Last checked at 
19 Jun 2009 15:59
Foresight 4 VCT plc
Summary
Net asset value per Ordinary Share as at 28 February 2009 was 96.2p (after the payment of a 5.0p per share interim dividend) compared to 110.2p as at 29 February 2008.
An interim dividend of 5.0p per share dividend paid on 19 December 2008.
Five new investments totalling £1,953,037 were made in Diagnos Holdings Limited (£1,000,000), O-Gen UK Limited (£345,014), Lynwood Group Holdings Limited (£300,000), Silvigen Limited (£250,000) and @Futsal Limited (£58,023).
Proceeds of £2,173,910 were realised from three investments: £1,952,800 from the sale of Utarget, a further £150,310 from the ongoing realisation of Casella Group's assets, £70,800 from a loan repayment by VectorCommand and an undisclosed sum from the sale of Advanced Visual Technology.
As a result of the current top-up offer, launched in November 2008, £311,875 was raised as at 28 February 2009 rising to £1.4 million as at 31 May 2009.
The Company made eleven follow-on investments totalling £3,062,261: Closed Loop London (£1,083,333), O-Gen Acme Trek (£455,000), Iskra Wind Turbines (£431,250), Advanced Visual Technology (£306,000), Global Immersion (£266,672), TFC Europe (£150,000), The Bunker Secure Hosting (£118,700), SkillsMarket (£72,388), Aigis Blast Protection (£65,660), Vectorcommand (£60,000) and OLED-T (£53,258).
Chairman's Statement
During the year under review, stock markets continued to experience adverse conditions primarily as a result of the crisis in the banking sector and the resulting effect this had on both businesses and consumers. These financial difficulties combined with volatile commodity prices resulted in a particularly difficult trading environment in many sectors of the economy. Against this background your Company's net asset value fell to 96.2p per share from 110.2p per share twelve months earlier. This decline was largely due to prudent write-downs within the portfolio and the dividend declared in the year.
Reflecting recent investment gains and income generated from loan stock, an interim dividend of 5.0p per Share for the year ended 28 February 2009 was paid on 19 December 2008. The Company's policy is to maximize the level of tax-free dividends, either generated from income or from capital profits realised on the sale of investments.
Portfolio Review
Datapath achieved profits in excess of £2.5 million for the year ended 31 March 2008 and is on track for further progress in the year to 31 March 2009. An investment of £1 million was made in September 2007. This holding was valued at £2.9 million at 28 February 2009 on the basis of a discounted price earnings multiple.
Closed Loop Recycling is a business at the leading edge of plastics recycling in the UK. The company is focused on producing food grade recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (high density polyethylene). PET is the clear plastic used in over 50% of soft drinks bottles, with over 300,000 tonnes used per annum in the UK but none currently recycled for use as food grade plastic. HDPE is the white plastic used in milk bottles. Closed Loop Recycling has completed its first recycling plant in Dagenham (East London) and is now trading close to full capacity.
Despite difficult trading conditions, the performance of a number of other portfolio companies continued to improve, reflecting growing demand and strong sales pipelines, most notably Adeptra, Trilogy, Infrared Integrated Systems (IRISYS) and Ixaris.
Adeptra is enjoying strongly growing sales for its automated alert services, in particular winning more contracts from major financial institutions and utilities in the USA and UK.
Trilogy, which provides audio intercoms systems, performed strongly during the year ended 28 February 2009 showing turnover growth of 17% to £6.5 million. Over the last four years sales have consistently grown at an average annual rate of 19%. Importantly, this growth has driven the business into operational profitability, a major milestone. Further progress is anticipated in 2009 with a number of new product lines being introduced during the year and a strong sales pipeline, particularly into the US market.
Infrared Integrated Systems which provides infrared detection and imaging systems had a record year in 2008 with revenues of £12.5 million, almost 40% up on the previous year's £9 million. On the back of this substantial revenue growth, IRISYS generated profits of £863,000 for 2008 compared to a small loss in 2007. The company's cash position is strong but given the current economic environment it takes a cautious view about the prospects for the current year.
Ixaris' sales progress has continued throughout its current financial year as a result of focusing on growing its sales team and diversifying into new markets.
After several years of building revenues and investment in product development, Eqos had a difficult 2008 as its retail and financial services customers delay capital expenditure on large software systems. The company is considering moving from large one-off sales to a subscription usage model for its software to counter the current downturn in trading. This would require additional funding as the subscription usage model would take some time to build up.
OLED-T did not make the necessary commercial progress with its proprietary chemicals for improving the colour and life of displays on mobile phones and similar electronic equipment as quickly as had originally been envisaged or to support further investment. The company sold its IPR assets to chemical company Merck and is in administration and being wound up. As a result Foresight 4 has provided in full against the value of this investment.
Demand from recruitment companies for Skillsmarket's products and services is suffering as a consequence of general trading conditions within the recruitment industry and a provision has been made against this investment. A further £1 million was successfully raised from existing shareholders in two tranches in December 2008 and February 2009, in which Foresight 4 participated, to provide ongoing working capital.
Foresight 4 invested £65,660 into Aigis Blast Protection as part of a £750,000 follow-on funding round to provide additional capital to invest in its sales force with the objective of accelerating growth. Reflecting lower than expected sales growth in recent years this round was completed at a lower valuation and a provision has been made against the previous value of the investment. The company does, however, have a strong pipeline of opportunities for 2009.
Investment Activity
The level of new investment activity has started to pick up again, with five new investments being made totaling £1,953,037: £345,014 in O-Gen UK Limited, £300,000 in Lynwood Group Holdings Limited, £250,000 in Silvigen Limited, £58,023 in @Futsal Limited and £1,000,000 in the recent management buyout of Diagnos Holdings Limited. This is in line with Foresight's increasing focus on investing in the environmental infrastructure and smaller management buyout sectors.
Lynwood is an established business in the plastic building products market in the UK and has made the transition to using waste plastic streams as its raw material. Lynwood acquired a small business with specialist expertise in manufacturing wood profile and wood replacement products from waste plastic and it is now one of the better equipped plastic recycling manufacturing operations in the UK. The company is well positioned in a growing market for recycled and sustainable products such as wood replacement, which offer considerable economic and environmental advantages. A follow-on funding round of £50,000 was made in December 2008 for working capital purposes.
Silvigen has positioned itself to supply the important biomass (e.g. wood pellets) fuel needs of the UK power generation sector and the developing industrial heat sector, both of which are driven by a number of regulatory incentives.
@Futsal Limited has been established by the founding team of Covion (the successful Foresight investment sold to Balfour Beatty in 2007 for £33 million at a multiple of over four times cost) to roll out a chain of indoor football centres. Futsal is the fastest growing indoor sport in the world with 30 million people playing internationally. The sport has not yet developed in the UK but as the only form of small sided football supported by the FA, UEFA and FIFA and with the support of major sports brands, it is rapidly gaining momentum.
Diagnos develops and sells sophisticated automotive diagnostic software and hardware to independent mechanics and garages to allow them to service and repair vehicles. As cars have become increasingly sophisticated, they have become more reliant on the electronic systems that run functions such as fuel injection and engine management systems, meaning that to fix any fault a mechanic needs to be able to 'talk to' the computer running the process or system. Diagnos specialises in providing the sophisticated tools necessary for these tasks.
In May 2007 Foresight 4 invested in O-Gen which builds and operates plants that convert organic matter into combined heat and power. The first plant has been built and should be operational in the near future. The company underwent a reorganisation in December 2008, and demerged into two new companies, O-Gen Acme Trek where Foresight's 4's existing investment is held and O-Gen UK, a new company. Foresight 4 made a follow-on investment of £455,000 in O-Gen Acme Trek to provide further capital to enable the plant to progress to full commissioning. O-Gen UK's remit is to develop sites for further new plants and has so far received consent for three new sites. Foresight 4 invested £345,014 in the company in December 2008 as part of the planned rollout of these biomass facilities.
The Company raised a total of eleven follow-on investments during the year totalling £3,062,261. These were: Closed Loop London (£1,083,333), O-Gen Acme Trek (£455,000), Iskra Wind Turbines (£431,250), Advanced Visual Technology (£306,000), Global Immersion (£266,672), TFC Europe (£150,000), The Bunker Secure Hosting (£118,700), SkillsMarket (£72,388), Aigis Blast Protection (£65,660), Vectorcommand (£60,000) and OLED-T (£53,258).
Advanced Visual Technology (AVT) required further funding while progressing through its sales process. During the year, AVT was sold to Oracle for an undisclosed amount which at the present time is subject to certain targets. A further investment was made into O-Gen Acme Trek in April to fund the latest stage of the company's biomass to energy plant. The plant has already produced some electricity with full commissioning expected later in 2009.
The Bunker Secure Hosting is experiencing increasing demand for its ultra secure IT hosting services and is currently planning for a substantial increase in its capacity. Closed Loop London has completed its first plant in Dagenham and is in the early stages of developing a second plant in the north-west of England.
TFC Europe, SkillsMarket, Global Immersion and Vectorcommand required further investment due to a shortfall in working capital as a result of poor trading in the current difficult climate. These companies have all made significant cost reductions which have led to an improvement in underlying results. The investment in OLED-T was to finance the company on the anticipation of an impending strategic investment by a large chemicals company but strategic investment did not materialise and OLED-T's IP was sold for €450,000.
Realisations
Utarget, a provider of Internet subsite advertising, was sold to Fox International in March 2008 for total proceeds of £1,952,800 compared to an original cost of £1,000,000. This represented an uplift of 95% on cost in little over a year, following the original investment in December 2006.
Foresight 4 sold its interest in Advanced Visual Technology during October 2008 for an undisclosed sum payable over the next three years.
Additionally, further proceeds of £150,310 were received from the ongoing sale of the assets of The Casella Group. A final payment from the completion of the liquidation process was received in April 2009. VectorCommand repaid a small loan (£70,800) during September 2008.
Dividend
The Company's dividend policy is to aim to distribute to shareholders a steady flow of dividends from income and realised capital gains. Reflecting recent realised gains, an interim dividend of 5.0p per share for the year ended 28 February 2009 was paid on 19 December 2008 compared with 5.0p in 2007, making 17.5p per share of cumulative dividend payments in the last three years.
Investment companies have recently been experiencing unsuccessful attempts at dividend cheque fraud through the presentation of fake copies of dividend cheques at banks.
Please phone investor relations at Foresight Group if you become aware or suspicious of any similar activity and please be on guard against such fraudulent acts.
Valuation policy
Investments held by the Company have been valued in accordance with the International Private Equity and Venture Capital (IPEVC) guidelines developed by the British Venture Capital Association and other organizations under which investments are valued, as defined in the guidelines, at "fair value". Ordinarily, unquoted investments will be valued at cost for the 12 months following the date of acquisition as the most suitable approximation of fair value unless there is an impairment or significant accretion in value during the period. Quoted investments and investments traded on AIM and PLUS Markets are valued at the bid price as at 28 February 2009. The portfolio valuations are prepared by Foresight Group and are subject to approval by the Board.
Share Issues and Share Buy-backs
The top-up offer, launched in November 2008, raised gross proceeds of £311,875 as at 28 February 2009 through the issue of 292,482 ordinary shares at prices ranging between 104.0p and 110.0p per share. The top-up offer was run in conjunction with top-up offers for Foresight VCT, Foresight 2 and Foresight 3. The offer closed on 31 May 2009 having raised gross proceeds of approximately £1.4 million.
The previous linked offer for subscription launched in January 2008 between Foresight VCT, Foresight 2, Foresight 3 and Foresight 4 raised £7,917,503 when it closed on 30 April 2008. Under that offer the Company issued 787,662 Ordinary Shares at prices ranging from 109.0p to 116.0p per share in the current year. These funds enable your Company to remain an active investor in the current market and take advantage of the stream of new opportunities being received by Foresight Group.
All of these share issues were under the new VCT provisions that commenced on 6 April 2006, namely: 30% upfront income tax relief which can be retained by qualifying investors if the shares are held for the minimum five year holding period.
It continues to be the Company's policy to consider purchasing shares in the market when they become available in order to help provide liquidity for the Company's shareholders. During the period, the Company repurchased 402,282 shares at a cost of £322,284.
Annual General Meeting
The Company's Annual General Meeting will take place on 14 July 2009. I look forward to welcoming you to the meeting, which will be held at 12.00 pm at the offices of Martineau, 35 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6BW.
Outlook
The extreme volatility of the financial markets as well as the increasing difficulty of raising debt finance has proved a double edged sword for the Company. On the one hand Foresight Group's deal flow of companies seeking investment, particularly in the environmental infrastructure sector, is stronger than ever as potential investee companies are finding financial institutions currently less inclined to invest than in the recent past. On the other hand, there is evidence of trade sales generally and within the portfolio being delayed or terminated as a result of the lack of finance available to potential acquirers.
The Board and Foresight Group are conscious that we are in a period of economic slowdown and tight credit conditions. In this environment all investee companies have been and will continue to be encouraged to keep a tight control on costs and conserve cash.
Peter Dicks
Chairman
18 June 2009
For further information please contact:
Gary Fraser, Foresight Fund Managers Limited Tel: 01732 471800
The Disclosure and Transparency Rules ("DTR") of the UK Listing Authority require certain disclosures in relation to the annual financial report, as follows:
Principal risks, risk management and regulatory environment
The Board believes that the principal risks faced by the Company are:
Economic risk - events such as an economic recession and movement in interest rates could affect smaller companies' valuations.
Loss of approval as a Venture Capital Trust - the Company must comply with Section 274 of the Income Tax Act 2007 which allows it to be exempted from capital gains tax on investment gains. Any breach of these rules may lead to the Company losing its approval as a VCT; qualifying shareholders who have not held their shares for the designated holding period having to repay the income tax relief they obtained; and future dividends paid by the Company becoming subject to tax.
Investment and strategic - inappropriate strategy, poor asset allocation or consistent weak stock selection might lead to under performance and poor returns to shareholders.
Regulatory - the Company is required to comply with the Companies Acts, the rules of the UK Listing Authority and United Kingdom Accounting Standards. Breach of any of these might lead to suspension of the Company's Stock Exchange listing, financial penalties or a qualified audit report.
Reputational - inadequate or failed controls might result in breaches of regulations or loss of shareholder trust.
Operational - failure of the Adviser's accounting systems or disruption to its business might lead to an inability to provide accurate reporting and monitoring.
Financial - inadequate controls might lead to misappropriation of assets. Inappropriate accounting policies might lead to misreporting or breaches of regulations.
Market risk - investment in AIM traded, PLUS traded and unquoted companies by nature involve a higher degree of risk than investment in companies traded on the main market. In particular, smaller companies often have limited product lines, markets or financial resources and may be dependent for their management on a smaller number of key individuals. In addition, the market for stock in smaller companies is often less liquid than that for stock in larger companies, bringing with it potential difficulties in acquiring, valuing and disposing of such stock.
Liquidity risk - the Company's investments may be difficult to realise. The fact that a share is traded on AIM does not guarantee its liquidity. The spread between the buying and selling price of such shares may be wide and thus the price used for valuation may not be achievable.
The Board seeks to mitigate the internal risks by setting policy, regular review of performance, enforcement of contractual obligations and monitoring progress and compliance. In the mitigation and management of these risks, the Board applies rigorously the principles detailed in the 'Turnbull' guidance.
Statement of Directors' Responsibilities
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Directors' Report and the financial statements, in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of its profit or loss for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required to:
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also responsible for preparing a Directors' Report (including Business Review), Directors' Remuneration Report and Corporate Governance Statement that comply with that law and those regulations.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Company's website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
The Financial Statements are published on www.foresightgroup.eu
Responsibility Statement of the Directors in respect of the Annual Financial Report
We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:
- the financial statements, prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company; and
- the Directors' Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the issuer together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.
Additionally, the Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge that the annual financial report includes a fair review of the development, performance and position of the Company as required by DTR 4.1.8 to 4.1.12.
Audited Profit and Loss Account
for the year ended 28 February 2009
| Year to 28 February 2009 | Year to 29 February 2008 | |||||
| Revenue | Capital | Total | Revenue | Capital | Total | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| Investment income and deposit interest | 753 | - | 753 | 559 | - | 559 |
| Investment management fees | (105) | (314) | (419) | (169) | (506) | (675) |
| Other expenses | (264) | - | (264) | (258) | - | (258) |
| Investment holding (losses)/gains | - | (1,100) | (1,100) | - | 1,387 | 1,387 |
| Operating profit/(loss) | 384 | (1,414) | (1,030) | 132 | 881 | 1,013 |
| (Loss)/gain on realisation of investments | - | (1,055) | (1,055) | - | 2,017 | 2,017 |
| Profit/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation | 384 | (2,469) | (2,085) | 132 | 2,898 | 3,030 |
| Tax on ordinary activities | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Profit/(loss) on ordinary activities after taxation | 384 | (2,469) | (2,085) | 132 | 2,898 | 3,030 |
| Balance transferred to/(from) reserves | 384 | (2,469) | (2,085) | 132 | 2,898 | 3,030 |
| Earnings per share | 1.6p | (10.5)p | (8.9)p | 0.6p | 13.1p | 13.7p |
All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. The total column represents the Company's profit and loss account. The supplementary revenue and capital columns are presented for information purposes as recommended by the Guidance note issued by the Association of Investment Companies.
The Company has no recognised gains and losses other than those shown in the Profit and Loss Account; therefore, no separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented.
Audited Reconciliation of Movement in Shareholders' Funds
for the year ended 28 February 2009
| Called-up share capital | Share premium account | Capital redemption reserve | Profit and loss account | Total | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| As at 28 February 2007 | 224 | 9,176 | 1,820 | 11,461 | 22,681 |
| Share issues in the period | 10 | 1,100 | - | - | 1,110 |
| Expenses on share issues | - | (99) | - | - | (99) |
| Shares repurchased in the period | (6) | - | 6 | (563) | (563) |
| Retained loss for the year | - | - | - | 3,030 | 3,030 |
| Dividend | - | - | - | (1,098) | (1,098) |
| As at 29 February 2008 | 228 | 10,177 | 1,826 | 12,830 | 25,061 |
| Called-up share capital | Share premium account | Capital redemption reserve | Profit and loss account | Total | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| As at 29 February 2008 | 228 | 10,177 | 1,826 | 12,830 | 25,061 |
| Share issues in the period | 10 | 1,179 | - | - | 1,189 |
| Expenses on share issues | - | (104) | - | - | (104) |
| Shares repurchased in the period | (4) | - | 4 | (323) | (323) |
| Retained loss for the year | - | - | - | (2,085) | (2,085) |
| Dividend | - | - | - | (1,187) | (1,187) |
| As at 28 February 2009 | 234 | 11,252 | 1,830 | 9,235 | 22,551 |
Audited Balance Sheet
at 28 February 2009
| 2009 | 2008 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | |
| Non-current assets | ||
| Assets held at fair value through profit or loss - investments | 18,751 | 18,836 |
| Current assets | ||
| Debtors | 2,081 | 1,835 |
| Money market and other deposits | 1,649 | 4,387 |
| Cash | 179 | 121 |
| 3,909 | 6,343 | |
| Creditors: amounts falling due within one year | (109) | (118) |
| Net current assets | 3,800 | 6,225 |
| Net assets | 22,551 | 25,061 |
| Capital and reserves | ||
| Called-up share capital | 234 | 228 |
| Share premium account | 11,252 | 10,177 |
| Capital redemption reserve | 1,830 | 1,826 |
| Profit and loss account | 9,235 | 12,830 |
| Equity shareholders' funds | 22,551 | 25,061 |
| Net asset value per ordinary share | 96.2p | 110.2p |
Audited Cash Flow Statement
for the year ended 28 February 2009
| 2009 | 2008 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | |
| Cashflow from operating activities | ||
| Investment income received | 346 | 176 |
| Deposit and similar interest received | 193 | 212 |
| Investment management fees paid | (444) | (639) |
| Secretarial fees paid | (43) | (37) |
| Other cash payments | (166) | (166) |
| Net cash outflow from operating activities and returns on investment | (114) | (454) |
| Taxation | - | - |
| Financial investment | ||
| Purchase of unquoted investments and investments quoted on AIM | (5,467) | (4,863) |
| Net proceeds on sale of unquoted investments | 2,632 | 3,725 |
| Net proceeds on sale of quoted investments | - | 394 |
| Net capital outflow from financial investment | (2,835) | (744) |
| Equity dividends paid | (1,187) | (1,098) |
| Net cash outflow before financing and liquid resource management | (4,136) | (2,296) |
| Management of liquid resources | ||
| Movement in money market and other deposits | 2,738 | 2,948 |
| 2,738 | 2,948 | |
| Financing | ||
| Proceeds of fund-raising | 1,889 | - |
| Expenses of fund-raising | (87) | (40) |
| Repurchase of own shares | (346) | (500) |
| 1,456 | (540) | |
| Increase in cash | 58 | 112 |
| Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net cash | ||
| Increase in cash for the year | 58 | 112 |
| Net cash at start of year | 121 | 9 |
| Net cash at end of year | 179 | 121 |
| Reconciliation of operating (loss)/profit to net cash flow from operating activities | ||
| Operating (loss)/profit | (1,030) | 1,013 |
| Unrealised losses/(gains) on investments | 1,100 | (1,387) |
| Decrease in creditors | (198) | (7) |
| Decrease/(increase) in debtors | 14 | (73) |
| Net cash outflow from operating activities | (114) | (454) |
| Analysis of changes in net debt | |||
| At 1 March 2008 | Cash | At 28 February 2009 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| Cash at 1 March 2008 | 121 | 58 | 179 |
Notes
1. The audited preliminary results have been prepared on the basis of accounting policies set out in the statutory accounts of the Company for the year ended 28 February 2009. All investments held by the Company are classified as 'fair value through the profit and loss'. Unquoted investments have been valued in accordance with IPEVC guidelines. Quoted investments are stated at bid prices in accordance with the IPEVC guidelines and Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
2. These are not statutory accounts in accordance with section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The full audited accounts for the year ended 29 February 2008, which were unqualified and did not contain and statements under S237(2) of Companies Act 1985 or S237(3) of Companies Act 1985, have been lodged with the Registrar of Companies. Statutory accounts for the year ended 28 February 2009 including an unqualified audit report and containing no statements under S237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course.
3. Copies of the Annual Report will be sent to shareholders and will be available for inspection at the Registered Office of the Company at ECA Court, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1DU and can be accessed on the following website: www.foresightgroup.eu
4. Net asset value per ordinary share
Net asset value per ordinary share is based on net assets at the year end of £22,551,000 (2008: £25,061,000) and on 23,432,966 (2008: 22,755,104) ordinary shares, being the number of ordinary shares in issue at that date.
5. Earnings per share
| 2009 | 2008 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | |
| Total earnings after taxation | (2,085) | 3,030 |
| Basic earnings per share (note a) | (8.9)p | 13.7p |
| Net revenue from ordinary activities after taxation | 384 | 132 |
| Revenue return per share (note b) | 1.6p | 0.6p |
| Total capital return after taxation | (2,469) | 2,898 |
| Capital return per share (note c) | (10.5)p | 13.1p |
| Weighted average number of shares in issue in the year | 23,435,160 | 22,130,708 |
Notes:
a) Basic earnings per share is total earnings after taxation divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year.
b) Revenue return per share is net revenue after taxation divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year.
c) Capital return per share is total capital return divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year.
6. The Annual General Meeting will be held at 12.00pm on 14 July 2009 at 35 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6BW..
7. Income
| 2009 | 2008 | |
| £'000 | £'000 | |
| Income from investments | ||
| - Unfranked investment income | 565 | 356 |
| Other income | ||
| - Deposit interest | 175 | 203 |
| - Interest received on VAT refunded | 13 | - |
| 753 | 559 |
8. Assets held at fair value through profit or loss - investments
| Quoted | Unquoted | Total | |
| £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | |
| Book cost as at 29 February 2008 | 1,600 | 21,302 | 22,902 |
| Investment holding losses | (185) | (3,881) | (4,066) |
| Valuation at 29 February 2008 | 1,415 | 17,421 | 18,836 |
| Movements in the year: | |||
| Purchases at cost | - | 5,015 | 5,015 |
| Disposal proceeds | - | (3,010) | (3,010) |
| Realised losses | - | (990) | (990) |
| Investment holding losses | (338) | (762) | (1,100) |
| Valuation at 28 February 2009 | 1,077 | 17,674 | 18,751 |
| Book cost at 28 February 2009 | 1,600 | 22,317 | 23,917 |
| Investment holding losses | (523) | (4,643) | (5,166) |
| Valuation at 28 February 2009 | 1,077 | 17,674 | 18,751 |
9. Related Parties
With the exception of Bernard Fairman, no Director has an interest in any contract to which the Company is a party. Bernard Fairman is managing partner of Foresight Group, which acts as investment manager to the Company in respect of its venture capital investments and earned fees of £615,743 during the period (2008: £574,533 plus VAT). Foresight Fund Managers Limited, a subsidiary of Foresight Group, received £70,843 plus VAT during the period in respect of company secretarial fees (2008: £63,550 plus VAT). Foresight Group is also a party to the performance incentive agreement.
END