TIDMBSV
RNS Number : 4701F
British Smaller Companies VCT PLC
21 March 2022
British Smaller Companies VCT plc
Interim Management Statement
For the quarter ended 31 December 2021
British Smaller Companies VCT plc (the "Company") presents its
interim management statement for the quarter ended 31 December
2021. The statement also includes relevant financial information
between the end of the quarter and the date of this statement. A
copy of this interim management statement can be found at
www.bscfunds.com .
Overview
The Company's Total Return at 31 December 2021 was 251.9 pence
per ordinary share, representing an increase of 1.6 pence per
ordinary share over the Total Return of 250.3 pence per ordinary
share as at 30 September 2021. The increase is 1.8 per cent of the
opening net asset value at the beginning of the quarter of 90.9
pence per share.
The Company completed the realisation of 15 per cent of its
investment in Matillion as part of its Series E funding round
during the quarter. The proceeds from this partial exit were GBP5.0
million which, together with previous proceeds received of GBP2.1
million, represents a total return to date of 2.7x the total cost
of the Company's investment. The value of the Company's residual
investment in Matillion at 31 December 2021 is GBP29.7 million.
This is an outstanding outcome to date, in a company which is
experiencing continued fast growth.
Total proceeds from all full and partial realisations in the
quarter were GBP6.4 million, a gain of GBP3.5 million over cost.
GBP0.2 million was invested in the quarter.
Following its previously announced offer for subscription
(alongside British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc, together "the
Offers"), on 7 January 2022 the Company made the first and final
issue of ordinary shares pursuant to the Offers by allotting
39,514,174 ordinary shares of 10 pence each, raising gross proceeds
of GBP34.6 million (GBP33.2 million net).
Performance
The movement in Total Return in pence per ordinary share is set
out in the table below:
Dividends
30 September Increase paid/shares Buyback Movement 31 December
2021 in Value issued of shares In Period 2021
Net Assets (GBPm) 131.7 2.5 (5.4) (0.4) (3.3) 128.4
------------- ---------- ------------- ----------- ----------- ------------
NAV per share
(PPS) 90.9 1.6 (5.0) - (3.4) 87.5
------------- ---------- ------------- ----------- ----------- ------------
Cumulative dividends
paid (PPS) 159.4 - 5.0 - 5.0 164.4
------------- ---------- ------------- ----------- ----------- ------------
Total Return
(PPS) 250.3 1.6 - - 1.6 251.9
------------- ---------- ------------- ----------- ----------- ------------
Shares in issue 144,873,228 - 2,306,826 (526,365) 1,780,461 146,653,689
------------- ---------- ------------- ----------- ----------- ------------
The unaudited NAV increased in value by 1.6 pence; after payment
of 5.0 pence of dividends, the unaudited NAV per ordinary share
stood at 87.5 pence per share at the period end. Cumulative
dividends paid at 31 December 2021 were 164.4 pence per ordinary
share (30 September 2021: 159.4 pence per ordinary share).
The movements in NAV per ordinary share are set out in the table
below:
GBPm Pence per
ordinary share
NAV at 30 September 2021 131.7 90.9
Increase in portfolio value 3.0 2.0
Net operating costs (0.5) (0.4)
------ --------
2.5 1.6
Issue/buy-back of shares 1.4 -
------ --------
Total Return in the period 3.9 1.6
------ --------
NAV before the payment of dividends 135.6 92.5
Dividends paid (7.2) (5.0)
------ ------ -------- --------
NAV at 31 December 2021 128.4 87.5
------ ------ -------- --------
Following payment of the third interim dividend of 2.0 pence per
ordinary share for the year ending 31 March 2022 on 5 January 2022
the unaudited net asset value is 85.5 pence per ordinary share.
Dividends and shares in issue
On 16 November 2021, the Company issued 2,306,826 shares under
the DRIS, following the payment of the second interim dividend.
Under its standing buyback authority, on 15 December 2021 the
Company purchased 526,365 shares at 80.21 pence at a cost of
GBP0.42 million. These shares are held in treasury.
Subsequent to the quarter end, on 5 January 2022 the Company
issued 940,963 shares under the DRIS following the payment of the
third interim dividend, and on 7 January 2022 the Company issued
39,514,174 shares arising from the Offers, taking the number of
shares in issue to 187,108,826 at that date, with a further
17,986,301 shares held in treasury.
Net assets
Net assets at 31 December 2021 comprised the following:
% of net
GBP000 assets
Unquoted investments at fair
value 95,297 74.2
Listed investment funds 5,146 4.0
Cash and cash equivalents 27,056 21.1
Other net current assets 873 0.7
-------- ---------
Net assets 128,372 100.0
======== =========
Investments
The investment portfolio at 31 December 2021 comprised:
Cumulative
valuation
as a %
Valuation of net
GBP000 assets
Matillion Limited 29,655 23.1%
Springboard Research Holdings
Limited 5,938 27.7%
Intelligent Office UK 4,744 31.4%
Wooshii Limited 4,743 35.1%
Unbiased EC1 Limited 4,624 38.7%
Elucidat Ltd 4,397 42.1%
SharpCloud Software Limited 4,392 45.6%
Force24 Ltd 4,160 48.8%
ACC Aviation Group Limited 3,661 51.7%
Displayplan Holdings Limited 3,512 54.4%
69,826 54.4%
Other investments 25,471 19.8%
Total investments 95,297 74.2%
========== ===========
Investments made since November 2015 represented 77 per cent of
the value of the unquoted portfolio at 31 December 2021.
Portfolio performance
Over the quarter to 31 December 2021, the aggregate portfolio
valuation has increased by GBP3.0 million.
Ukraine
During the build up to and subsequent to the recent invasion of
Ukraine by Russia, we have been closely monitoring the impact of
the war on our portfolio. There is minimal direct impact, which has
principally been where two portfolio companies have had a small
section of their software development teams based in Ukraine. From
a business perspective, continuity of supply and service has been
secured, although we are aware of a small number of developers who
we believe are directly caught in the conflict and our thoughts are
with them and all those suffering the humanitarian impact of the
war.
Outlook
The current environment is clearly a demanding one for many
companies, dealing with supply chain inflation, a competitive
hiring environment and wider political challenges. But as the
pandemic has shown, the key to a company's success is having a
strong management team, ready access to capital and remaining
agile. We are confident that the Company's portfolio is well placed
to navigate these challenges. We also continue to see a number of
promising investment opportunities and look forward to updating you
on progress with deploying the Company's newly raised funds over
the coming quarters.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU No. 596/2014). Upon the
publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service
this inside information is now considered to be in the public
domain.
21 March 2022
For further information please contact:
David Hall YFM Private Equity Limited Tel: 0113 244 1000
Alex Collins Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited Tel: 0207 886 2767
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