395)
Disposal of investments 2,885,804 3,151,097
(775,175) (1,438,298)
Equity Dividends
Payment of equity dividends (514,191) (521,837)
Cash outflow before financing and liquid resource management (1,409,737) (2,045,237)
Management of liquid resources
Decrease/(increase) in monies held pending investment 581,068 (1,176,232)
Financing
Purchase of own shares (878,317) (281,976)
(878,317) (281,976)
Decrease in cash for the year (1,706,986) (3,503,445)
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO SUMMARY
as at 30 September 2005
Cost at Valuation at Valuation at % of
portfolio
30-Sep-05 30-Sep-04 30-Sep-05 by value
Foresight Venture Partners
Oxonica plc 2,136,763 1,677,389 8,984,935 22.91%
Specialist in the design, manipulation and engineering of
properties of materials at the nano-scale
Sarantel Group plc 1,611,752 2,156,625 3,820,125 9.74%
Developer and manufacturer of antennae for mobile phones
and other wireless devices
Aquasium Technology Limited 700,000 600,000 2,067,997 5.27%
Business engaged in the design, manufacturing and marketing
of bespoke electron beam welding and vacuum furnace
equipment
SmartFOCUS Group plc 700,000 893,333 1,920,454 4.90%
Provider of analytic software to support targeting and
execution of marketing campaigns
Camwood Limited 1 1,028,181 1,000,000 1,780,937 4.54%
Provider of software repackaging services
Alaric Systems Limited 1 595,802 588,059 595,762 1.52%
Software developer and provider of support services in the
credit/debit card authorisation and payments market
ANT plc 462,816 1,323,106 489,164 1.25%
Provider of embedded browser/email software for consumer
electronics and Internet appliances
Blue Curve Limited 567,000 396,666 450,183 1.15%
Provider of software for automating the production and
distribution of research information by banks and fund
managers
Aigis Blast Protection Limited 1 272,120 50,000 333,320 0.85%
(formerly Aigis Engineering Solutions Limited)
Specialist blast containment materials company
DCG Datapoint Group Limited 312,074 250,000 312,074 0.80%
Design, supply and integration of data storage solutions
Wire-e Limited 500,000 250,000 250,000 0.64%
Provider of mobile data communication services
Monactive Limited 339,285 218,749 160,667 0.41%
Provider of software management tools that monitor usage of
software versus licences held
Broadreach Networks Limited 1,143,000 1,143,000 15,000 0.03%
Public access WLAN and fixed line Internet Service Provider
- Broadreach Train Services Limited n/a 107,000 n/a 0.00%
Other investments in the portfolio 2 250,000 Nil Nil 0.00%
10,618,793 10,653,927 21,180,618 54.01%
Matrix Private Equity Partners Limited
HWA Limited (trading as Holloway 69,105 2,198,247 3,219,023 8.20%
White Allom Limited) 1
Refurbishment, restoration and construction of notable
public buildings and top-end residential dwellings in and
around London
Image Source Group Limited 1 1,000,000 1,041,902 2,618,253 6.68%
Royalty free picture library
Special Mail Services Limited 1,230,256 651,786 2,590,494 6.60%
Specialist, secure credit card delivery business
Original Additions (Beauty Products) Limited 1 1,000,000 1,000,000 2,301,687 5.87%
Manufacturer and distributor of beauty products
Brookerpaks Limited 500,000 1,140,503 1,033,058 2.63%
Importer and distributor of garlic and vacuum-packed
vegetables to supermarkets and the wholesale trade
BBI Holdings plc 369,890 393,500 755,520 1.93%
Manufacturer of gold conjugate for the medical diagnostics
industry
Ministry of Cake Limited (fomerly Maynard Scotts Limited) 721,280 n/a 721,280 1.84%
Manufacturer of desserts and cakes for the food service
industry
Tottel Publishing Limited 514,800 n/a 514,800 1.31%
Publisher of specialist legal and taxation titles
Letraset Limited 1,000,000 967,367 487,737 1.24%
Manufacturer and worldwide distributor of graphic art
products
FH Ingredients Limited 403,303 n/a 403,303 1.03%
Processor of frozen herbs for the food manufacturing
industry
Inca Interiors Limited 350,000 100,000 300,562 0.77%
Design, supply and installation of quality kitchens to house
developers
SectorGuard plc 1 150,000 n/a 150,000 0.38%
Provider of manned guarding, mobile patrols and alarm
response services
B G Consulting Group Limited 1,000,000 125,000 125,000 0.32%
Technical training business
Stortext-FM Limited 3 380,435 n/a Nil 0.00%
Integrated outsourced document storage business
The Hunter Rubber Company Limited 936,047 500,000 Nil 0.00%
Manufacturer of Wellington boots, safety footwear and diving
suits
9,625,116 8,118,305 15,220,717 38.80%
Tikit Group plc 517,624 623,912 904,347 2.30%
Provider of consultancy, services and software solutions for
law firms
Biomer Technology Limited 137,170 50,000 753,837 1.92%
Developer of biomaterials for medical devices
I-DOX plc 737,625 764,000 751,903 1.92%
Provider of document storage systems
NexxtDrive Limited (Formerly DriveTec (UK) Limited) 1 500,000 408,570 412,500 1.05%
Developer of transmissions technologies for applications in
the automotive, construction and industrial sectors
Stortext-FM Limited 3 n/a 14,827 Nil 0.00%
Integrated outsourced document storage business
Watkins Books Limited n/a 112,500 Nil 0.00%
Supplier of books in alternative sciences, health,
philosophy and related sectors
Other investments in the portfolio 2 3,988,529 Nil Nil 0.00%
5,880,948 1,973,809 2,822,587 7.19%
Total 26,124,857 20,746,041 39,223,922 100.00%
1 The percentages of equity held for these companies may be subject to further
dilution of an additional 1% or more if, for example, management of the investee
company exercises share options.
2 'Other investments in the portfolio' comprises those investments that have
been valued at nil and from which the Directors only expect to receive small
recoveries. This comprises iDesk plc in the Foresight portfolio and LeSac
Limited, The Good Book Guide Limited, Trident Publishing Limited and Zynergy
Group Limited in the Nova portfolio.
3 During the year, Stortext Group Limited merged with a similar company F-M
Image Management Limited to form a new company Stortext-FM Limited. The new
company is managed as part of the MPEP portfolio.
Notes
1. In accordance with the policy statement published under '
Management and Administration' in the Company's Prospectus dated 13 October
2000, the Directors have charged 75% of the investment management expenses
to capital reserve.
2. The basic revenue return per Ordinary Share is based on the net
revenue from ordinary activities after taxation of £325,708 (2004: £414,172)
and on 40,786,094 (2004: 41,647,506) Ordinary Shares, being the weighted
average number of Ordinary Shares in issue during the year.
3. The basic capital return per Ordinary Share is based on net
realised capital return of £17,207,147 (2004: £3,115,792) and on 40,786,094
(2004: 41,647,506) Ordinary Shares, being the weighted average number of
Ordinary Shares in issue during the year.
4. The financial information set out in these statements does not
constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the year ended 30 September
2005 but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts will be
delivered to the Registrar of Companies after the Annual General Meeting.
5. The Company revoked its investment company status on 30 November
2005 which means that it is now able to make capital distributions from
realised profits when previously it could only pay dividends from income.
6. The Company proposes to pay a final dividend of 0.75 pence
(2004: 1.25 pence) per share. The Board also intends to pay an interim
capital dividend of 2.5 pence per Ordinary Share in respect of the year
ending 30 September 2006. The dividends will be paid on 14 February 2006
to shareholders on the Register on 13 January 2006.
7. The Annual General Meeting will be held at 11.00 am on 31
January 2006 at One Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 4UH.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange