Final Results

RNS Number : 8197F

Personal Assets Trust PLC

20 June 2012

 

To:                   RNS

From:              Personal Assets Trust plc

Date:               20 June 2012

Results for the year ended 30 April 2012

The Directors of Personal Assets Trust ("PAT") are pleased to announce the Group's results for the year ended 30 April 2012.

The key points are as follows:

·      PAT is run expressly for private investors. Its investment policy is to protect and increase (in that order) the value of shareholders' funds per share over the long term and to earn as high a total return as is compatible with a risk equivalent to that of the FTSE All-Share Index.

·      Over the year to 30 April 2012 PAT's net asset value per share ("NAV") rose by 6.6%.  This compares to a fall of 5.4% in the Company's comparator, the FTSE All-Share Index.  PAT's share price rose by £22.70 during the year and at 30 April 2012 was £340.70.  An analysis of performance is provided in the Chairman's Statement and Investment Adviser's Report below.

·     Since PAT became independently managed in 1990 the Board has chosen to measure PAT's performance over rolling three year periods.  Over the three years to 30 April 2012 the net asset value total return per share was 54.2% compared to the FTSE All-Share Index's 52.2%, an outperformance of 1.3%.

·     The Company has experienced a strong demand for its shares.  During the year the Company issued 395,856 Ordinary shares, raising £132.0 million of net new capital.

·      During the year, PAT continued to maintain a high level of effective liquidity. At 30 April 2012, liquidity was 50.0% (includes 12.4% in Gold) compared to 45.4% (included 13.8% in Gold) at 30 April 2011.

·     The Directors intend PAT's annual dividend rate to grow in real terms over the longer term relative to both the Retail Price Index and Consumer Price Index. Four interim dividends have been declared and paid during the year, totalling £5.55 per ordinary share.  Together these represent an increase of 2.8% over the corresponding payments for the previous year, compared to inflation of 3.5% (RPI) and 3.0% (CPI). Over the three years to 30 April 2012 the dividend has grown by 11.0% compared to the RPI's 14.7% and the CPI's 11.7%.

The Chairman, Hamish Buchan, said:

 "Since Personal Assets became a self-managed trust in 1990 the Board's policy has been to measure

performance not over individual years but over rolling three year periods. The three years to 30 April 2012 have been the first during which we have worked with Sebastian Lyon as our Investment Adviser (we appointed Troy in March 2009). I am happy to record that during the period our net asset value (''NAV'') and our share price both rose by 46.2% against the 37.3% rise in our comparator, the FTSE All-Share Index (''FTSE''), an outperformance of 6.5%.

It is important, however, not to place too much emphasis on any one period. While our short term performance may be a relief to some shareholders, to us this is just clocking up the equivalent of a mile in a marathon and should be viewed as such. Furthermore, it is easier to quantify returns earned than risks avoided. Our cautious style of investment, which gives priority to preservation of capital, means that we will always be likely to underperform during short term market surges. It also means, however, that the volatility of our returns is lower. In contrast to the FTSE, which fell by 5.4% over the year to 30 April 2012, our NAV and share price have risen during each of the last three years.

Given that we yield considerably less than the FTSE, it is much harder to stay ahead of it in total return terms. However, we succeeded (albeit narrowly) over the three years to 30 April 2012, returning 54.2% on our NAV and our share price compared to the FTSE's 52.2%. This builds on the long-term record that Sebastian inherited from Ian Rushbrook. Since 30 April 2002, shareholders in Personal Assets have received a price total return of 94.0% compared to the FTSE's 67.5%, equivalent to an outperformance of 1.5% annually over a nail-biting decade of switchback market movements.

In his Investment Adviser's Report, Sebastian describes the difficult investment environment in which

Personal Assets is having to operate as we strive to preserve shareholders' capital. Here I should add a word about revenue. This year we increased our dividend by 2.8% and our long-term record of dividend growth is impressive: 98.2% over the last decade compared to the 38.0% rise in the RPI. In today's zero interest rate world, however, and given our large holdings in gold and inflation-protected bonds, it becomes ever harder to earn income without putting capital preservation at risk.

For the time being, our policy of seeking real dividend growth over the longer term and never cutting the dividend remains unchanged. The Board keeps under constant review the sometimes uneasy balance between capital preservation and seeking income. During the coming months we shall be considering not only the recent change to the law which permits investment trusts to distribute capital profits as dividends (something which on the face of it seems unlikely to appeal to Personal Assets shareholders) but also the various limits and restrictions currently set out in our investment policy, to make sure it is fit for purpose in enabling us to pursue our declared objectives.

An alternative way for shareholders to receive a regular income from a holding in Personal Assets is through our Cash Income Option in our Investment Plan. We have decided to simplify this and also to extend the principle to the Personal Assets Individual Savings Account (''ISA'') as well, so that it will in future be possible for holders to draw a quarterly tax-free sum from their ISA investment pool. Further information will again be found in Quarterly No. 65.

During the year we issued 395,856 new Ordinary shares, raising £132 million of additional capital. On behalf of the Board I welcome warmly those who have become shareholders for the first time and hope that we will have the opportunity to meet many of you either at the Annual General Meeting on 26 July in Edinburgh or at our London Shareholder Meeting on 23 January 2013. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Personal Assets Administration Company (''PATAC''), also made good progress during the year and now provides secretarial and administration services to three other investment trust companies as well as to Personal Assets itself. This enables us to spread the cost of maintaining the high level of personal service upon which Personal Assets prides itself."

The Investment Adviser, Sebastian Lyon, said:

"The secular bear market in UK and US equities is now in its thirteenth year. How much longer must we wait until we can again be fully invested (or even geared!) and reap the double-digit returns we long for? Ask the policy makers! Stocks would be considerably lower were central banks not keeping stock prices artificially high by means of zero interest rates and quantitative easing. Despite these interferences, stock markets have gone sideways during the past year. Savers have not been rewarded for taking risk and hence our cautious strategy has paid off, for now, although we are likely to lag short term rises in the market should further monetary interventions be forthcoming.

Politicians in Europe are confronted with the invidious choice between severe austerity, which is likely to lead to periodic recessions and declining tax revenues, or incautious borrowing in the hope of buying growth. Both approaches will eventually force governments to pay higher rates of interest on debts. The maths do not stack up. No wonder governments are looking to extricate themselves from an intractable problem by leaning on central bankers to pull their inflationary strings. But our greatest concern is that the European challenges that have dogged markets since early 2010 are merely the dress rehearsal for the main event - a US fiscal crisis. While the UK and Europe have at least tried to tame their budget deficits, the United States has pushed ever harder on the fiscal accelerator. Stock markets swooned last August when they got a shock preview of what might happen should the brakes be applied. Following the public disagreement in Washington over increasing the public debt ceiling, the Dow Jones Industrials Index fell 13% in seven trading days.

During the past year, the Swiss National Bank and the European Central Bank have demonstrated the triumph of hope over experience by joining the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve as late entrants in the race to debase their currencies. Gold divides opinion among investors but, for us, the precious metal remains a cornerstone of the portfolio. Bullion protects us from the huge expansion of central bank balance sheets. It is the only currency that politicians and policy makers cannot print.

While markets have been busy going nowhere over the past year, we have been busy doing nothing. From our perspective, little has changed and portfolio turnover of our equities was less than 10%. Stock market valuations are not compelling. Historical earnings may be misleading as they have been flattered by two decades of self-destructive credit growth. Recent history, like past performance, is no guide to the future. Tesco's woes provided further evidence of the challenges facing the UK economy. The company began to suffer from lower consumer demand in 2011. By holding on to the shares for too long we were (unusually for us) guilty of over optimism. Tesco's problems are a microcosm of the new economic reality we face. Consumer and business demand is re-adjusting, which will be a prolonged and painful process. We have subsequently sold our entire holding of Tesco.

We acquired a new holding in Imperial Oil. In an energy sector where integrated oil companies have failed to replace reserves or have bought assets in unpredictable and insalubrious parts of the world, Imperial has the benefit that all of its energy reserves are in Canada, a stable democracy that respects private investment and the rule of law. Its track record of looking after its shareholders is outstanding and it has paid a dividend, uninterrupted, for the past 110 years. Investors undervalue these virtues, especially the lack of geopolitical risk. Kindly making our point for us was Argentina's recent appropriation of oil interests, causing a 20% fall in the share price of the Spanish oil company, Repsol.

Central bankers today would do well to heed the warning from the economist, Ludwig von Mises:

''If the practice persists of covering government deficits with the issue of notes, then the day will come without fail, sooner or later, when the monetary systems of those nations pursuing this course will break down completely. The purchasing power of the monetary unit will break down more and more until, finally it disappears completely.''

Our task of preserving Personal Assets shareholders' wealth is unlikely to get any easier in the near future. Thank you for the faith you have shown in us."

For further information contact:

Robin Angus

Executive Director

Tel:  [phone]

Sebastian Lyon

Investment Adviser

Tel:  [phone]

Steven Davidson

Company Secretary

Tel:  [phone]

The Group's Income Statement, Group and Company Balance Sheets, Group and Company Statements of Changes in Equity and Group and Company Cash Flow Statements follow.

Group Income Statement

	Year ended 30 April 2012
	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Income
Investment income	8,448	-	8,448
Other operating income	247	-	247
	8,695	-	8,695
Gains on investments held at fair value through profit or loss	-	24,980	24,980
Foreign exchange losses	-	(1,543)	(1,543)
Total income	8,695	23,437	32,132
Expenses	(2,129)	(1,762)	(3,891)
Profit before taxation	6,566	21,675	28,241
Taxation	(338)	-	(338)
Profit for the year	6,228	21,675	27,903
Earnings per share	£5.32	£18.51	£23.83
The Group does not have any income or expenses that are not included in the profit for the year other than expenses of £226,000 (2011: £213,000) charged directly to the Share Premium account in respect of the issue of the Company's shares. Accordingly, the "Profit for the Year" is also the "Total Comprehensive Income for the Year", as defined in IAS1 (revised) and no separate Statement of Comprehensive Income has been presented. The "Total" column of this statement represents the Group's Income Statement, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS").  The revenue and capital return columns are supplementary to this and are prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies. All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.
Dividend Information
Dividends per share	£5.55
Dividends paid	£'000
First interim dividend of £1.35 per share	1,363
Second interim dividend of £1.40 per share	1,540
Third interim dividend of £1.40 per share	1,696
Fourth interim dividend of £1.40 per share	1,871
	6,470

Group Income Statement

	Year ended 30 April 2011
	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Income
Investment income	6,744	-	6,744
Other operating income	150	-	150
	6,894	-	6,894
Gains on investments held at fair value through profit or loss	-	18,050	18,050
Losses on derivatives held at fair value through profit or loss	-	(1,673)	(1,673)
Foreign exchange gains	-	9,176	9,176
Total income	6,894	25,553	32,447
Expenses	(1,742)	(1,120)	(2,862)
Profit before taxation	5,152	24,433	29,585
Taxation	(148)	-	(148)
Profit for the year	5,004	24,433	29,437
Earnings per share	£5.68	£27.75	£33.43

Group Balance Sheet

			As at 30 April 2012			As at 30 April 2011
			£'000			£'000
Non-current assets
Investments held at fair value			451,826			291,598
Current assets
Financial assets			4,951			4,151
Other receivables			2,213			3,591
Cash and cash equivalents			5,535			11,399
Total Assets			464,525			310,739
Current liabilities
Other payables			(1,052)			(739)
Total liabilities			(1,052)			(739)
Net assets			463,473			310,000
Capital and reserves
Ordinary share capital			17,258			12,310
Share premium			280,322			153,230
Capital redemption reserve			219			219
Special reserve			22,517			22,517
Other capital reserves			140,132			118,457
Revenue reserve			3,025			3,267
Total equity			463,473			310,000
Net asset value per Ordinary share			£335.69			£314.78

Company Balance Sheet

			As at 30 April 2012			As at 30 April 2011
			£'000			£'000
Non-current assets
Investments held at fair value			451,850			291,618
Current assets
Financial assets			4,951			4,151
Other receivables			2,208			3,653
Cash and cash equivalents			5,496			11,297
Total Assets			464,505			310,719
Current liabilities
Other payables			(1,032)			(719)
Total liabilities			(1,032)			(719)
Net assets			463,473			310,000
Capital and reserves
Ordinary share capital			17,258			12,310
Share premium			280,322			153,230
Capital redemption reserve			219			219
Special reserve			22,517			22,517
Other capital reserves			140,146			118,467
Revenue reserve			3,011			3,257
Total equity			463,473			310,000
Net asset value per Ordinary share			£335.69			£314.78

Group Statement of Changes in Equity

For the year ended 30 April 2012	Share Capital	Share Premium	Capital Redemption Reserve	Special Reserve	Other Capital Reserves	Revenue Reserve	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Balance as at 30 April 2011	12,310	153,230	219	22,517	118,457	3,267	310,000
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	21,675	6,228	27,903
Issue of new ordinary shares	4,948	127,092	-	-	-	-	132,040
Dividends paid	-	-	-	-	-	(6,470)	(6,470)
Balance as at 30 April 2012	17,258	280,322	219	22,517	140,132	3,025	463,473
For the year ended 30 April 2011	Share Capital	Share Premium	Capital Redemption Reserve	Special Reserve	Other Capital Reserves	Revenue Reserve	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Balance as at 30 April 2010	10,191	103,673	219	22,517	94,024	3,161	233,785
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	24,433	5,004	29,437
Issue of new ordinary shares	2,119	49,557	-	-	-	-	51,676
Dividends paid	-	-	-	-	-	(4,898)	(4,898)
Balance as at 30 April 2011	12,310	153,230	219	22,517	118,457	3,267	310,000

Company Statement of Changes in Equity

For the year ended 30 April 2012	Share Capital	Share Premium	Capital Redemption Reserve	Special Reserve	Other Capital Reserves	Revenue Reserve	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Balance as at 30 April 2011	12,310	153,230	219	22,517	118,467	3,257	310,000
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	21,679	6,224	27,903
Issue of new ordinary shares	4,948	127,092	-	-	-	-	132,040
Dividends paid	-	-	-	-	-	(6,470)	(6,470)
Balance as at 30 April 2012	17,258	280,322	219	22,517	140,146	3,011	463,473
For the year ended 30 April 2011	Share Capital	Share Premium	Capital Redemption Reserve	Special Reserve	Other Capital Reserves	Revenue Reserve	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Balance as at 30 April 2010	10,191	103,673	219	22,517	94,029	3,156	233,785
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	24,438	4,999	29,437
Issue of new ordinary shares	2,119	49,557	-	-	-	-	51,676
Dividends paid	-	-	-	-	-	(4,898)	(4,898)
Balance as at 30 April 2011	12,310	153,230	219	22,517	118,467	3,257	310,000

Group Cash Flow Statement

	Year Ended 30 April	Year Ended 30 April
	2012	2011
	£'000	£'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before taxation	28,241	29,585
Gains on investments	(25,557)	(16,993)
Foreign exchange differences at fair value through profit or loss	1,543	(9,176)
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital	4,227	3,416
Decrease in other receivables	(123)	(389)
Increase in other payables	265	90
Net cash from operating activities before taxation	4,369	3,117
Taxation	(369)	(243)
Net cash inflow from operating activities	4,000	2,874
Investing activities
Purchases of investments	(570,669)	(108,498)
Sales of investments	435,998	59,027
Net cash outflow from investing activities	(134,671)	(49,471)
Financing activities
Equity dividends paid	(6,470)	(4,898)
Issue of Ordinary shares	133,798	49,889
Cost of issue of Ordinary shares	(178)	(153)
Net cash inflow from financing activities	127,150	44,838
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(3,521)	(1,759)
Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year	11,399	6,391
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	(2,343)	6,767
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	5,535	11,399

Company Cash Flow Statement

	Year Ended 30 April	Year Ended 30 April
	2012	2011
	£'000	£'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before taxation	28,237	29,580
Gains on investments	(25,557)	(16,998)
Foreign exchange differences at fair value through profit or loss	1,543	(9,176)
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital	4,223	3,406
Decrease in other receivables	(56)	(451)
Increase in other payables	265	70
Net cash from operating activities before taxation	4,432	3,025
Taxation	(369)	(243)
Net cash inflow from operating activities	4,063	2,782
Investing activities
Purchases of investments	(570,669)	(108,498)
Sales of investments	435,998	59,027
Net cash outflow from investing activities	(134,671)	(49,471)
Financing activities
Equity dividends paid	(6,470)	(4,898)
Issue of Ordinary shares	133,798	49,889
Cost of issue of Ordinary shares	(178)	(153)
Net cash inflow from financing activities	127,150	44,838
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(3,458)	(1,851)
Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year	11,297	6,381
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	(2,343)	6,767
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	5,496	11,297

Principal Risks and Risk Management

The Board believes that the principal risks to shareholders, which it seeks to mitigate through continual review of its investments and through shareholder communication, are events or developments which can affect the general level of share prices, including, for instance, inflation or deflation, economic recessions and movements in interest rates.

Other risks faced by the Company include breach of regulatory rules which could lead to suspension of the Company's Stock Exchange listing, financial penalties, or a qualified audit report. Breach of Section 1158 of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010 could lead to the Company being subject to tax on capital gains.

In the mitigation and management of these risks, the Board regularly monitors the investment environment and the management of the Company's investment portfolio, and applies the principles detailed in the guidance provided by the Financial Reporting Council.

Statement of Directors' Responsibilities in Respect of the Annual Financial Report

In accordance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, we confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

·      The financial statements contained within the Annual Report for the year ended 30 April 2012, of which this statement of results is an extract, have been prepared in accordance with applicable International Financial Reporting Standards, on a going concern basis, and give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and return of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole;

·      The Chairman's Statement and Investment Adviser's Report include a fair review of the important events that have occurred during the financial year and their impact on the financial statements;

·      'Principal Risks and Risk Management' includes a description of the Company's principal risks and uncertainties; and

·      The Annual Report includes details of related party transactions, if any, that have taken place during the financial year.

Notes:

1.         The financial statements of the Group, which are the responsibility of, and were approved by, the Board on 20 June 2012, have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). These comprise standards and interpretations approved by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"), together with such interpretations by the International Accounting Standards and Standing Interpretations Committee as have been approved by the IASB and still remain in effect, to the extent that these have been adopted by the European Union.

Where the presentational guidance set out in the Statement of Recommended Practice (the "SORP") for investment trusts issued by the Association of Investment Companies (the "AIC") in January 2010 is consistent with the requirements of IFRS, the Directors have sought to prepare the financial statements on a basis compliant with the recommendation of the SORP.

The consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and the entities controlled by the Company (its subsidiaries) made up to 30 April each year. Control is achieved where the Company has the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an investee entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities. All intra-group transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation.

A number of new standards have been issued but are not effective for this accounting period. These have not been adopted early and the Group does not consider that the future adoption of any new standards, in the form currently available, will have any material impact on the financial statements as presented.

2.         Return per ordinary share is based on a weighted average of 1,171,099 ordinary shares in issue during the year (2011 - 880,589).

3.         Net asset value per ordinary share is based on the 1,380,659 ordinary shares in issue as at 30 April 2012 (2011 - 984,803).

4.         During the year the Directors issued 395,856 shares from its Prospectuses and block listings for net proceeds of £132,040,000.

5.         At 30 April 2012 the sterling value of the US Treasury stocks was protected by a forward currency contract.

6.         Financial Instruments

The Group holds investments in listed companies and fixed interest securities, holds cash balances and has receivables and payables. It may from time to time also invest in FTSE 100 Futures and enter into forward currency contracts. Cash balances are held for future investment and forward currency contracts are used to manage the exchange risk of holding foreign investments.

The fair value of the financial assets and liabilities of the Group at 30 April 2012 is not different from their carrying value in the financial statements.

The Group is exposed to various types of risk that are associated with financial instruments. The most important types are credit risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk, market price risk and foreign currency risk.

The Board reviews and agrees policies for managing its risk exposures. These policies are summarised below and have remained unchanged for the year under review.

Credit Risk

Credit risk is the risk that an issuer or counterparty will be unable or unwilling to meet a commitment that it has entered into with the Group.

The Group's principal financial assets are investments, cash balances and other receivables, which represent the Group's maximum exposure to credit risk in relation to financial assets. The Group did not have any exposure to any financial assets which were passed due or impaired at the year end.

The Group is exposed to potential failure by counterparties to deliver securities for which the Group has paid, or to pay for securities which the Group has delivered. A list of pre-approved counterparties used in such transactions is maintained, and regularly reviewed by the Group, and transactions must be settled on a basis of delivery against payment. Broker counterparties are selected based on a combination of criteria, including credit rating, balance sheet strength and membership of a relevant regulatory body. Risk relating to unsettled transactions is considered to be small because of the short settlement period involved and the credit quality of the brokers used.

All of the assets of the Group, other than cash deposits and receivables, are held by JPMorgan Chase Bank, the Group's custodian. Bankruptcy or insolvency of the custodian might cause the Group's rights with respect to the securities held by the custodian to be delayed or limited. The Board monitors the Group's risk by reviewing the custodian's internal control reports on a regular basis.

The credit risk on liquid funds and derivative financial instruments is limited because the counterparties are banks with high credit ratings, rated A or higher, assigned by international credit rating agencies. Bankruptcy or insolvency of such financial institution might cause the Group's ability to access cash placed on deposit to be delayed or limited. The Group has no concentration of credit risk and exposure is spread over a large number of counterparties.

Market Price Risk

The fair value of equity and other financial securities held in the Company's portfolio fluctuates with changes in market prices. Prices are themselves affected by movements in currencies and interest rates and by other financial issues including the market perception of future risks. The Board sets policies for managing this risk and meets regularly to review full, timely and relevant information on investment performance and financial results. The management of market price risk is part of the fund management process and is fundamental to equity investment. The portfolio is managed with an awareness of the effects of adverse price movements in the UK equity market with an objective of maximising overall returns to shareholders.

The Company continued to use forward currency contracts during the year.

Liquidity Risk

Liquidity risk is the risk that the Group will encounter in realising assets or otherwise raising funds to meet financial commitments. The risk of the Group not having sufficient liquidity at any time is not considered by the Board to be significant, given the liquid nature of the portfolio of investments and the level of cash and cash equivalents ordinarily held. The Board reviews liquidity exposure at each meeting.

All of the Company's financial liabilities at 30 April 2012 had a maturity period of less than three months and were repayable at the date shown on the Balance Sheet.

Interest Rate Risk

Some of the financial instruments held by the Group are interest bearing. As such, the Group is exposed to interest rate risk due to fluctuations in the prevailing market rate.

Floating Rate

When the Group holds cash balances, such balances are held on overnight deposit accounts and call deposit accounts. The benchmark rate which determines the interest payments received on cash balances is the bank base rate, which at 30 April 2012 was 0.50% in the UK (2011: 0.50%).

Foreign Currency Risk

The Company invests in overseas securities.

	2012	2011
Currency exposure at 30 April:	£'000	£'000
Australian Dollars Canadian Dollars Singapore Dollars Swiss Francs US Dollars (1)	5,877 17,090 31,122 17,846 262,642	8,663 - - 14,013 187,232

(1)  At 30 April 2012 the Sterling cost of the US Treasury Inflation Protected Securities ("TIPS") exposure was protected by a forward currency contract. The fair value of £4,951,000 (2011: fair value of £4,151,000) on the US$222,000,000 (2011: US$169,000,000) sold forward against £141,763,000 (2011: £105,535,000) is included in other receivables (2011: other receivables). All foreign exchange contracts in place at 30 April 2012 were due to mature within two months. The exposure to US Dollars also includes Gold Bullion. At 30 April 2012 the net exposure to US Dollars was £125,830,000 (2011: £85,847,000) including Gold Bullion and £68,370,000 (2011: £43,212,000) excluding Gold Bullion.

7.         These are not statutory accounts in terms of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.  Full audited accounts for the year to 30 April 2012 will be sent to shareholders in June 2012 and will be available for inspection at 10 St Colme Street, Edinburgh, the registered office of the Company. The full annual report and accounts will be available on the Company's website www.patplc.co.uk.

8.         The audited accounts for the year ended 30 April 2012 will be lodged with the Registrar of Companies.

 

END

 

 

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