Interim Statement
Matrix e-Ventures Fund VCT PLC
12 January 2001
Interim Statement
for the period ended 31 October 2000
Chairman's Statement
I would like to thank all shareholders for supporting Matrix
e-Ventures Fund VCT plc since its commencement of trading in May 2000.
The public offer opened on 11 May 2000 with an initial closing date of
20 June 2000. By that date, the minimum subscription level had been
achieved but the board of directors took the view that to meet further
demand the offer period should be extended and the offer finally
closed on 22 December 2000. I am delighted to report that the Company
raised £12,389,223, after expenses amounting to 6% of the funds
raised.
In the period from commencement of trading on 10 May 2000 to 31
October 2000 the Company had made four investments totalling
£1,550,000. These investments are in Sit-up.com Limited, Callserve
Communications plc, Clarity Commerce Solutions plc and e-go
systems.com plc. You will have read about these four investments and
two further investments made in November totalling £1,100,000 (e-Gas &
Power plc and i-Desk plc) in my letter to shareholders during
November.
During December 2000 a seventh investment of £750,000 was made in
ImageCom Limited bringing the total of investments to £3,400,000.
In accordance with BVCA guidelines these investments are valued at
cost, except in the case of Clarity Commerce Solutions plc which is
valued at the mid market price on 31 October 2000.
In total, these seven investments represent 27% of net funds raised.
Shareholders will receive two newsletters in addition to the interim
and annual reports providing a regular update of the new investments
which we make.
I am also pleased to report that the fund adviser, Matrix Private
Equity (Managers) Limited, continues to receive a very encouraging
flow of investment opportunities.
My next statement will be in respect of the period from 10 May 2000 to
30 April 2001. By that time I am optimistic that we will have made
further progress in investing the Company's funds.
Michael Cumming
Chairman, 12 January 2001
Fund Manager's Report
The fund has been investing since the middle of 2000 post the change
in market sentiment towards technology stocks. The slower development
and penetration of the internet has been reflected in more
conservative financing structures and lower valuations than at any
stage in the last 18 months. There are still good investment
opportunities available in the unquoted arena and the investment team
has been exceptionally busy evaluating over 400 investment proposals
over the last six months. The vast majority of these have been
submitted from high quality sources including other venture
capitalists, accountants, corporate finance departments and specialist
advisers.
The fund completed four investments up to the end of October, details
of which are as follows:
Sit-up.com Limited Investment of £500,000
The company aims to create a range of programmes for digital TV and
the internet. Their first product is Bid-up.TV, the UK's first
interactive TV-based auction site. This has an experienced and focused
management team. Growth will be driven by the promising future for
home TV shopping with penetration of digital TV set to reach a
forecast of 15% of all households by end of 2000 and 43% by 2004.
Callserve Communications Plc Investment of £300,000
The company is a global provider of telephony over the Internet. This
is a business which gives consumers the opportunity to make worldwide
calls using microphone headsets attached to their PCs for the price of
a local call, thereby undercutting the prices of international
telephone providers. Callserve offers the service through high profile
partners such as NEC/Packard Bell, Lycos, Freeserve and Disney.
Clarity Commerce Solutions plc Investment of £250,000
Clarity provides integrated solutions to the hospitality and leisure
markets, encompassing site-based hardware, extensive back office
software and a multi-functional head office management tool. The
group's products address the pub, restaurant and nightclub markets but
it also supplies hotels and fast food operators. Customers include
Punch, Bass, Harry Ramsdens, Belgo and Whitbread. The company was
listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in July 2000 and the
VCT's investment has risen from 125p per share to 135.5p per share
(09/01/2001).
E-go systems.com plc Investment of £500,000
Provides Unified Messaging services to multinational companies.
Unified messaging allows employees to receive their voice mail, e-
mail, fax, and mobile messages in one place of their choice (e.g.
their mobile) and at the time of their choice. A strong management
team has been assembled from leading US companies such as Lucent and
CISCO and e-go has substantial strategic partners such as Clarent Corp
and Comverse - NASDAQ-listed US corporations.
Since October we have completed three further investments:
e-Gas & Power plc
Investment of £350,000
e-Gas & Power Plc is a major broker of natural gas and electricity in
Europe using a telephone-based trading set-up with deals being
undertaken with clients using data viewed on dedicated screens. The
company is expanding its operations by offering an e-B2B exchange for
gas and electricity, first to UK customers and eventually to other EU
countries. Delivery is via the Internet with data, including
contracts, being communicated by e-mail.
i-Desk plc
Investment of £750,000
i-Desk is a provider of internet e-services to UK Internet Service
Providers and telecom providers and over 2.5 million end-users are
currently supported. The company is operating in the fast growing
technical call centre market and is also in the electronic bill
payment and presentation market.
ImageCom Limited
Investment of £750,000
ImageCom is a specialised video communications company providing the
technology to enable high quality live video images to be transmitted
over telephone networks by compressing and decompressing the images at
either end. The Fund invested alongside Thompson Clive to provide
funds for expansion.
All the unquoted investments are valued at cost in accordance with the
British Venture Capital Association Guidelines. The investment in
Clarity Commerce Solutions is valued at the mid-market price on 31
October 2000.
We believe that we have many more suitable investment opportunities
under consideration and that valuations now prevalent reflect a more
realistic balance of risk and reward than has been the case for many
months. Unquoted venture capital companies typically take 3 years to
mature to a size where sale or flotation is appropriate. The spread of
investments listed above, together with those under consideration,
should provide a well-balanced portfolio of technology companies at
all stages of development.
UNAUDITED STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN
Period from 10 May 2000 to 31 October 2000
Revenue* Capital Total
£ £ £
Unrealised gains and losses
on investments - 3,425 3,425
Income 215,187 - 215,187
Investment management fees (27,692) (83,076) (110,768)
Other expenses (126,184) - (126,184)
Return on ordinary activities
before taxation 61,311 (79,651) (18,340)
Tax on ordinary activities (16,615) 16,615 -
Return attributable to equity
shareholders 44,696 (63,036) (18,340)
Dividends in respect of equity shares - - -
Transfer to reserves 44,696 (63,036) (18,340)
Return per ordinary share:
Basic 0.5p (0.7)p (0.2)p
* The Revenue column of this Statement is the profit and loss account
of the Company.
Notes:
1. There are no comparative figures for the equivalent period in
1999 as the Company was incorporated on 8 March 2000 and commenced
trading on 10 May 2000.
2. All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from
continuing operations.
3. Basic revenue return per Ordinary Share is based on the net
revenue on ordinary activities after taxation. For the period from 30
May 2000 (the date of the first allotment), this return was based on
8,974,377 shares being the weighted average number of Ordinary Shares
in issue during the period.
4. In accordance with the policy statement published under
'Management and Administration' in the Company's prospectus, the
directors have charged 75% of the investment management expenses to
the capital reserve.
5. Funds raised from the share issue as at 31 October 2000 of
£12,571,800, before deduction of expenses of £721,858, are invested in
accordance with the prospectus.
6. The financial information set out in this report has not been
audited and does not comprise full financial statements within the
meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985.
7. Copies of this statement are being sent to all shareholders.
Further copies are available free of charge from the Company's
registered office.
BALANCE SHEET
as at 31 October 2000
£ £ £
Fixed Assets
Equity Investments 1,569,999
Fixed Interest Securities 6,513,000
Monies held pending investments 3,410,994
11,493,993
Current Assets
Debtors and prepayments 340,795
Cash 300,201
640,996
Creditors: amounts falling due
within one year
Corporation tax -
Other creditors 63,504
Accruals 239,883
(303,387)
Net current assets 337,609
Net assets 11,831,602
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 126,042
Share premium account 11,723,900
Capital reserve - realised (66,461)
Capital reserve - unrealised 3,425
Revenue reserves 44,696
11,831,602
Net asset value per share 93.87p