Interim Results

Proven VCT PLC
18 October 2002

ProVen VCT plc



Announcement of Interim Results for the six months ended to 31 August 2002



18 October 2002

Chairman's Statement

This interim report covers the six months ended 31 August 2002.  During this
period, UK equity markets continued to show considerable volatility and the
domestic economy slowed.  Past experience has shown that such a backdrop can be
positive for venture capital investing, as the flow of opportunities increases
and investment prices fall, and your board is encouraged by the progress made by
the investment manager during the period in building the portfolio of qualifying
venture capital investments.  The VCT qualifying investment portfolio at the
period end had a qualifying value equivalent to 54% of total investments,
compared to the target of 70% that is required by the Venture Capital Trust
regulations to be achieved by 28 February 2003.

Investment Portfolio

During the period, the investment manager increased the rate of investment by
the VCT, and added four new investments to its venture capital portfolio.  There
was also significant activity in the existing portfolio, with seven follow-on
investments completed in the period.  Total investment in the six months
amounted to some £4.7 million.   Investment activity has continued since the end
of August, and a further £1.1 million has been invested in two qualifying
holdings.  Completion of these investments has brought the qualifying
investments total to 59%.

At the balance sheet date, your company had a portfolio of nineteen companies
with a total cost of £12.0 million and a value of £9.3 million.  Sixteen of the
portfolio companies were qualifying for VCT purposes.  The value of the
portfolio fell during the period by £1.8 million and, whilst disappointing, this
fall in value mirrors in large part the continuing declines in the public
markets that we have seen in this calendar year.  The value of our AiM portfolio
fell by £1.1 million or 23% during the period, which compares with the fall of
21% in the AiM market as a whole.

The unquoted portfolio fell in value by a net amount of £650,000, or 10%.  The
investment in Bond iT, with a cost of £500,000, was written off completely when
the company was placed in receivership and the investment in Keen Group has been
reduced to a value that reflects an indicative offer that the investment manager
anticipates will be realised in the second half of this year.  The provision
against the investment in Chiaros Holdings was increased to reflect its
underperformance against plan and the cost of £800,000 is now fully provided
against.  These reductions have been offset by an increase in the valuation of
Copyright Promotions Group, which is performing well.  Against a difficult
economic background, the remainder of the unquoted portfolio companies are
performing satisfactorily.

Net Asset Value and Interim Dividend

The unaudited net asset value per share at 31 August 2002 was 79.1p, after
provision for the payment of an interim dividend of 1.0p per share.  This
represents a decline of 9.3p in net asset value per share over the six months to
31 August 2002, or some 10%.   Over the same period, the FTSE AiM index fell 21%
and the FTSE All Share by 17%.

The portfolio of unquoted investments (including AiM stocks) is continuing to
increase as a proportion of the Company's total assets.  These investments will
normally have a lower yield than the portfolio of fixed income investments and
shareholders should not expect the total dividend for the current financial year
to exceed the interim dividend.

Share Price

Shareholders will be aware of the recent fall in the Company's share price,
which has resulted from four trades undertaken since 27 August 2002, covering a
total of 24,000 shares at prices ranging from 30p to 45p.  The current
mid-market price of the shares is 50p, at which level the shares are trading on
a 37% discount to the NAV at 31 August 2002.  Your board considers this discount
to be unrepresentative of the Company's value, given that the cash and fixed
interest portfolio in the balance sheet at 31 August 2002 were together worth
36.5p.   Shareholders are reminded that the Company is authorised to make market
purchases of its own shares, and any shareholder wishing to sell shares should
contact Downing Corporate Finance Limited in the first instance.  Contact
details are provided on the final page of this interim report.

Prospects

As anticipated at the last year-end, the rate of investment in qualifying
holdings has increased markedly.  The objective for the remainder of the year is
clearly the achievement of the VCT investment target and your board intends to
ensure this target is met.  The economic outlook remains uncertain beyond the
period of our financial year, but there are grounds for hope that the Company's
longer-term objectives will be met, with the generation of tax-free capital and
income returns to shareholders over the next five to ten years.





Andrew Davison

18 October 2002



Unaudited Statement of Total Return (incorporating the Revenue Account)


                                         Six months ended 31 August     Six months ended 31     Year ended 28 February
                                                    2002                    August 2001                  2002

                                          Revenue  Capital    Total Revenue Capital    Total   Revenue Capital   Total

                                             £000     £000     £000    £000    £000     £000      £000    £000    £000
Losses on investments
- realised                                      -    (628)    (628)       -    (10)     (10)         -   (137)   (137)
- unrealised                                    -  (1,275)  (1,275)       -   (685)    (685)         - (1,289) (1,289)
Income                                        440        -      440     564       -      564     1,060       -   1,060
Investment management fee                    (57)    (171)    (228)    (62)   (186)    (248)     (122)   (365)   (487)
Other expenses                              (119)        -    (119)   (112)       -    (112)     (219)       -   (219)
Return on ordinary activities before
taxation                                      264  (2,074)  (1,810)     390   (881)    (491)       719 (1,791) (1,072)

Tax (charge)/credit on ordinary
activities                                   (53)       34     (19)    (90)      49     (41)     (197)     118    (79)

Return on ordinary activities after
taxation                                      211  (2,040)  (1,829)     300   (832)    (532)       522 (1,673) (1,151)

Dividends
- interim                                   (219)        -    (219)   (219)       -    (219)     (219)       -   (219)
- final                                         -        -        -       -       -        -     (286)       -   (286)

Transfers to/(from) reserves                  (8)  (2,040)  (2,048)      81   (832)    (751)        17 (1,673) (1,656)




Return per share                             1.0p   (9.3)p   (8.3)p    1.4p  (3.8)p   (2.4)p      2.4p  (7.6)p  (5.2)p






The revenue column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the
Company.  All revenue and capital items in the above statement are from
continuing operations.  Other than shown above, the Company had no recognised
gains and losses.  The Company has only one class of business and derives its
income from investments made in shares and securities and from bank deposits.


Unaudited Balance Sheet
At 31 August 2002

                                       31 August            31 August              28 February
                                            2002                 2001                     2002
                                            £000                 £000                     £000
Fixed Assets
Investments - unquoted                     5,577                2,984                    3,535
Investments - AiM quoted                   3,756                2,540                    2,960
Fixed Interest                             6,537               14,874                   12,792

                                          15,870               20,398                   19,287

Net current assets/(liabilities)           1,488                 (85)                      119

Net assets                                17,358               20,313                   19,406
Capital & reserves
Share capital                              1,097                1,097                    1,097
Reserves                                  16,261               19,216                   18,309

Equity shareholders' funds                17,358               20,313                   19,406
Net asset value per share                  79.1p                92.6p                    88.4p
                                           





Unaudited Cash Flow Statement
                                                                    Six           Six           Year
                                                                 months        months
                                                                                ended          ended
                                                                  ended
                                                                     31            31             28
                                                                 August        August       February
                                                                   2002          2001           2002
                                                                   £000          £000           £000
Net revenue from operating activities
Net revenue from ordinary activities before tax                     265           390            719
Decrease/(increase) in debtors                                       36         (100)             84
(Decrease)/increase in creditors                                   (38)            33             41
Management fees charged to capital                                (171)         (186)          (365)
Net cash inflow from operating activities                            92           137            479
Corporation tax paid                                                  -             -          (138)
Financial investment
Purchases of investments                                        (5,957)       (5,027)       (23,229)
Sales of investments                                              6,720         5,105         23,686
Net cash inflow from financial investment                           763            78            457


Equity dividends paid                                             (285)         (527)          (747)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) before financing                          570         (312)             51
Financing
Purchase of ordinary shares for cancellation                          -          (20)           (22)


Increase/(decrease) in cash in period                               570         (332)             29

Analysis of cash balance
At start of period                                                  497           468            468
Net cash inflow/(outflow) for the period                            570         (332)             29
At end of period                                                  1,067           136            497



Notes

1.                    The unaudited interim financial statements for the six
months ended 31 August 2002 and 31 August 2001 do not constitute statutory
accounts within the meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985 and have
not been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.  The results for the year
ended 28 February 2002 have been extracted from the financial statements for
that period, which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies; the
auditors' report on those financial statements under Section 235 of the
Companies Act 1985 was unqualified.



2.                    The financial information contained in this interim report
has been prepared on the basis of  the accounting policies set out in the Annual
Report 2002.



3.                    Returns per ordinary share are based on 21,944,502
ordinary shares, being the number of shares in issue throughout the period and
at 31 August 2002.



4.                    The interim dividend of 1.0p per share will be paid on 29
November 2002 to shareholders on the register on 1 November 2002.



5.                    Earnings for the period should not be taken as a guide to
the results for the full year.



6.                    Copies of the Interim Report will be mailed to
shareholders and are available from the Registered Office of the company at 42
Craven Street, London WC2N 5NG.



For further information please contact Gordon Power of ProVen Private Equity
Limited on 020 7451 6500.


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