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LONDON (Alliance News) - British Smaller Cos VCT2 PLC on Tuesday said its net assets slipped in the three months to March but the trust "made progress" resulting in a higher total return.
At March 31, British Smaller 2's net asset value per share stood at 55.0 pence compared to 59.9p at December 31, an 8.2% decrease.
The trust net assets slipped 7.0% in the same period to GBP59.6 million from GBP64.1 million. British Smaller 2's issued share capital increased 1.4% in the period.
The fall in NAV was attributed to the payment of an interim dividend of 5.0p in the period and GBP400,000 of share buybacks.
British Smaller 2 noted, however, its total shareholder return at the end of the quarter was 118.5p compared to 118.4p at the end of 2018.
The trust's unrealised portfolio valuation increased by GBP300,000 in the period to GBP40.0 million, representing 67% of the trust's NAV - with the rest being made up by cash and cash equivalents.
British Smaller 2 made one new investment in the period, of GBP1.2 million in luxury men's resort wear and lifestyle brand Frescobol Carioca. The trust made follow-on investments in four portfolio companies totalling GBP500,000 in the quarter.
"Despite the turmoil in Westminster smaller businesses continue to grow and innovate. There are a number of opportunities at the advanced stages of review and the success of the recent fundraising allows the company to continue to take advantage of these opportunities as well as providing capacity for follow-on funding which will inevitably be required," the company said.
British Smaller 2 added: "The company's portfolio continues to evolve, with investments since the UK November 2015 budget now representing 38% of the portfolio's value and the board will continue to review its dividend policies as the more mature investments are realised. A number of investments are currently in sale processes and, as with the realisations of Gill Marine, Mangar and GTK in December 2018, the board would hope to pay special dividends on future realisations."
Shares in British Smaller Cos 2 were untraded Tuesday but last closed at 52.00 pence each.