19 May 2009 07:00
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19 May 2009
LMSΒ Capital plc
AGM statement
LMS CapitalΒ plc (""the Company") has issued the following statement ahead of the Annual General Meeting of the Company which is being held today.
As set out in its 2008 Annual Report the Company has focused on the management of itsΒ existing investmentsΒ to date in 2009.Β Notwithstanding the difficult market conditions we have seen a number ofΒ considerableΒ successesΒ within the unquoted portfolio. In particular:
Wesupply was selected by Sainsbury's to provide its business-to-business platform for connectivity to 4,000 suppliers. This contract was won in partnership with IBM;
CoppereyeΒ recently signed its largest ever licence deal for its data indexing software with one of theΒ UK's largest internet service providers;
Elateral, a marketing services business,Β enjoyed growth of over 40% in itsΒ financial year ended 31 March 2009, with revenues exceeding Β£5 million in its second year of profitability;
Yes To products were launched in 590 Sephora stores across 10 European countries during the first quarter of 2009. Sephora is the leading retail beauty chain inΒ EuropeΒ and is a subsidiary of LVMH.
The Company hasΒ reviewed a number of new opportunities during the last few monthsΒ but so far has made no new investments. We have howeverΒ made small additions toΒ our existing interests as follows:
We provided Β£0.4 million of additional funding to Pims Group in its acquisition of Comet TankersΒ whichΒ expandsΒ its range of wasteΒ water services to commercial and domestic customers;
We acquired a direct 6% interest in Penguin Computing for $0.6 million (Β£0.4 million) which we now hold in addition to our existing indirect interest via San Francisco Equity Partners.
Commenting on theΒ yearΒ to dateΒ Robert Rayne,Β Chief Executive Officer, said:Β "Despite the challenging environment,Β many of our portfolio companies performed strongly in 2008 and their specialist services continue to be very attractive to customers.Β There areΒ very low levels of gearingΒ in the portfolio andΒ LMS CapitalΒ has the cash available to continue toΒ invest inΒ these businesses.Β Since 31 December 2008, there has been some recovery in our listed investments.
The Board believes that LMS Capital has performed resiliently during the period and is well positioned to growΒ its maturing portfolioΒ going forward.Β At corporate level we have no debt and our team is one of the few with both the management resource and the funds to be actively seeking new investment opportunities in 2009."
# Ends #Β
Β Β For further information please contact:
LMS CapitalΒ plcΒ 020 7935 3555Β
Robert Rayne, Chief Executive Officer
Martin Pexton, Managing Director
Tony Sweet, Chief Financial OfficerΒ
J.P. Morgan Cazenove Limited 020 7588 2828
Michael Wentworth-Stanley
Brunswick Group LLP 020 7404 5959
Simon Sporborg
Robin Tozer
Oliver Hughes
AboutΒ LMS CapitalΒ
LMS CapitalΒ plc is an internationalΒ investment company whose shares are traded on AIM. The investment portfolio comprises investments in both theΒ USΒ andΒ UK, with a spread of early stage and second round technology investments, development capital and mature company buy-outsΒ and some listed securities.Β
www.lmscapital.com
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