Albion Venture Regulatory News (AAVC)

9 Jun 2005 16:07

Close Brothers Venture Cap Tst PLC09 June 2005 9 June 2005 CLOSE BROTHERS VENTURE CAPITAL TRUST PLC ("the Company") Preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2005 Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC ("the Company"), which invests inqualifying unquoted companies providing a high level of asset backing forthe capital value of the investment, today announces preliminary results for theyear ended 31 March 2005. The announcement has been approved by the Board ofDirectors on 9 June 2005 Financial Highlights: 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 Dividends per ordinary share (pence) 9.00 8.50 Revenue return per ordinary share (pence) 5.87 5.60 Capital return per ordinary share (pence) 5.91 7.10 Net asset value per ordinary share (pence) 115.89 113.11 Ordinary shares 'C' shares Shareholder value created per share since lauch: (Pence) (Pence) Gross revenue dividends for the year ended 31 5.00 -March 1997Gross revenue dividends for the year ended 31 6.00 5.00March 1998Gross interim dividends and net final dividend for 7.75 6.25the year ended 31 March 1999Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 8.55 4.50ended 31 March 2000Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 7.50 7.50ended 31 March 2001Net revenue dividends for the year ended 31 March 7.50 7.502002Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 8.00 8.00ended 31 March 2003Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 8.50 8.50ended 31 March 2004Net revenue and capital dividends for the year 9.00 9.00ended 31 March 2005------------------------------------- ---------- ----------Total dividends paid or declared to date 67.80 56.25 Net asset value 115.89 115.89------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- Total return to 31 March 2005 183.69 172.14------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- For further information, please contact: Patrick Reeve/ Henry Stanford John West/ Clemmie CarrClose Venture Management Limited Tavistock CommunicationsTel: 020 7422 7830 Tel: 020 7920 3150 Notes: 1) Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC is managed by CloseVenture Management Limited. 2) Close Venture Management Limited is part of Close BrothersGroup plc and is regulated by the FSA. 3) The financial information set out in this announcement doesnot constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 March2005 or 2004, but is derived from those accounts. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2004 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companiesand the statutory accounts for 31 March 2005 will be delivered shortly.The auditors have reported on those accounts; their report was unqualified and did not contain a statements under s237(2) or (3) Companies Act 1985. 4) This announcement is prepared on the basis of the accountingpolicies as stated in the previous years financial statements, with theexception of the following: as of 1 April 2004, the Board of Directors havechanged the accounting policy with respect to the finance interest in that 75per cent. of the expense representing the proportion of the expense attributableto the enhancement of the value of the investments of the Company has been charged to capital. The balance is charged to the revenue account. In accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice "Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies" issued in January 2003, the comparative numbers do not need tobe restated. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT Introduction The progress of your Company's investment portfolio during the year hascontinued to be encouraging. As well as the sale of the five homes for peoplewith learning disabilities for a profit of £4.0 million on cost of £9.9 million,as referred to in last year's statement, the Company also sold its investment inthe Odyssey Glory Mill health and fitness club outside Beaconsfield for a profitof £1.3 million on a cost of £4.5 million. The disposals have enabled theCompany's total dividend to be increased from last year's 8.50 pence per shareto 9.00 pence per share for the year to 31 March 2005. Investments of £3.4million have been made in five new companies, together with follow oninvestments of £3.9 million in four existing investee companies. As a result of the disposals, the realised capital reserve now stands at £3.5million with the reserve for unrealised appreciation amounting to a further £3.5million. Your Company's net asset value per share has risen by a further 2.4 percent. to 115.89 pence per share. The capital return of 5.91 pence per sharecombined with the revenue return, has resulted in an overall return of 11.78pence per share for the year. This builds on strong returns over the previousyears and your Company has now paid or declared total dividends since launch forthe Ordinary Shares and 'C' Shares (now converted) amounting to 67.80 pence and56.25 pence per share respectively. Review of Investments Our key investment areas continue to be the hotel, care home, leisure andresidential property development sectors. In the hotel sector, we have seen an uplift in the valuation of our investmentin the Days Hotel in the Mailbox development in Birmingham over the course ofthe year and are currently preparing to re-brand the hotel as a Ramada whichshould enhance the hotel's profitability. The new 183 bedroom Stansted Expressby Holiday Inn hotel at Stansted Airport is now open and trading to date hasbeen very encouraging, leading to an increase of £1.1 million in the valuationof the Company's investment. Recently the Company has made two additionalinvestments in the sector, in The Place Sandwich Limited, which acquired theBell Hotel in Sandwich in January, and The Bear Hungerford Limited, whichacquired the historic Bear Hotel in Hungerford in March of this year. Both ofthese latter hotels are undergoing significant refurbishment. In the care home sector the very successful sale of our five homes for peoplewith learning disabilities in East Anglia was completed in April 2004 and wasmentioned in my last statement. The newly built 80 bed nursing home in Romfordowned by Barleycroft Care Home Limited opened in January of this year and isfilling swiftly. Meanwhile performance at the 75 bed home in Dover owned byApplecroft Care Home Limited is continuing to improve. Further opportunities inthe care home sector are currently under negotiation. In the leisure sector, the most significant event was the successful disposal inDecember 2004 of the Company's investment in Odyssey Glory Mill Limited whichbuilt and operated a health and fitness club outside Beaconsfield. Thisgenerated a capital profit of £1.3 million on total cost of £4.5 million as wellas a running return in excess of 10 per cent. per annum. In the cinema arena,profits at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse were lower than the previous year butthe recent independent valuation of the cinema increased as the impact of a newcinema in Cambridge was less than originally feared. The performance of theLiverpool Picturehouse at FACT continued to improve and the Company has invested£0.9 million as part of a £2.5 million investment in CS (Greenwich) Limited,which is undertaking the redevelopment of a cinema in Greenwich, London,expected to re-open in September of this year. The Bold Pub Company Limited, inwhich the Company invested a further £1 million during the course of the year,has shown continued progress, now owning 27 pubs, principally in the North Westof England. Meanwhile new investments have been made in The Independent PubCompany (VCT) Limited, which has acquired the Pelican public house outsideHungerford, and Churchill Taverns VCT Limited, which has acquired andrefurbished Ye Three Fyshes public house in Turvey, outside Bedford. In the residential development sector, which is restricted to 20 per cent. ofthe portfolio, we continue to have four companies established with separatedevelopers. Slower than anticipated sales progress and some unforeseenadditional costs have led us to make a provision against the holding value ofone of these, but dividends were received from the remaining three companiesduring the course of the year, with further dividends anticipated in the currentyear, in addition to the running return provided by the loan stock from allfour. Results and Dividend As at 31 March 2005 the net asset value was £41.6 million or 115.9 pence pershare, which compares with a net asset value at 31 March 2004 of £40.6 millionor 113.1 pence per ordinary share. Net revenue income before taxation was £2.9million (2004: £2.8 million), out of which the Company paid an interim revenuedividend of 2.80 pence per share. The Company also had sufficient capitalprofits to pay an interim capital dividend of 1.45 pence per share. The boardnow proposes a final revenue dividend of 2.95 pence per share and a finalcapital dividend of 1.80 pence per share, resulting in total revenue dividendsfor the year of 5.75 pence and total capital dividends of 3.25 pence, or 9.00pence per share in total (2004: total dividends of 8.50 pence per share). Thefinal dividends for the year ended 31 March 2005 will be paid on 14 July 2005 toshareholders registered on 17 June 2005. David WatkinsChairman 9 June 2005 THE PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS Investment Cumulative Valuation Valuation Valuation Reserved for at cost Revaluation 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 movement investmentSector and investment £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000----------------- ----- ------ ------- ------- ------ ----- Hotels Premier VCT (Mailbox) Limited 4,600 2,200 6,800 5,688 1,112 Kew Green VCT (Stansted) Limite 3,000 1,101 4,101 2,000 1,101 2,000The Place Sandwich VCT Limited 1,000 - 1,000 - - The Bear Hungerford Limited 1,000 - 1,000 - - 700 ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- Total investment in the hotel 9,600 3,301 12,901 7,688 2,213 2,700sector ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ----- Care Homes------------Applecroft Care Home Limited 1,925 - 1,925 1,000 - Barleycroft Care Home Limited 2,000 - 2,000 1,000 - 275 ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ----- Total investment in the care home 3,925 - 3,925 2,000 - 275sector ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ---- Leisure---------Churchill Taverns VCT Limited 180 - 180 - - City Screen (Cambridge) Limited 1,210 295 1,505 1,336 169 City Screen (Liverpool) Limited 200 (22) 178 180 (2) CS (Greenwich) Limited 900 - 900 - - The Bold Pub Company Limited 1,260 36 1,296 260 36 The Independent Pub Company VCT 290 - 290 - - Limited ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- Total investment in the leisure 4,040 309 4,349 1,776 203 -sector ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ---- Residential property development---------------------------------- Chase Midland VCT Limited 1,600 - 1,600 1,600 - Country & Metropolitan VCT 3,000 - 3,000 3,000 - LimitedPrime VCT Limited 2,200 (100) 2,100 2,200 (100) Youngs VCT Limited 1,200 - 1,200 1,200 - ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- Total investment in the 8,000 (100) 7,900 8,000 (100) residential property developmentsector ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- Total qualifying investments 25,565 3,510 29,075 19,464 2,316 2,975 ------- -------- --------- --------- ------- ----- Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC Statement of Total Return for the year ended 31 March 2005 Year ended 31 March 2005 Year ended 31 March 2004 Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Gains on investments - 2,684 2,684 - 2,971 2,971 Investment income 3,384 - 3,384 3,438 - 3,438 Investment management (263) (788) (1,051) (419) (478) (897)fees Administration (232) - (232) (151) (131) (282)expenses ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ----- Return on ordinary activities 2,889 1,896 4,785 2,868 2,362 5,230before interest and tax Finance charge (5) (16) (21) (54) - (54) ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ----- Return on ordinary 2,884 1,880 4,764 2,814 2,362 5,176activities before tax Tax on ordinary (778) 241 (537) (802) 183 (619)activities ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ------ Return attributable to 2,106 2,121 4,227 2,012 2,545 4,557shareholders Distributions (2,063) (1,166) (3,229) (1,633) (1,417) (3,050) ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ------ Transfer to reserves 43 955 998 379 1,128 1,507 ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ------ Return per share 5.87 5.91 11.78 5.60 7.10 12.70(pence) ------- ------ ------ ---- ------- ------ ------ All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuingoperations. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the year. Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2005 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 £'000 £'000 Fixed asset investmentsQualifying:Scheduled for investment 32,050 44,230Less: uninvested (2,975) (5,340) -------- --------Net qualifying investments to date 29,075 38,890Non-qualifying investments 2 - Total fixed asset investments 29,077 38,890---------------------- ---------- ---------- Current AssetsDebtors and accrued income 267 225Cash at banks 14,737 5,735---------------------- ---------- ---------- 15,004 5,960 ---------- ---------- Creditors: due within one year (2,500) (3,269)---------------------- ---------- ---------- Net current assets 12,504 2,691---------------------- ---------- ---------- Creditors: due after one year - (1,000)---------------------- ---------- ---------- Total Assets 41,581 40,581---------------------- ---------- ---------- Shareholders FundsOrdinary Share Capital 17,939 17,939Special reserve 14,110 14,110Capital redemption reserve 1,914 1,914Capital reservesrealised 3,478 222unrealised 3,510 5,811Revenue Reserve 630 585 ---------- ---------- Total Shareholders' Funds 41,581 40,581---------------------- ---------- ---------- Net asset value (pence per share) 115.89 113.11---------------------- ---------- ---------- Close Brothers Venture Capital Trust PLC Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 March 2005 Year ended Year ended 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 £'000 £'000 ------------------------- ---------- ---------- Operating activitiesInvestment income 2,693 3,189Dividend income 197 208Deposit interest 433 287Other income 13 -Investment management fees paid (1,284) (923)Administrative expenses paid (218) (202)------------------------- ---------- ---------- Net cash inflow from operating 1,834 2,559activities Servicing of financeFinance interest (31) (53) TaxationUK corporation tax paid (743) (150)VAT (paid)/repaid (53) 1 Capital expenditure and financialinvestmentPurchase of qualifying investments (7,295) (4,428)Purchase of non-qualifying (388) -investmentsDisposal of qualifying investments 19,739 89Disposal of non-qualifying 386 100investments------------------------- ---------- ---------- Net cash inflow/(outflow) from 12,442 (4,239)investing activities Equity dividends paidRevenue dividends paid on ordinary (1,632) (2,332)sharesCapital dividends paid on ordinary (1,865) (610)shares------------------------- ---------- ---------- Net cash inflow/(outflow) before 9,952 (4,824)financing FinancingRedemption of equity net of expenses - (92)Repayment of loan facilities (950) -------------------------- ---------- ---------- Net cash outflow from financing (950) (92)------------------------- ---------- ---------- Increase/(decrease) in cash 9,002 (4,916)------------------------- ---------- ---------- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange