LONDON (Alliance News) - Artemis VCT PLC said Wednesday that its net asset value in the first half of its financial year dropped substantially, as challenging market conditions compounded a poor performance from the trust's investments.
As at March 31, the venture capital trust reported a net asset value of 47.24 pence per share, down 37% from 75.27p the same date the year before, and from 64.40p as at September 30.
Artemis's net asset value negative return for the six-month period was 19%, compared to the FTSE AIM All-Share Index which saw a negative return of 16%.
The trust's share price as at the end of March was 43.50 pence, reflecting a 7.9% discount to net asset value.
Shares in Artemis VCT were up 1.1% on Wednesday at 45.00p.
Artemis VCT said that during the period it suffered from challenging market conditions, which led to a mass sell-off in the market. However, there were also poor returns from the trust's investments due to a combination of weak trading performances, poor acquisitions and Brexit uncertainty.
During the period, Artemis VCT made GBP1.7 million in disposals, and realised GBP1.2 million in total gains.
Due to "limited investment opportunity", Artemis VCT made no new investments in the period.
Artemis VCT has declared an ordinary interim dividend of 2.00 pence per share, in line with the year before. In addition, Artemis declared a special dividend of 1.00p, down from 8.00p.
"With economic growth slowing, recent performance disappointing and a lack of new investments it would be easy to be pessimistic about the outlook. Yet we are more confident than we were six months ago. Aside from the individual stock issues highlighted, we're not sure an awful lot has changed," said Fund Manager Andy Gray.
"The portfolio is largely the same and the majority of our holdings are continuing to grow profits and cashflows under the guidance of long-serving managers. The main difference is that our investments now trade on significantly cheaper valuations," Gray added.