Br.smaller Cos. Regulatory News (BSV)

1 Feb 2005 08:51

British Smaller Companies VCT PLC01 February 2005 British Smaller Companies VCT plc Announcement BRITISH SMALLER COMPANIES VCT PLC ("the Company")1 February 2005 3rd Quarter Results and Special Interim Dividend The Company today announces a 5.6% increase over the quarter in its net assetvalue per share to 81.3p at 31 December 2004, before the payment of a proposedspecial dividend. Commenting on the results, the Chairman, Sir Andrew Hugh Smith, said he waspleased with the continued progress of the portfolio. He added, "The successover the current year has consolidated the improvements that have been seen forsome time now. The underlying portfolio has delivered compound growth of 15% perannum over the two years to 31 December 2004. This has resulted in the totalreturn for a shareholder who invested in the first round of fundraisingincreasing to 107p per share including dividends paid of 25.7p per share sincelaunch." Looking ahead, Sir Andrew said, "I remain optimistic, particularly given theperformance of the underlying unquoted portfolio, that we will be able tocontinue to perform strongly in the year ahead." During the third quarter, the Company realised its investment in AminoTechnologies, made in June 2004, for a profit of £180,000. In light of this, theBoard has approved a special interim dividend of 1.1p per share, which willdistribute substantially all of this realised profit. The dividend will be paidon 28 February 2005 to shareholders on the Register at 11 February 2005.Dividends paid and declared since 31 March 2004 total 7.4p per share. Contact: Phil Cammerman, YFM Private Equity Limited 0113 294 5050David Hall, YFM Private Equity Limited 0161 832 7603 END This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange