ATY Athelney Trust Plc

TIDMATY

RNS Number : 7090A

Athelney Trust PLC

03 June 2021

Athelney Trust PLC

Legal Entity Identifier:

213800ON67TJC7F4DL05

The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 279.3p at 31 May 2021.

Fund Manager's comment for May 2021

Consumer spending accounts for between half and two-thirds of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in most countries. In the UK, it accounted for 62% of nominal GDP in Dec 2020 and is the key engine that drives economic growth. Over the past year the enormous stimulus packages used to combat the economic impact of lockdowns that were undertaken by Governments world-wide, have resulted in consumers being flush with cash. We have already witnessed that the build-up of excess savings has resulted in an increase in expenditure on food, clothing, health, leisure, and strangely, second-hand cars. In addition, many non-discretionary categories of spending such as utilities, financial services & insurance and healthcare are now close to their pre-pandemic levels. However, the global lockdown has caused supply chain disruptions with sales held back by record low inventories of many items, the most notable of which are computer chips.

Another feature of the pandemic has been the surge in on-line gaming and asset trading, especially in cryptocurrencies. These are notoriously volatile with the price on any given day about as predictable as the flip of a coin, evidenced by the fact that the most well-known of these, Bitcoin, recently shed more than a third of its value after doubling in value since the start of this year. The response of the regulators and Central Banks to the explosion in these is yet to be determined with a report by the US Fed due later this year. What is clear is that the block-chain technology is here to say and the digital ledger will have a dramatic impact on many industries, both positively and negatively and we need to be diligent in this regard when we review our investments.

Contrary to the old adage of sell in May and go away, global markets were mostly up with the MSCI increasing by 1.3% and the S&P 500 up by 0.6%. However, the large technology stocks in the US remained under pressure with the NASDAQ down by 1.5%. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.8% as was the FTSE 250 Index. Small caps were mixed with the Fledging Index performing well, up by 3.9% as compared to the Small Cap Index which was up by 2.0% and the AIM All Share Index which was down by 2.2%.

By comparison, our portfolio performed extremely well during the month, increasing by 1.96% and, after allowing for expenses, resulting in an increase in the NAV of 1.87%. There were no changes to the portfolio during the month and cash received by way of dividends resulted in a slight increase in the overall cash position from 2.0% to 2.1% as at the end of May.

Fact Sheet

An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website www.athelneytrust.co.uk under "Portfolio Details".

Background Information

Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl AM

Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"), an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney trust for many years.

E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (licence no.421704).

www.ecpohl.com

www.ecpam.com

Manny Pohl and the ECP group has over AU$1500m under its management including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:

   --    Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI) 

AUD50m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au

   --    Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST) 

AUD25m www.barrackst.com

   --    Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL) 

AUD25m www.globalmastersfund.com.au

   --    Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY) 

GBP5m www.athelneytrust.co.uk

Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy

The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.

The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.

Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link

www.theaic.co.uk/aic/news/press-releases/next-generation-of-dividend-heroes

Website

www.athelneytrust.co.uk

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