Athelney Tst. Regulatory News (ATY)

Athelney Trust PLC

Legal Entity Identifier:

213800ON67TJC7F4DL05

The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 235.3p at 30 September 2019.

Fund Manager's comment for September 2019

Earlier in the month the US Federal Reserve reduced the fed funds rate by 25 bps as a result of ongoing global economic weakness and muted inflationary pressures in the US. Furthermore, US consumer confidence was weaker than expected in September, falling 9.1 points to 125.1, while durable goods orders rose 0.2% in August. Non-defence capital goods orders fell by a similar amount and were revised lower for the prior month, indicating that capital spending in the US continues to weaken.

Preliminary economic data for the Eurozone in September was also weak, signalling that the economic slowdown is unlikely to abate. The factory sector appears to be contracting at least as fast as it did during the sovereign debt crisis and it remains to be seen if the recent move by the ECB to cut rates and restart QE will be enough to reverse the current trend.

In the UK, gross domestic product (GDP) was confirmed to have fallen by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2019 with services providing the only positive contribution to growth in the output approach to calculating GDP. Private consumption, government consumption and net trade contributed positively, while gross capital formation contributed negatively to GDP growth, which, compared with the same quarter a year ago, increased by 1.3% to June 2019.

The major world markets as represented by the MSCI World Index and the S&P 500 rebounded in September with these indices up by 1.9% and 1.7% respectively. The UK market was also up in with the FTSE 100 Index increasing by 2.8% while the Small Cap Index was the best performing index, increasing by 3.3%. The Fledgling Index did not perform as well, increasing by 1.0% while the AIM All Share Index was the worst performing index, declining by 0.02% during the month. Our portfolio of investments performed better than the market, increasing by 3.1% during the month which, after allowing for expenses resulted in a 2.8% improvement in the NAV.

As mentioned previously, the positioning of the portfolio has, to a large extent been completed, with a few smaller names to be sold as we are able to find buyers for these illiquid stocks. Accordingly, our positions in M&C Saatchi, Photo-me and Huntsworth were sold increasing the cash in portfolio while adding Abcam to the portfolio.

Fact Sheet

An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website www.athelneytrust.co.uk under "Portfolio Details".

Background Information

Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl

Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"), an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney trust for many years.

E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (licence no.421704).

www.ecpohl.com

www.ecpam.com

Manny Pohl and the ECP group has over AU$1000m under its management including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:

·; Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI)

AUD50m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au

·; Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST)

AUD23m www.barrackst.com

·; Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL)

AUD26m www.globalmastersfund.com.au

·; Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY)

GBP5m www.athelneytrust.co.uk

Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy

 The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.

The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.

Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link

www.theaic.co.uk/aic/news/press-releases/next-generation-of-dividend-heroes

Website

www.athelneytrust.co.uk