Henderson Opportunity Trust Regulatory News (HOT)

JANUS HENDERSON FUND MANAGEMENT UK LIMITED

HENDERSON OPPORTUNITIES TRUST PLC

LEGAL ENTITY INDENTIFIER (LEI): 2138005D884NPGHFQS77

2 February 2023

HENDERSON OPPORTUNITIES TRUST PLC

Annual Financial Report for the year ended 31 October 2022

This announcement contains regulated information

Investment Objective

The Company aims to achieve capital growth in excess of the FTSE All-Share Index from a portfolio of primarily UK investments.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

Total Return Performance to 31 October 2022

1 Net Asset Value ("NAV") per ordinary share total return (including dividends reinvested)

2 Share price total return (including dividends reinvested)

3 FTSE All-Share Index

4 AIC UK All Companies simple average

5 Alternative performance measure

6 Calculated based on the NAV per share and share price at year end

7 No performance fee was payable in the year ended 31 October 2022 (2021: £1.2m)

8 This represents three interim dividends of 7.0p each and a proposed final dividend of 13.0p which will be put to shareholders for approval at the Annual General Meeting on 8 March 2023. See the Chaiman's statement for more details. The dividend yield5 for the year ended 31 October 2022 was 3.3% (2021: 2.0%) based on the share price at the year end

Sources: Morningstar Direct, Janus Henderson, Refinitiv Datastream

A glossary of terms and alternative performance measures can be found in the Annual Report

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

Performance review

Against a backdrop of considerable uncertainty, caused in particular by Russia's war in Ukraine and by a rapid acceleration in inflation, it was a very difficult year for absolute and relative performance of this portfolio. During periods of growing investor caution, it is often smaller companies that fall quickest and most steeply. This year was no exception. While the FTSE All-Share Index, the Company's benchmark index, fell a modest 2.8% (as seen in the table below), the FTSE 250 Index of medium sized companies fell 20.5%, the FTSE Small-Cap Index fell 18.6% and the AIM All-Share Index of the smallest listed UK businesses fell 33.2%. The Company has always looked across the whole of the UK market for the best return opportunities. This breadth of investment universe has often led the Fund Managers to invest more than the Company's benchmark in AIM where, in their view, some of the large companies of tomorrow can be found. While this approach has driven good absolute and relative performance over the long term (see 10 year figures below), the portfolio has historically had years of sharp drawdown, driven by volatility in smaller company share prices, on the route to good performance. It is the Fund Managers' view (shared by the Board) that steep falls in UK smaller company share prices have left valuations at attractive levels. Therefore, despite the current uncertainty, it is these low valuation levels and the belief that the companies held can grow over the long term that lead us to think there is currently considerable opportunity for the patient investor.

Income review

While it was a challenging year in capital terms, we are pleased to report an ongoing strong recovery in investment income. Revenue return per share rose 64% to 40.6p. This compares to 24.7p last year and is above the 29.9p achieved in 2019 pre the pandemic. The 40.6p revenue return per share comfortably covers the Company's full year dividend of 34.0p, allowing the Company to add £523,000 to its revenue reserves.

Fees and expenses

The ongoing charge for the year was 0.90%. This is notably lower than 1.85% the previous year, with the fall due to no performance fee being paid during the year. As a reminder, no performance fee will be paid if either the share price or net asset value is lower than their value at the preceding financial year end. The Board continues to monitor fees and other costs closely.

Continuation vote

Following the three year cycle, prescribed under the Company's Articles of Association ("Articles"), there will be a continuation vote at this year's Annual General Meeting ("AGM") (please see AGM details below). The NAV total return of the Company over the last three years has been 8.0%, while the FTSE All-Share total return was 7.1% and the AIC UK All Companies sector returned -2.2%. The dividend per share over the last three years has grown 30.8%, equivalent to compound annual growth of 9.3%.

It is the Fund Manager's view (shared by the Board) that the valuations of the stocks held within the portfolio are low, and that there is an attractive return opportunity particularly within UK smaller companies. The Directors recommend a vote in favour of continuation of the Company, and the Directors and Fund Managers will be voting their shares accordingly. If shareholders vote in favour, the next continuation vote will be in Spring 2026.

The discount level and share buybacks

During the year the Company's shares remained at a discount to net asset value, with the discount ranging from 8.6% to 20.5% and finishing the year at 13.3%. While it is frustrating for the shares to be trading at a persistent (albeit fluctuating) discount, weak sentiment towards UK equities (and in particular smaller companies) led to the AIC UK All Companies sector finishing the year at an average discount of 10.0%, and the AIC UK Smaller Companies sector finishing at an average discount of 14.5%.

There was no share issuance and no shares were bought back during the financial year. It remains the Board's position that were buybacks to be considered, this would be with the aim of enhancing the NAV for existing shareholders rather than seeking to maintain the discount at any specific level. The Board and the Fund Managers believe that the discount situation will improve once investor sentiment towards the UK equity market becomes more positive.

Gearing

Gearing was roughly unchanged over the year, finishing at 13.9% of net assets compared to 13.2% at the start of the year. Within this the Fund Managers were modest net sellers, with purchasing activity over the year being low partially as a result of the very limited Initial Public Offering ("IPO") activity in the UK market. The gearing level remains approximately in line with the Company's long-term average and reflects the fact that the Fund Managers continue to find good value opportunities within the UK equity market, and in particular within UK smaller companies, following the substantial underperformance seen in this area recently.

Annual General Meeting

Our AGM will be held on Wednesday 8 March 2023 at 2.30pm at Janus Henderson Investors' offices at 201 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3AE. I hope as many shareholders as possible will be able to attend to take the opportunity to meet the Board and to hear a presentation from James Henderson. However, if you are unable to attend in person, you can watch the Meeting live by visiting www.janushenderson.com/trustslive. Full details are set out in the Notice of Meeting which has been sent to shareholders with this report and both are also available online at www.hendersonopportunitiestrust.com.

If shareholders would like to submit any questions in advance of the AGM, you are welcome to send these to the Corporate Secretary at itsecretariat@janushenderson.com.

Outlook

This portfolio should not be seen as a proxy for the UK economy. Within the breadth of the Company's investment universe there are many companies that are capable of growing substantially despite the wider backdrop. It is the Fund Managers' view that a significant number of these growth opportunities can be found in the smaller company area (and in particular on AIM), where current investor caution has resulted in very attractive valuations. In our view, for those like the Company who can invest flexibly across these opportunities and who continue to pay close attention to individual company fundamentals and dynamics, patience will be rewarded.

Wendy Colquhoun

Chairman

2 February 2023

FUND MANAGERS' REPORT

Investment backdrop

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has had a very considerable impact on the economy and therefore on equities. It has put upward pressure on prices, most notably energy. The upward move in oil and gas reverberates around the whole economy. The consumer has less to spend, and manufacturers find their costs going up. There is no escaping the havoc it causes. It should be understood that some inflationary problems were already becoming apparent before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. For example, the belated ending of quantitative easing and the ending of lockdown restrictions saw a rise in supply chain problems. Some of the problems were obvious and were therefore rapidly discounted. Others were a surprise: for instance, towards the end of the period the Bank of England had to step in and intervene as some in the pension fund industry had failed correctly to model what would happen to their portfolios on a rapid rise in bond yields. This led them to become forced sellers of UK Government bonds until the Bank of England provided liquidity. By the end of the period some calm had returned helped by a change of personnel at the Treasury.

Through all this economic noise many companies in the portfolio continued to increase their profits and dividends. Evidence of this can be seen in the jump in earnings of the portfolio. However, the share prices of companies seen as sensitive to the economy fell sharply. Smaller companies are especially vulnerable to a swing in investor sentiment. The fear is how long and deep the recession will be and for this to be answered how far interest rates will rise needs to be understood. In the meantime, companies with able management teams and a robust business model have fallen to very low valuations and this provides real opportunity to the patient investor.

Attribution

It was a very difficult year for managing a multi-cap fund relative to a concentrated index made up of predominantly large companies. As can be seen in the table below (Index total return column), larger companies in the FTSE 100 significantly outperformed smaller companies, with a difference in relative returns of more than 20% between the FTSE 100 and small/ medium sized companies (and more than 30% underperformance in the case of AIM stocks).

Note portfolio and index weights are as at financial year end, 31 October 2022. The portfolio weights do not add up to 100% as a small portion of the portfolio sits outside of major UK indices

The key reason for the size differential in performance this year was the make-up of the FTSE 100 Index, with its significant weighting in natural resources stocks that benefitted from rising commodity prices, as well as more defensive sectors such as consumer staples, utilities and pharmaceuticals (where there are significant economies of scale therefore these types of defensive companies tend mostly to exist as very large companies). For this portfolio, with its significant weighting in smaller companies and particularly those on AIM, the size distribution of the portfolio was therefore a significant headwind to performance. On our estimates, the size of the companies held within the portfolio drove the majority of the Company's underperformance relative to its benchmark this year.

Before looking in more detail at the stock-specific elements of performance, it is also worth noting the effect of gearing on underperformance. On our estimates gearing detracted 3.0% from NAV total return during the year and therefore drove a notable, though minority, portion of the underperformance. From a longer-term perspective gearing has been a positive contributor to returns and we continue to see its use as one of the key advantages of the investment trust structure.

Turning to stocks, it is notable that three of the top five performers came from the natural resources sector as energy prices (and particularly natural gas) prices rose. Outside of this, the best performers were companies with stock-specific drivers of earnings growth. For example, ZOO Digital (see share price table since first purchase below), which provides subtitling and dubbing services to content producers such as Disney, grew sales and earnings materially as the market for global content continues to grow. IQGeo also grew sales substantially (both organically and via acquisitions) and this allowed it to become EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) positive in the first half of this year.

Data illustrating the ZOO Digital share price since first purchase (pence) chart in the Annual Report is set out below:

Source: Bloomberg. Share price shown since first purchase on 16 July 2018.

The top 10 contributors to relative return during the financial year were:

*Positive contribution relates to timing of purchases, with shares underperforming for the financial year as a whole

The top 10 detractors from relative return during the financial year were:

In contrast to natural resources, a number of the largest underperformers were in the alternative energy area such as fuel cell companies Ceres Power and AFC Energy. Neither company has had material operational disappointments (Ceres has had some licence fee revenue from a joint venture deferred to early 2023 rather than late 2022, but this is a timing issue rather than a permanent loss of sales). The reason for the share price falls this year has been (in our view) related to a broader reduction in risk appetite in the market at the same time as a rise in interest rates is shifting investor focus towards companies producing cash today rather than those potentially capable of producing sizeable amounts of cash in the future. The alternative energy sector (which sits within the Company's 'early stage' allocation) is now a less than 2% aggregate weight in the portfolio. We believe that there will, for example, be a role for hydrogen to play in the energy transition in 'hard to electrify' areas such as heavy transportation. We therefore continue to think it is right to have a foothold in the area with companies that have the potential to become market leaders across different sectors (for example AFC Energy could become one of the market leaders in a fuel cell replacement for diesel generators).

Outside of alternative energy, the underperformers during the year tended to be cyclically exposed companies such as Scottish housebuilder Springfield Properties and European building materials company SigmaRoc. In both cases we think the businesses have good scope to grow sales and earnings over the medium term driven by, in Springfield's case, a sizeable landbank to work through and in SigmaRoc's case rising infrastructure spend (as well as the potential for further acquisitions). In the short term, however, the share prices of both have fallen materially on concerns of an economic slowdown impacting demand for their products.

Portfolio review

For a number of years, we have divided the portfolio into the classifications in the table below. This serves a dual purpose. Firstly, the guidance ranges around the percentage of the portfolio held in each classification help to ensure diversity, with different classifications expected to perform well in different economic backdrops. Secondly, we have found the classifications help our shareholders to understand the broad nature of the portfolio, with very different fundamental drivers depending on which classification the companies are in.

At the beginning of this financial year, we decided to go a step further and split the portfolio into two broader classifications of 'tomorrow's leaders' and 'stabilisers', which are split out in the table below. Tomorrow's leaders are companies which, in our view, have the capacity to grow sales and earnings materially over the long term. These companies exist across all stages of the company lifecycle, spanning from early-stage businesses operating in nascent but structurally growing end markets to companies which have existed for a long time but which we think have the potential to recover (whether through their own 'self-help' or an end market recovery). Stabilisers, on the other hand, span large companies and natural resource businesses. These are held with the aim of smoothing volatility in the overall portfolio (as well as generating an attractive total return), as we recognise that smaller companies, while on average good performers over the long term, go through periods of large drawdowns as we have seen this financial year. The stabilisers therefore provide exposure to different end markets, whether it is more defensive exposure as is often the case with larger companies or commodity-price exposure with the natural resource companies. The current split of the portfolio across classifications is shown below:

1 The number in brackets is the change in percentage compared to the previous financial year end

This financial year, the stabilisers substantially outperformed tomorrow's leaders. While the position in stabilisers provided some cushion to the Company's performance relative to, for example, the FTSE AIM All-Share Index, this exposure was not enough to offset the Company's significantly larger than benchmark holding in smaller companies (which tend to fall within tomorrow's leaders from the Company's portfolio perspective).

During the previous financial year, we added to the holdings in stabilisers, which consisted largely of adding to holdings in large banks such as Barclays as well as a number of natural resource companies such as Jersey Oil & Gas (these are described in more detail on page 7 of last year's annual report). While these additions were helpful for relative performance in the current financial year, in hindsight (as is often the case) we should have gone further in this portfolio rotation. This financial year, given the scale of performance difference between the two broader classifications, additions have largely been focused in the opposite direction (in other words adding to tomorrow's leaders) given the scale of de-rating we have seen in this area. We go into more detail on this in the section below.

Portfolio activity

During the year we were modest net sellers, purchasing £15.8m in aggregate and selling £20.6m. As a result of the fall in the Company's net asset value, this kept gearing approximately flat during the year, ending at 13.9% net assets relative to 13.2% at the previous year end. Purchasing activity was modest relative to the previous year (when we purchased £35.5m). This was partly a result of very subdued IPO activity in the UK, with the Company participating in only one IPO during the year in domestic appliance retailer Marks Electrical.

Unusually for this portfolio, which has a low average turnover, the largest new purchase for the year was also among the largest sales. Shell was purchased in December 2021 at approximately £17 per share and sold between March and September 2022 at between £19 and £22 per share. The purchase was driven by a combination of attractive cash generation and thinking the Shell integrated portfolio looked well placed during the period of energy transition. While both of these attributes still exist, the scale of the de-rating seen elsewhere in the UK equity market means that (in our view) there are better opportunities available. We also trimmed the natural resources exposure elsewhere, with Serica Energy being the largest individual sale during the year (despite this it remained a top five holding at the year end). As can be seen in the attribution tables set out earlier in this report, while Shell was a good performer in absolute terms for the portfolio, from a relative perspective it was the single largest detractor. This is because Shell forms such a significant weight in the FTSE All-Share Index, averaging 6.6% during the financial year and serves to highlight the challenge in managing a broad multi-cap fund relative to a concentrated benchmark.

Outside of Shell and Marks Electrical, the other new positions established during the year were Finsbury Food, Flutter Entertainment, Haleon (which was inherited from the holding in GlaxoSmithKline), Halfords, i3 Energy, Reckitt Benckiser and Renold. There were also sizable additions to existing positions such as Morgan Advanced Materials and Springfield Properties. Of these, all but two of the active additions were outside of larger companies (the exceptions being Flutter Entertainment and Reckitt Benckiser), as we sought to take advantage of the sharp underperformance and subsequent de-rating in the smaller company area. While these additions have no common attributes in terms of their end markets (they span areas as broad as food production, housebuilding, retailing and industrial components), what they share is having a degree of 'self help' that can help to offset often challenging end markets and a path to becoming substantially larger businesses in time.

Including Shell, six positions were sold in full during the year (the other five being Blue Prism, Franchise Brands, Sensyne Health, Lloyds Banking and Quixant). Of these the largest individual sale was Blue Prism which was sold following a bid approach from US peer SS&C. We also took profits in some long held smaller company positions such as transportation software provider Tracsis and utilities/telecommunications software provider IQGeo. In both cases we continue to see a visible pathway to future sales and earnings growth but they had performed strongly so were reduced for portfolio balance reasons.

Income

This financial year saw a marked recovery in investment income, with earnings per share rising to 40.6p compared to 24.7p last year (and 29.9p in the 2019 financial year to provide a pre-pandemic context). This rise in investment income was helped by material special dividends received during the year, the largest of which was NatWest as it chose to distribute a portion of its excess capital. Excluding special dividends, the earnings per share figure was 37.1p. Stock lending also continued to be a good contributor to income, providing £197,000 income (net of fees) during the year (which compares to £267,000 last year).

Outlook

There are about a thousand companies quoted on the main list and AIM that we could invest in. Some of them over the next few years will become substantially larger regardless of the economic backdrop. The successes will come from many different areas of activity. They will have two things in common - dynamic management and strong business propositions. They will seize the opportunities that come along as well as having long-term strategies. There will also be many corporate failures. The current low valuation of the average company suggests the balance of probabilities is very much in the investors' favour as the corporate successes have current share prices that do not price in the prize of success. This is because despondency is high among investors with general concerns about the economy colouring appraisal of individual companies. The portfolio is a mixture of individual companies all with real growth potential. We need to pay attention to the individual companies and what they are achieving. We will keep with the approach of investing in UK companies of all sizes. We will buy companies when the valuation does not reflect their potential and recycle into the emerging success stories by selling those that have a valuation that appears to reflect the prospects.

James Henderson and Laura Foll

Fund Managers

2 February 2023

MANAGING OUR RISKS

The Board, with the assistance of the Manager, has carried out a robust assessment of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the Company, including those that would threaten its business model, future performance, solvency, liquidity and reputation. The principal risks and uncertainties facing the Company relate to investing in the shares of companies that are listed in the United Kingdom, including small companies. Although the Company invests almost entirely in securities that are listed on recognised markets, share prices may move rapidly, whether upwards or downwards, and it may not be possible to realise an investment at the Manager's assessment of its value. Falls in the value of the Company's investments can be caused by unexpected external events. The companies in which investments are made may operate unsuccessfully, or fail entirely, such that shareholder value is lost. The Company is also exposed to the operational risk that one or more of its contractors or sub-contractors may not provide the required level of service.

The Board considers regularly the principal risks facing the Company in order to mitigate them as far as practicable. The Board monitors the Manager, its other service providers and the internal and external environments in which the Company operates to identify new and emerging risks. The Board's policy on risk management has not materially changed from last year.

The Board has drawn up a risk map which identifies the substantial risks to which the Company is exposed. The Board has also put in place a schedule of investment limits and restrictions, appropriate to the Company's Investment Objective and Investment Policy. These principal risks fall broadly under the following categories:

Details of how the Board monitors the services provided by Janus Henderson and its other suppliers, and the key elements designed to provide effective internal control, are explained further in the internal controls section of the Corporate Governance report and the Audit and Risk Committee report in the Annual Report.

Emerging risks

In addition to the principal risks facing the Company, the Board also regularly considers potential emerging risks, which are defined as potential trends, sudden events or changing risks which are characterised by a high degree of uncertainty in terms of the probability of them happening and the possible effects on the Company. Should an emerging risk become sufficiently clear, it may be moved to a significant risk.

The Board has identified the following as potential emerging risks:

Demographic change

Ageing population, increasing financial inequality and new trends in social attitudes.

Technological change

Artificial intelligence, sector disruption, changes to existing job roles, ethical oversight of technological change, autonomous vehicles, electrification and healthcare impact.

Environmental sustainability

Climate change, decarbonisation, extreme bad weather events, increasing legislation/political action, resource scarcity and reputational consequences.

Political change

Tax risk (including impact on dividends paid by the Company to shareholders) and impact on performance if the UK were to remain out of favour.

The Company's emerging risks are macro-economic and political in nature and over which the Company has no control. The Board monitors these emerging risks and, if specific action relating to the investments, or the Company's marketing approach were to arise, the Board would take appropriate action.

BORROWINGS

The Company has an unsecured loan facility in place which allows it to borrow as and when appropriate. £30m (2021: £30m) is available under the facility. Net gearing is limited by the Board to 25% of net assets. The maximum amount drawn down in the period under review was £21.4m (2021: £19.8m), with borrowing costs for the year totalling £345,000 (2021: £150,000). £14.1m (2021: £18.4m) of the facility was in use at the year end. Net gearing at 31 October 2022 was 13.9% (2021: 13.2%) of net asset value.

VIABILITY STATEMENT AND GOING CONCERN

The Company is a long-term investor. The Board believes it is appropriate to assess the Company's viability over a five year period in recognition of its long-term investment horizon and what the Board believes to be investors' investment horizons, taking account of the Company's current position and the potential impact of the principal risks and uncertainties as documented in the Strategic Report in the Annual Report.

The assessment considered the impact and likelihood of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the Company. Key areas of focus were investment strategy and performance against benchmark, including a consideration of the risks around asset allocation, stock selection and gearing. Market risk was also assessed in terms of the impact of severe but plausible scenarios and the effectiveness of the mitigating controls in place.

The Directors took into account the liquidity of the portfolio and the borrowings in place when considering the viability of the Company over the next five years and its ability to meet liabilities as they fall due. This included consideration of the duration of the Company's borrowing facilities, consideration of the impact of rising interest rates and how a breach of any covenants could impact the Company's net asset value and share price.

The Directors do not expect there to be any significant change to the principal risks and adequacy of the mitigating controls in place. Large cap stocks are held as ballast for the portfolio and for liquidity, and the percentage of the portfolio holding of these stocks generally exceeds the gearing percentage. The Board actively monitors investment performance and even with the significant falls in the NAV at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (which exceeded 25% in March 2020), liquidity requirements and covenant restrictions were all met. Other recent factors, for example Brexit and the heightened macroeconomic uncertainty following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have not materially affected the long-term viability of the Company. The Board is therefore confident that significant market collapses would not impact the Company's viability. Also, the Directors do not envisage any change in strategy or objectives or any events that would prevent the Company from continuing to operate over that period as the majority of the Company's assets are liquid, its commitments are limited and the Company intends to continue to operate as an investment trust. In coming to this conclusion, the Board has considered the residual impact of COVID-19, Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the rise in interest rates. Indications are that income has recovered to historic income levels. The Board does not believe that the factors aforementioned will have a long-term impact on the viability of the Company and its ability to continue in operation, notwithstanding the short-term uncertainty they have caused in the markets.

The Directors recognise that there is a continuation vote that is due to take place at the AGM in March 2023. In the light of the above consideration of the Company's viability and going concern and as no shareholders have indicated that they will not support the continuation vote, the Directors currently believe that the Company will continue to exist for the foreseeable future, and at least for the period of assessment.

Based on this assessment, the Board has a reasonable expectation that the Company will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the next five year period.

The Directors consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the Financial Statements (see the Annual Report for further details).

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The Company's transactions with related parties in the year were with its Directors and the Manager. There have been no material transactions between the Company and its Directors during the year and the only amounts paid to them were in respect of expenses and remuneration for which there were no outstanding amounts payable at the year end. Directors' shareholdings are disclosed in the Annual Report.

In relation to the provision of services by the Manager, other than fees payable by the Company in the ordinary course of business and the facilitation of marketing activities with third parties, there have been no material transactions with the Manager affecting the financial position of the Company during the year under review. More details on transactions with the Manager, including amounts outstanding at the year end, are given in the Notes to the Financial Statements in the Annual Report.

STATEMENT OF DIRECTORS' RESPONSIBILITIES

In accordance with Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule 4.1.12, each of the Directors, who are listed in note 13, confirms that, to the best of his or her knowledge:

On behalf of the Board

Wendy Colquhoun

Chairman

2 February 2023

Twenty largest holdings at 31 October 2022

The stocks in the portfolio are a diverse mix of businesses operating in a wide range of end markets.

At 31 October 2022 these investments totalled £49,762,000 or 47.1% of the portfolio.

* Not in the top 20 largest investments last year

1 Quoted on AIM

Portfolio by sector

As a percentage of the investment portfolio excluding cash

Portfolio by index

As a percentage of the investment portfolio excluding cash

1Other also includes AIM investments outside the FTSE AIM Index and shares listed on the main market which are not included in the FTSE All-Share Index

Market capitalisation of the portfolio at 31 October 2022

A glossary of terms can be found in the Annual Report

Sources: Morningstar Direct, Janus Henderson, Refinitiv Datastream

AUDITED INCOME STATEMENT

The total columns of this statement represent the Profit and Loss Account of the Company. The revenue return and capital return columns are supplementary to this and are prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies. All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. The Company had no recognised gains or losses other than those disclosed in the Income Statement.

AUDITED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

AUDITED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AUDITED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For further information, please contact:

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.