Coats Group Plc Regulatory News (COA)

11 Dec 2007 16:39

Close Brothers Aim Vct PLC11 December 2007 Close Brothers AIM VCT PLC Interim Management Statement Introduction I am pleased to present your Company's second interim management statement forthe period from 1st September to the 11th December 2007 as required by the UKListing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.3. Performance You will not need me to remind you that these months have seen a rise in riskaversion amongst investors, increased share price volatility and growingconcerns about global and UK economic growth in the wake of significant problemserupting in the financial sector. In such circumstances, investing for growthhas ceased to be an objective for very many investors, smaller company shareshave been treated as even more risky and share prices have been substantiallyderated and marked down. Your Company has, not surprisingly, seen its Net Asset Value ("NAV") in theOrdinary share portfolio fall over the period to 65.73 pence per share(unaudited) as at 5 December 2007. This compares with 79.52 pence per share(unaudited) reported in the Half-yearly Financial Report as at 31 August 2007.The 5th December NAV has been struck after allowing for a 2.5p per sharedividend payment. The NAV in the D share portfolio fell over the period to 116.52 pence per share(unaudited) as at 5 December 2007 compared to 126.19 pence per share (unaudited)as reported in the Half-yearly Financial Report to 31 August 2007. The 5thDecember NAV has been struck after allowing for a 2.5p per share dividendpayment. Portfolios Your Company's Investment Manager has continued to make investments in theperiod to 11 December 2007. A total of £0.3m has been invested by the Ordinaryportfolio which has also realised £0.8m from share sales. The D share portfoliohas invested £1.5m and raised £0.4m from disposals. As at 30 November 2007 theOrdinary and D share portfolio were 90% and 72% invested in qualifyinginvestments respectively. The qualifying levels are in excess of the minimum 70% level required by HMRCregulations and which the D share portfolio has to reach by the end of February2008. Top Ten Qualifying Holdings Ordinary Portfolio at 5th December 2007 Market Value £'000 Tanfield Group PLC 1,023Bond International Software PLC 977Mears Group PLC 766Zetar PLC 686Pilat Media Global PLC 682Mattioli Woods PLC 673Pipex PLC 672Claimar Care Group PLC 669Cello Group PLC 607Neuropharm Group PLC 576 D Portfolio at 5th December 2007 Market Value £'000 Claimar Care Group PLC 902Tanfield Group PLC 867Mattioli Woods PLC 673Neuropharm Group PLC 576IDOX PLC 555Melorio PLC 539Clerkenwell Ventures PLC 478Zetar PLC 429Work Group PLC 428Research Now PLC 409 All of the top ten qualifying holdings are quoted and valued at bid price as at5th December 2007. Dividends In the Half-yearly Financial Report the Board declared a dividend of 2.5 penceto all Ordinary shareholders and 2.5 pence to all D shareholders. Thesedividends will be paid on 28 December 2007 to shareholders on the register on 30November 2007. Share buybacks During the period to 11 December, the company repurchased 446,730 Ordinaryshares for treasury at an average price of 68 pence per share. There were no Dshare buybacks in the period. Your Company will continue to remain invested so as to maintain its VCT statusand your Investment Manager believes that it can continue to make soundinvestments in growth companies at attractive valuations. Part of the reasoningfor this view is that there are now fewer investors seeking to invest in growingAIM companies, but there remains a steady flow of companies raising capital onAIM. Though there may be difficulties ahead for small company share prices in theshort term and therefore for your Company's NAV, it still remains the case thatwell managed smaller companies can grow and will do so in the longer term. 11 December 2007 For further information please contact Andrew Buchanan/Kate Tidbury of CloseInvestments Limited Tel: 0207 426 4139 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange