TIDMHYF
RNS Number : 7406D
Himalayan Fund N.V.
02 May 2017
HIMALAYAN FUND N.V.
Extract of the Annual Report 2016
The complete version may be found on
http://www.himalayanfund.nl/annual-reports/
Chairman's Letter 2016
Dear Shareholders,
Two major geo-political surprises framed the performance of
global equity markets in 2016. In June, British voters voted to
leave the EU, wrong-footing professional investors and throwing
markets into confusion. Then, in November, US voters decided they
wanted a political outsider intent on disrupting the Washington
status quo as President. This unleashed a surge in the value of the
US Dollar, as well as US equity markets as investors bought into
the idea of "Trump reflation" turbo charging US growth. These
events provided the background for the MSCI All Countries World
Index to add 5.3% for the year. The US contributed 9.2%, while
Europe limited the Global advance by losing 3.4%. The Far East
Index barely moved while Asian Emerging markets added 3.8%. Global
Emerging markets gained 8.6% for the year, as investors tentatively
recovered their risk appetites late in the year.
In India, following the previous year's outperformance, the Net
Asset Value per share of your Fund fell by
$1.98 from $50.64 to $48.66 in 2016, a decrease of 3.9%. Our
benchmark, the Nifty 50 Index in USD gained 0.6%, including a
2.6% depreciation of the Rupee against the US Dollar. I regret
therefore to have to report
underperformance of the Fund by 4.5 percentage points relative
to benchmark for the year.
Indian equity performance disappointed for the second year in
succession in 2016 against a background of major geopolitical
shocks, significant domestic reforms and the effects of global
liquidity flows. The year opened with widespread concern about a
hard landing in China and equity markets broadly in retreat. In the
US, the Fed maintained a policy of conditioning markets to the
prospect of removing extreme monetary stimulus with a progressive
series of
rate increases. Meanwhile, commodity prices remained benign,
moderating inflationary pressures and global economic growth
improved slowly.
Donald J. Trump's unexpected victory in the US Presidential
election brought uncertainty about economic policy but his "America
first" rhetoric prompted a surge of optimism about everything
American. The Dollar drew liquidity from all other currencies and
the funds bought were poured into US equities. Again, we saw money
being drained from emerging markets, as well as developed markets
as investor enthusiasm drove the Dollar and US equities to record
valuation levels by year-end.
Meanwhile, the domestic demand driven Indian economy enjoyed
strong support from consumption and government expenditure. This
supported GDP growth in the 7% plus range and enabled Indian
equities to move steadily upwards through the middle two quarters.
On the political front, the long-awaited tax reform brought by the
adoption of nationwide GST finally got political approval. To some
surprise, the incumbent governor of the Reserve Bank of India
declined another term and left in September. Investors took the
appointment of his successor to manage a reformed monetary policy
framework which had been adopted by agreement with the government,
as a positive. By this time, Indian equity markets had marked six
months of steady upward progress and were ahead by nearly eight
percent.
The year had not seen the last of turmoil though: the Indian
government had one more reform move up its sleeve. Coinciding with
Election Day in the US, the government announced the withdrawal of
the 500 and 1,000 Rupee notes with a short timeframe for people to
cash them in. These notes represented some 86% of the Rupee notes
in circulation. The primary motivation was to curtail the black
economy of which the cancelled notes were the mainstay. Also, the
government wanted to boost the organised economy and non-cash
transactions as well as "financialize" savings. Furthermore, Mr.
Modi was determined to make a strike against corruption and money
laundering: the cancelled notes were commonly used to buy votes in
election campaigns. A new design of 5 00 Rupee note has been
introduced as well as a new denomination of 2,000 Rupee note.
Demonetization, as it was labelled, caused sharp revisions of
growth expectations and uncertainty about companies' earnings
prospects. GDP growth forecasts were cut to the low 6% range.
The effect of liquidity flows in 2016 is worthy of comment in an
Indian context. Foreign investors were net sellers of
$3.2bn of Indian investments during the year: Early concerns
about the Chinese economy drained equity markets of liquidity and
brought a bear market in US equities in February. Emerging markets
generally suffered liquidity outflows and India suffered a sharp
sell-off. Then risk appetite returned, driving market momentum
upwards towards mid-year.
The Brexit vote in the UK brought another wave of risk aversion
and flight to safe haven investments. This time, Indian markets
held their nerves and domestic appetite started to mop up foreign
selling. Through the summer and into autumn, a favourable monsoon
supported consumer demand and the enactment of GST legislation
boosted investor sentiment. By autumn, Indian equities were nearly
eight percent ahead for the year. The great liquidity drain caused
by the US election brought heavy selling in India which was
accentuated by demonetization. Share buying "on the dips" by
domestic mutual funds provided a floor to some extent but the
weight of selling in cash-orientated stocks brought a sharp retreat
overall. It now appears that the sell-off was exaggerated and the
evolution of a strong domestic source of liquidity in the equity
markets is a significant development for the future.
Throughout 2016, we still held overweight positions in the
Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors. In Healthcare, we
took profits in Lupin and Torrent Pharma and diversified our
exposure to the sector by adding Aurobindo Pharma late in the
year.
Overall, we cut our exposure to the sector as it failed to meet
our expectations. In Consumer Goods, we maintained our exposure at
22.8% of the portfolio but Agro Tech Foods, in particular, suffered
in the aftermath of demonetization, losing 18% for the year. We
reduced our Financial Sector exposure to just two holdings as
asset
quality issues continue to dog the sector. We continue to steer
clear of three sectors: Telecoms, where consolidation may prompt
us
to look again this year, Metals and Mining, where we do not yet
see a compelling reason to invest and
Transport, which may also deserve another look this year.
Some of our non-index stocks made the biggest contributions to
returns in 2016. Indraprashtha Gas returned 70.2% and Heidelberg
Cement 57.8%. Supreme Industries returned 30.6%, Shemaroo
Entertainment 28.4% and VIP Industries 15.1%. Our best-performing
index stock was HDFC Bank, which returned 14.7% for the year. We
had an interest in twenty five stocks in total during the year, of
which twelve generated positive returns and thirteen negative. On
average, the portfolio held about twenty-one positions.
We continue to pursue our long-term strategic objective of
generating outperformance by selecting stocks with visible earnings
growth potential over the medium term, while demonstrating high
governance standards. By year-end we had reduced our most
concentrated positions to disperse risk more widely.
At the time of writing, investors may have decided that the
Dollar and US equities have become severely overvalued and Emerging
Markets have started to draw attention again. India has a number of
reasons to deserve more than its fair share of liquidity. First,
the government has stabilized its reputation with a sustained
commitment to fiscal consolidation. Second, it has burnished its
reputation for reform with the introduction of nationwide GST as
well as demonetization, which is showing signs of achieving the
objective of increasing the size of the organized economy. Third,
competition surrounding the introduction of 4G internet services
looks like accelerating the spread of high-speed internet services;
there are more than one billion mobile connections in India.
Fourth, the take- up of biometric ID cards to almost all adult
Indians and the linking of hundreds of millions of accounts provide
an efficient basis for the rollout of social services and underpin
consumer demand. Fifth, the boost to the organised economy from
demonetization will reinforce the financialization of savings and
underpin equity markets with sustained growth in domestic
liquidity. We
believe that against such a background the return prospects for
Indian equities are excellent.
Once again, I thank our long-standing shareholders for their
continued commitment and our friends and associates at Indasia Fund
Advisors in Mumbai, whose support has again been invaluable. We
continue to look for new promoters for the Fund and at the time of
writing have discussions under way with a number of parties.
Ian McEvatt 11 April 2017
Directors' Report 2016
The Fund
In the Financial Year ended December 31st 2016, the Net Asset
Value (NAV) per share of the Fund fell from $50.64 to
$48.66, a difference of -3.9%. The first Execution Day on NYSE
Euronext Amsterdam in 2016 was January 4th, when the Transaction
Price for the Fund's Ordinary Shares was $50.21; the last Execution
Day was December 30th, when the transaction Price was $48.49. The
difference of $1.72 represented a decline of 3.4%. Between the same
two dates, the Nifty 50USD Index rose from 4062 to 4174, a
difference of 2.8%. Thus the Transaction Price underperformed the
Fund's performance benchmark by 6.2% in the holding period in
question.
At the start of 2016, there were 207,748 Ordinary Shares of the
Fund in the hands of shareholders. By the end of the year, the
number had fallen to 162,323, a drop of 21.9%. In the face of
volatile liquidity flows and performance in the Indian markets we
experienced a steady flow of small redemptions through the
year.
The Portfolio
We started the year with twenty-four holdings in the portfolio;
the top ten holdings represented 68.3% of the portfolio and 49% of
the total value was invested in stocks which are components of the
Nifty Index. The largest sectoral concentrations were Financials,
with 26.7% of the portfolio, Consumer Goods, with 20.9%, Healthcare
with 14.7% and IT with 13.9%. We had no exposure to Metals and
Mining, Telecom or Transportation stocks.
Portfolio turnover during the year was 18.2% as we held a total
of 25 stocks for some period during the year and ended with 21
holdings. At year-end, our sectoral distribution was dominated by
the same sectors, though the weightings reflected evolving strategy
and the degree of relative performance. Consumer Goods comprised
22.8% of the portfolio, Financials 14.1%, IT 13.1% and Healthcare
11.9%. Our Auto Sector exposure appreciated to 6.4% and the
Construction Sector to 10.1%. We built exposure to the Media sector
with two holdings representing 4.5% of the portfolio.
At year-end, the top four holdings had an aggregate weight of
29.2% the largest holding being Pidilite Industries at 8.8%. There
were 21 holdings; the top ten represented 59.8% of the portfolio
and 37.6% of the portfolio comprised stocks which were components
of the benchmark index.
The percentages were calculated based on the total Net Asset
Value of the fund.
Administration
The legal structure of the Fund did not change in 2016. The
Board is still in direct control of investment management through
the Investment Committee, which is convened by the Chairman, who
also acts as record-keeper. CACEIS Bank, Netherlands Branch
continues as the Administrator and AIFMD Depository of the Fund and
calculates the Net Asset Value on a weekly basis. Citiban k Mumbai
is the local Custodian of the Fund. During the year under review
and so far as The Board is aware, the Fund has effectively operated
in conformity with the Administrative Organization and Internal
Control procedures.
In 2016, The Board held four formal Board Meetings and conducted
one Annual General Meeting.
The Investment Committee continued to receive research services
from the Chairman of the Fund and from Indasia Fund Advisers Pte.
Limited, of Mumbai. The Board is satisfied that it has the
substance and procedures to carry out these responsibilities in a
suitable manner and that the Fund's portfolio is consistent with
the long-term investment objective.
The Board reviews the conduct of the administration of the Fund
by the Administrator at regular management meetings. The Directors
believe that the Administrator is capable of exercising the
appropriate level of control over the operations of the Fund and
has done so during the year under review.
Investment in Emerging Markets was subject to severe liquidity
swings in 2016 and India suffered net outflows of foreign portfolio
investment amounting to over $3 billions by comparison to inflows
of more than $10bn the previous year. As a result, attempts at
raising new money for the Fund were not successful.
The Directors continue to manage expenditure tightly though
further significant cost reduction is difficult. The TER increased
in 2016, substantially due to reduction in the value of total
assets, the denominator in the calculation and in spite of tight
expense control. We are actively working to generate new inflows to
the Fund and believe that renewed prospects for attractive returns
from investing in India will help with the effort. Any success in
doing so will lead to a steady reduction in the TER.
Compliance
In preparation for each quarterly Board meeting, the Fund's
Reporting Entity (Inviqta) prepared a checklist of compliance with
corporate governance policy for the Oversight Entity (Mr. Dwight
Makins) and the Board which was discussed during each Board
meeting. There have been no breaches of the corporate governance
policy during the year 2016.
The Fund is a long only equity fund and as such does not use
leverage or derivatives in its portfolio. Thus the portfolio is
exposed fully to the market price movements in its holdings of
Indian stocks. There were no holdings of debt instruments in the
portfolio, so there is no exposure to credit risk. The Fund does
not engage in securities' lending and has confirmed with its
custodian that its stocks have not been used for securities'
lending. As a matter of policy, the Fund does not hedge currency
exposure in the portfolio. In 2016, the Rupee depreciated by 2.6%
against the US dollar and this affected the portfolio valuation.
This depreciation happened in spite of favourable data on GDP
growth and inflation as well as a clear government commitment to
fiscal consolidation and government reform. The principal negative
influences were volatile foreign portfolio investment flows arising
from external factors as well as the impact of demonetization
towards year-end. There were no instances during the year when
market liquidity suffered disruptive events which might have
prevented orderly execution of orders.
The Investment Committee also monitors the performance of market
counterparties, notable stock brokers and custodians. We monitor
the performance of brokers on a regular basis, taking account of
execution, price, research and sales support. Transactions are
allocated equally between brokers, though volumes can vary
depending on specialist skills demonstrated, such as execution in
particular market segments or sectors. We experienced no problems
due to market disruption of execution failures during 2016.
Payment of commission rebates is not a normal practice in Indian
markets and the Fund does not maintain soft-dollar arrangements,
nor has it any intention of doing so. We confirm for the record,
that our Ordinary Shares are not "rebate shares" and that no
rebates are paid to intermediaries involved in their sale or
promotion.
We continue to receive excellent service from our local market
custodian and had no operational problems or failures in reporting
during the year.
Risk management
Board Member Mr. Robert Meijer is responsible for oversight of
risk management and reports accordingly to the Board. The key risk
management guidelines concern concentration in the portfolio and
dispersion of risk. We monitor the aggregate value of the top four
holdings against a guideline of 40%. We further observe a 10% limit
on the value of any stock holding. If the value of a hol ding
exceeds this limit due to appreciation, the holding is reviewed
regularly by the Investment Committee and adjusted where
appropriate. Finally, in order to ensure our stock holdings can
contribute to performance, we generally apply a minimum target
weight of 2.5% although for tactical reasons an initial purchase
may be smaller.
During the year, the upper concentration limits have been
exceeded due to market appreciation; the positions concerned have
been
monitored by the Investment Committee and appropriate action
taken when necessary.
In terms of risk analysis, the Board monitors the Synthetic Risk
and Reward Indicator (SRRI) prescribed in Article 8 and Annex I of
the KII implementing Regulation on a monthly basis. According to
the SRRI calculation over a five-year timespan, your Fund is in
category 5 for risk evaluation purposes and this is reflected in
the KID statement on the Fund's
website. This risk rating is due to a sustained period of stable
returns over the timespan of the analysis. This is not typical for
an
emerging markets fund and the Directors feel the indicator does
not adequately reflect the risk of higher
levels of return fluctuation than in developed markets. There
are additional risks involved in emerging markets investing,
including exchange rate risk, market risk arising from liquidity
flows, operational risk from weaknesses in local systems and
process failure and focused strategy risk where concentrated
investment strategy may lose the
benefits of diversification.
The following quantitative risk data cover sixty four valuation
periods which ended on an NAV calculation date during 2016. The
mean return for the portfolio over the sixty four periods was
-0.03% per period; the comparable figure for the benchmark was
0.04%, reflecting mean portfolio underperformance of 7 basis points
per period. The standard deviation of returns was 2.4 for the
portfolio and 2.4 for the benchmark, showing similar dispersion of
returns around the mean for the portfolio as for the benchmark.
The highest loss in any period was 7.1% for the portfolio and
8.4% for the benchmark and during the year, the portfolio had 35
out of sixty four periods of positive return by comparison with 31
for the benchmark.
Relative to the benchmark, the portfolio had a Tracking Error of
1.1 and an Information Ratio of -2 for the year. These two
ratios
demonstrate that the risk and portfolio management decisions
taken during the year were inconsistent in
adding value in portfolio returns relative to the benchmark.
This mainly reflects the fact that some of our holdings were
perceived to be negatively affected by the impact of demonetization
late in the year.
The Outlook
The Directors would like to thank our shareholders for their
continuing support of the Fund. Indian markets have started 2017
very strongly as it appears that the negative effects of
demonetization had been exaggerated. At the time of writing,
sentiment in India has improved markedly with sustained improvement
in foreign portfolio investment flows. The Indian economy remains
largely domestic demand driven and thus significantly insulated
against global economic surprises. Government reform efforts have
enjoyed considerable success in 2016. The implementation of GST in
July this year, though fraught with administrative risks, should
eventually boost economic efficiency and, eventually GDP. We await
initial monsoon forecasts as an indicator of prospects for
aggregate demand growth but at the moment, it looks like India will
lead global growth this year. Fund policy is to invest in companies
from a broad market universe selected for visible earnings growth
potential and high governance standards The Directors believe that
Fund's portfolio is well positioned to benefit from India's world
leading growth prospects and favourable domestic and foreign
liquidity support for Indian equities.
Amsterdam, 25 April 2017
Board of Directors
Ian McEvatt, Chairman
Dwight Makins
Robert Meijer
Karin van der Ploeg
Financial statements
Himalayan Fund N.V.
Annual Report 2016
Balance sheet
(before profit appropriation)
31-12-2016 31-12-2015
USD Notes USD
Investments
Securities 7,298,399 4.1 10,108,751
Other assets
Cash at banks 670,109 5 465,306
Receivables
Receivable on security transactions - 6.1 94,841
Other receivables - 6.2 -
- 94,841
Current liabilities (due within one
year)
Payable on security transactions - 7.1 77,498
Due to redemptions 12,080 7.2 -
Other liabilities, accruals and deferred
income 44,160 7.3 56,570
Total current liabilities 56,240 134,068
Total of receivables and other assets
less current liabilities 613,869 426,079
Total assets less current liabilities 7,912,268 10,534,830
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Shareholders' equity
Issued capital 17,171 8.1 17,752
Share premium 16,261,438 8.2 18,504,968
General reserve -7,987,889 8.3 -7,942,782
Undistributed result current year -378,452 8.4 -45,108
Total shareholders'equity 7,912,268 10,534,830
------------ ------------
Net Asset Value per share 48.66 50.64
Profit & Loss account
01-01-2016 01-01-2015
31-12-2016 31-12-2015
USD Notes USD
Income from investments
Dividends 91,814 9.1 99,956
Interest income - 9.2 40
Other income 7,410 9.3 483
99,224 100,479
Capital gains/losses
Unrealised gains on investments 545,633 4 275,208
Unrealised losses on investments -1,690,172 4 -2,224,393
Realised price gains on investments 1,629,156 4 2,843,600
Realised price losses on investments -126,585 4 -74,221
Realised currency gains on investments - 4 -
Realised currency losses on investments -365,252 4 -438,088
Other exchange differences -11,554 -36,614
-18,774 345,492
Expenses
Investment research fees 165,145 10.1 191,179
Other expenses 293,757 10.2 299,900
458,902 491,079
Total investment result -378,452 -45,108
------------ ------------
Total investment result per ordinary
share -2.33 -0.22
Statement of Cash Flows
01-01-2016 01-01-2015
31-12-2016 31-12-2015
USD notes USD
Cash flow from investing activities
Income from investments 99,224 9 100,479
Expenses -458,902 10 -491,079
Result of operations -359,678 -390,600
Purchases of investments -537,921 4 -2,827,529
Sales of investments 3,341,053 4 5,008,125
2,803,132 2,180,596
Change in short term receivables 94,841 6 -89,897
Change in current liabilities -77,827 7 45,426
17,014 -44,471
Cash flow from investing activities 2,460,468 1,745,525
Cash flow from financing activities
Received on shares issued 3,629 8 236,378
Paid on shares purchased -2,247,740 8 -1,680,099
Cash flow from financing activities -2,244,111 -1,443,721
Other exchange differences -11,554 -36,614
Change in cash and cash equivalents 204,803 265,190
Cash and cash equivalents as at 1
January 465,306 200,116
------------ ------------
Cash and cash equivalents as at 31
December 670,109 465,306
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Notes
1 General
Himalayan Fund N.V. ('the Fund') is an open-end investment
company (in Dutch: beleggingsmaatschappij met veranderlijk
kapitaal) incorporated under Dutch law and has its statutory
seat in Amsterdam. The Fund is listed both on NYSE Euronext
Amsterdam and on The London Stock Exchange.
This annual report is prepared in accordance with Part
9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code and the Act on the
Financial
Supervision (AFS) ("Wet op het financieel toezicht"). Since
December 1991 the Fund is licensed to undertake investment
activities according to the Act on the Financial Supervision.
2. Principles
of valuation
2.1 Investments
The investments are valued based on the following principles:
- listed securities are valued at the most recent stockmarket
price as at the end of the accounting period which can
be
considered fair
value;
- non or low marketable securities are, according to the
judgement of the Investment Advisor, valued at the best
effort
estimated price, taking into account the standards which
the Investment Advisor thinks fit for the valuation of
such investments.
Expenses related to the purchase of investments are included
in the cost of investments.
Sales charges, if any, are deducted from gross proceeds
and will be expressed in the capital gains/losses.
2.2 Foreign currency translation
Assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated
into US dollars at the rate of exchange as at the balance
sheet date.
All exchange differences are taken to the profit and loss
account. Income and expenses in foreign currencies are
translated
at the exchange rate as per transaction date.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rates of exchange as at 31 December 2016, equivalent of
1 US dollar:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Euro 0.94809 Srilanka Rupee 149.80005
Indian Rupee 67.87002 Bangladesh Taka 78.60005
------------------------ --------- ---------------------------------- ---------
2.3 Other assets
and liabilities
Other assets and liabilities are stated at nominal value.
If required, provisions have been taken for irrecoverable
receivables.
2.4 Income recognition principles
The result is determined by deducting expenses from the
proceeds of dividend, interest and other income in the
period under
review. The realized revaluations of investments are determined
by deducting the purchase price from the sale proceeds.
The unrealized revaluations of investments are determined
by deducting the purchase price or the balance sheet value
at the
start of the period under review from the balance sheet
value at the end of the period under review.
Brokerage fees payable on the acquisition of investments,
if any, are considered to be part of the investments costs,
and as
a result, are not taken to the profit and loss account.
2.5 Cash flow
statement
The Cash Flow statement has been prepared according to
the indirect method.
3. Risk Management
Investing in emerging and developing markets carries risks
that are greater than those associated with investment
in
securities in developed markets. In particular, prospective
investors should consider the following:
3.1 Currency
Fluctuations
The Fund invests primarily in securities denominated in
local currencies whereas the Ordinary Shares are quoted
in US
dollars. The US dollar price at which the Ordinary Shares
are valued is therefore subject to fluctuations in the
US dollar/ local
currency exchange
rate.
3.2 Counterparty Risk
The Fund deals principally in listed stocks traded on
the BSE and the NSE in India.
All transactions are book-entry and settlement is fully
automated. In the event of non-delivery by either side,
the transaction
fails. In this case recovery can be achieved by delivery
against payment or the transaction abandoned.
3.3 Concentration Risk
The investment restrictions for the Fund in section
IX INVESTMENT POLICIES of the Prospectus, limit the
possibility for
concentration of risk by stock and sector. Investors
should note that the portfolio will be concentrated
in the Indian
sub-continent.
3.4 Market Volatility
Securities exchanges in emerging markets are smaller
and subject to greater volatility than those in developed
markets.
The Indian market has in the past experienced significant
volatility and there is no assurance that such volatility
will not occur
in the future.
3.5 Market Liquidity
A substantial proportion of market capitalization and
trading value in emerging markets can be represented
by a relatively
small number of issuers. Also, there is a lower level
of regulation and monitoring of the activities of investors,
brokers and
other market participants than in most developed markets.
Disclosure requirements may be less stringent and there
may
be less public information available about corporate
activity. As a result, liquidity may be impaired at
times of high volatility.
The Indian markets have withstood high volatility in
the recent past and recovered momentum because of excellent
corporate
results. This has shown that the liquidity in the shares
of the top companies is strong, as further emphasized
by demand for
those shares through Depository Receipts in overseas
markets. Furthermore, standards of governance and transparency
are
improving dramatically under the impetus of the regulatory
bodies. Other contiguous markets are not necessarily
the same
and the Fund only invests in them with the utmost care.
3.6 Fund Liquidity
The Fund's rules allow weekly purchases and sales of
Ordinary Shares but in order to allow orderly management
of the
portfolio in the interest of continuing shareholders,
the value of purchases may be limited to 5% of the net
asset value of the
Fund on any one Execution Day.
3.7 Political Economy
The Fund's portfolio may be adversely affected by changes
in exchange rates and controls, interest rates, government
policies, inflation, taxation, social and religious
instability and regional geo-political developments.
3.8 Legal and Regulatory Compliance
The Fund is responsible for ensuring that no action
taken by it or by any contracted service provider might
cause a breach of
any legal or regulatory requirement. The Fund and all
of its service providers maintain adequate control procedures
to guard
against any such occurrence and these procedures are
subject to regular review. Should such a breach occur
inadvertently,
control procedures should detect it and institute corrective
action without delay.
3.9 Financial Crisis
Almost uniquely amongst financial markets, the Indian
financial sector was insulated against any consequences
of the recent
financial crisis by the tight control exercised by the
RBI. Bank balance sheets were free of toxic assets and
capital ratios
were maintained. Ratios of non-performing assets remained
within historic norms.
3.10 Credit risk
The principal credit risk is counterparty default (i.e.,
failure by the counterparty to perform as specified
in the contract) due to
financial impairment or for other reasons. Credit risk
is generally higher when a nonexchange-traded or foreign
exchange-traded financial instrument is involved. Credit
risk is reduced by dealing with reputable counterparties.
The Fund
manages credit risk by monitoring its aggregate exposure
to counterparties.
Notes to the Balance sheet
31-12-2016 31-12-2015
4. Investments USD USD
4.1 Statement of changes in securities
Position as at 1 January 10,108,751 11,907,241
Purchases 537,921 2,827,529
Sales -3,341,053 -5,008,125
Unrealised gains on investments 545,633 275,208
Unrealised losses on investments -1,690,172 -2,224,393
Realised price gains on investments 1,629,156 2,843,600
Realised price losses on investments -126,585 -74,221
Realised currency gains on investments - -
Realised currency losses on investments -365,252 -438,088
Position as at 31 December 7,298,399 10,108,751
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Historical cost 4,854,850 6,520,663
The portfolio comprises of shares, mainly
listed.
No unlisted shares were held directly by the Fund at the
year end of 2016 (2015: USD 123,163).
The portfolio breakdown as at 31 December 2016 is specified
on page 22 of this report.
4.2 Transaction costs
The transaction costs for the purchase of investments are
capitalized within the historical cost price and for sales
the
transaction costs are discounted from the sales price.
Transaction costs in 2016 are USD 11,998 (2015: USD 26,103).
5. Cash at banks
This includes immediately due demand deposits
at banks.
6. Receivables
6.1 Receivable on security transactions
These include transactions still unsettled
as at the balance sheet date.
6.2 Other receivables
These include other transactions still unsettled as at
the balance sheet date.
7. Current liabilities (due within one year)
7.1 Payable on security transactions
These include transactions still unsettled
as at the balance sheet date.
7.2 Due to redemptions
These include the debts in respect of the redemptions of
shares Himalayan still unsettled as at the balance sheet
date.
7.3 Other liabilities, accruals and deferred
income
Payable investment research fee 12,246 12,511
Payable administration fee 3,931 4,363
Payable auditors fee 15,707 19,954
Other expenses payable 12,276 19,742
44,160 56,570
----------- -----------
8. Shareholders' equity
The authorised share capital of the Fund is EUR 60,000
(2015: EUR 60,000) and consists of:
Ordinary shares of EUR
- 0.01 each 5,000,100
Priority shares of EUR
- 0.20 each 49,995
31-12-2016 31-12-2015
8.1 Issued capital number USD USD
Ordinary shares:
Position as at 1 January 207,748 3,522 4,258
Sold 70 1 44
Purchased -45,495 -455 -321
Revaluation -127 -459
Position as at 31 December 162,323 2,941 3,522
------------------ ----------- -----------
Priority shares:
Position as at 1 January 49,995 14,230 14,230
Sold - - -
Revaluation - -
Position as at 31 December 49,995 14,230 14,230
------------------ ----------- -----------
Total issued capital 17,171 17,752
----------- -----------
As at 31 December 2016 the issued and subscribed EUR EUR
share capital amounts to:
(Ordinary shares, par value
EUR 0.01 (2015: EUR 0.01) 4,450,005 44,500 44,500
(Priority shares, par value
EUR 0.20 (2015: EUR 0.20) 49,995 9,999 9,999
54,499 54,499
----------- -----------
The Fund became open-ended on 7 April 2000. As at 31 December
2016 a total of 4,287,682 Ordinary Shares have been
purchased, meaning that 162,323 Ordinary Shares are still
outstanding as at 31 December 2016. Ordinary Shares
purchased by the Fund are directly charged against capital
and share premium.
8.2 Share premium USD USD
Position as at 1 January 18,504,968 19,947,953
Received on shares sold 3,628 236,334
Paid on shares purchased -2,247,285 -1,679,778
Revaluation of outstanding
capital 127 459
Position as at 31 December 16,261,438 18,504,968
----------- -----------
31-12-2016 31-12-2015
USD USD
8.3 General reserve
Position as at 1 January -7,942,782 -11,914,402
Transferred to undistributed result -45,107 3,971,620
Position as at 31 December -7,987,889 -7,942,782
----------------- -----------
8.4 Undistributed result
Position as at 1 January -45,107 3,971,620
Transferred from general reserve 45,107 -3,971,620
Total investment result -378,452 -45,108
Position as at 31 December -378,452 -45,108
----------------- -----------
Three years Himalayan Fund N.V.
31-12-2016 31-12-2015 31-12-2014
Net Asset Value (USD x 1,000)
Net Asset Value according to balance
sheet 7,912 10,535 12,024
Less: value priority shares 14 14 14
7,898 10,521 12,010
------------------ ----------------- -----------
Number of Ordinary Shares
outstanding 162,323 207,748 235,416
Per Ordinary Share (USD)
Net Asset Value share 48.66 50.64 51.01
Notes to the Profit & Loss account
9. Income from investments
9.1 Dividends
This refers to net cash dividends including withholding tax.
Stock dividends are considered to be cost free shares. Therefore,
stock dividends are not presented as income.
9.2 Interest income
Most of this amount was received on outstanding cash
balances.
9.3 Other income
From 6 March 2009 this refers to the charges of 0.35% received
on shares issued and repurchased.
These costs are to cover transaction costs in relation with the
purchase and sale of Ordinary Shares and are booked as an income
for the Fund.
01-01-2016 01-01-2015
10. Expenses 31-12-2016 31-12-2015
USD USD
10.1 Investment research fees
Research Fee 162,000 162,271
Custody Fee and Charges 3,145 28,908
---------- ----------
165,145 191,179
---------- ----------
Expenses directly related to the management of investments, like
custody fees and transfer charges as well as other paying agent
fees, are deducted from the result.
10.2 Other expenses
Administration Fees and Charges 57,725 59,282
Company Secretarial and Domiciliation Fees 33,471 33,509
Bank Expenses 224 2,563
Regulatory Fees and Charges 26,672 19,938
Listing Expenses 14,500 19,000
Audit Fees 19,916 29,441
Fiscal Advisory Fees 17,262 14,500
Advertising and Promotion 15,047 8,287
Listing Agent Fees 36,678 36,720
Directors Fees 63,400 62,150
Board Expenses 20,406 25,370
Correspondent Bank fees 8,612 2,981
Miscellaneous 3,619 2,667
VAT Reclaims previous years -23,775 -16,508
--------- ---------
293,757 299,900
--------- ---------
Audit fees include the audit of the financial statements by the
external auditor Mazars amounting to USD 23,773 (2015: USD
16,838).
Ongoing Charges Ratio
The Ongoing Charges Ratio (cost ratio) is calculated
as follows: the total expenses of the Fund divided by
the average NAV*.
The Ongoing Charges Ratio of the Fund for the reporting
period is equal to: 5.12 % (2015: 4.28 %).
Turnover ratio
The turnover ratio is calculated as follows: the total
sum of purchases plus sales minus subscriptions minus
redemptions
divided by the average NAV
*.
The turnover ratio of the Fund for the reporting period
is equal to: 18.16 % (2015: 51.62 %).
* - The average Net Asset Value of the Company for reporting
period is calculated as the sum of every available Net
Asset
Value in the current year divided by the number of observations.
Comparison of real cost with cost according to Prospectus**
According to Prospectus Actual costs
USD USD
Investment Research fee (1) 144,000 162,000
Administration fee (2) 57,725 57,725
Secretarial and Domiciliation
fees (3) 33,471 33,471
Costs for the Board (4) 100,000 83,806
**- As per the Prospectus
of 7 June 2010.
1) Ian McEvatt receives an annual fee of USD 114,000
for investment research and IndAsia Fund Advisors Pvt
Ltd receives
an annual fee of USD 42,000. According to the Prospectus
the research investment fees amount USD 144,000. However,
actual costs in 2016 amount USD 162,000. The difference
is caused by increased research fees of Indasia Fund
Advisors
Pvt.Ltd.
2) CACEIS Bank, Netherlands Branch is paid a fixed fee
of EUR 50,000 per year for administration services.
3) Inviqta has been appointed to provide domicile and
company secretarial services to the Fund for a fixed
fee of
EUR 25,000 (exclusive VAT)
per year.
4) The Prospectus states that the remuneration of the
Directors is subject to a limit of USD 100,000 in aggregate
per year.
In 2016 the remuneration of the Directors was USD 62,985
(inclusive VAT) in total so far. Directors fees per
person are as
follows: Ian McEvatt: USD 10,000 (2015: USD 10,000);
Dwight Makins: USD 18,500 (2015: USD 18,500); Robert
Meijer:
USD 22,453 (2015: USD 22,385); Karin van der Ploeg***:
USD 12,476 (2015: USD 12,100). Board expenses (exclusive
remuneration of the Directors)
amount to USD 20,406 in 2016.
*** Karin van der Ploeg is a partner of Inviqta. It
has been agreed that members of the Board who are also
directors/partners
of the service providers of the Fund receive a fixed
annual management fee of USD 10,000.
Employees
The Fund has no employees.
Amsterdam, 25 April 2017
Board of Directors
Ian McEvatt, Chairman
Dwight Makins
Robert Meijer
Karin van der Ploeg
Portfolio breakdown
As per 31 December 2016
percentage
of total
Net
Market value Asset Value
India USD %
Auto Ancilliary 504,178 6.4
13,000 Bajaj Auto 504,178
Construction 802,982 10.1
190,000 HeidelbergCement 307,241
135,369 Kalpataru Power Transmission 495,741
Consumer discretionary 607,624 7.7
240,000 Indian Hotels 348,489
150,000 VIP Industries 259,135
Consumer goods 1,193,800 15.1
28,000 Agro Tech Foods 187,712
3,500 Nestle India 310,877
80,000 Pidilite 695,211
Energy 405,886 5.1
30,000 Indraprastha Gas 405,886
Financials 1,116,096 14.1
27,000 HDFC Bank 479,850
60,000 Kotak Mahindra Bank 636,246
Healthcare 945,309 11.9
20,000 Aurobindo Pharma 197,230
12,000 Lupin 262,905
25,000 Torrent Pharmaceuticals 485,174
Industrials 334,076 4.2
25,000 Supreme Industries 334,076
Media 353,502 4.5
250,000 IBN18 Broadcast 134,080
38,000 Shemaroo Entertainment 219,422
Technology 1,034,946 13.1
250,000 Firstsource Solutions 139,237
18,000 HCL Technologies 219,583
22,000 Infosys 327,585
10,000 Tata Consultancy 348,541
Total Equity 7,298,399 92.2
Cash and cash equivalents 613,869 7.8
NAV: 7,912,268 100.0
Other information
Personal interest
Mr. McEvatt is the beneficial owner of 15,000 Ordinary
Shares of Himalayan Fund N.V. at the year end of 2016;
the shares
are held in a Self-Invested Pension Plan administered
by Curtis Banks Ltd. under discretionary management
at Charles
Stanley Ltd. None of the other directors hold any shares
in the Fund.
Special controlling rights
Special rights are assigned to holders of Priority
Shares. The most important rights are:
- to submit a binding nomination for the appointment
of the Directors
- to give their approval in advance of amendments in
the Articles of Association, legal merger, legal
split and dissolving
the Fund.
The Priority Shares are all held in the name of Iceman
Capital Ltd.
Priority Shares
During 2015 & 2016 49.995 Priority Shares were held
by Iceman Capital Ltd. At the beginning of 2009 the
nominal
value of the Priority Shares was Eur 0.01 each. On
26 August 2009 the Articles of Association were amended
and the
nominal value of the Priority Shares was increased
to Eur 0.20 each.
The directors of Iceman Capital Ltd. are Messrs. I.
McEvatt, M.T. Cordwell, J.W. Owen, E.H. Jostrom.
Appropriation of result
In accordance with the Fund's Articles of Association
the Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting
of Shareholders
that the result will be added to the general reserve
and that no dividend will be distributed.
Independent Auditor's report
Reference is made to the independent auditor's report
included hereafter.
Post balance sheet events
There have occurred no significant events after balance
sheet date which will have an impact on the Fund.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
FR OKFDPNBKDOQB
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May 02, 2017 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
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