SGM.L Regulatory News (SGM)

14 Mar 2008 07:00

Sigma Capital Group PLC14 March 2008 SGM SIGMA CAPITAL GROUP PLC ("Sigma") Update Sigma issues the following statement ahead of its Preliminary ResultsAnnouncement in April 2008. On 19 December 2007, we issued a trading update in which we advised that thedownturn in the property sector had impacted the timing of the completion oftransactions and fees in the property side of Sigma's business. With thehardening of sentiment since then, we expect that our seventh property limitedpartnership (Si Limited Partnership No 7) which we had planned to close at theend of January 2008 will now close during April. The financial impact of thisdelay is to move the majority of revenue for this transaction from 2007 to 2008.The total revenue that we will earn from Si Limited Partnership No 7 isunchanged at £2.6 million. However, we will now only book approximately 33% ofrevenue in 2007 rather than our original estimate of 75% of revenue. The balancewill be accounted for in the current financial year to 31 December 2008. Thishas a corresponding effect on the split of profit that we will earn on thistransaction. Since the year end, we have also been able to assess the IFRS impact on ourfinancials for the year ended 31 December 2007. At the beginning of this month,one of the investments in our Sigma Technology Venture Fund ("the Fund") wasplaced into a Pre-pack Administration. We therefore feel it prudent to write offthis investment as at 31 December 2007. In addition, in line with the market ingeneral, there has been some reduction in the value of quoted investments heldby the Fund. As a result, our previous estimate of the impact of IFRS haschanged by £200,000 from a small upward movement to a negative impact of£167,000. In the December trading update, we stated that it was not possible to bedefinitive as to what impact additional money raised for the Sigma SustainableEnergy Fund II ("SSEF II") would have on Sigma's revenue and profit for thefinancial year to 31 December 2007. This is because any new limited partners aretreated as though they had joined SSEF II in June 2007 in terms of commitment topay management fees. We have now clarified with our auditors that, while anyadditional money raised will generate fees backdated to June 2007, the monieswill not be recognised as income in 2007, but will all be recognised in 2008.This will have a corresponding benefit for 2008 and we remain confident ofadding additional limited partners to the SSEF II. The impact of the above on our results for the year ended 31 December 2007 isthat profit before tax is likely to be no more than £1.65 million. We expect ourearnings per share for 2007 to be at a similar level to 2006. The deferral ofincome from 2007 to 2008 further strengthens the prospects for growth in thebusiness in the current year and the Board remains confident of the year ahead. EnquiriesSigma Capital Group plc Graham Barnet, Chief Executive T: 0131 220 9444 Marilyn Cole, Finance Director T: 0131 220 9444 Biddicks Katie Tzouliadis T: 020 7448 1000 Arbuthnot Securities Tom Griffiths/ Neil Kirton T: 020 7012 2000 Company website: www.sigmacapital.co.uk About Sigma Capital Group plc Founded in 1997 and based in Edinburgh, Sigma Capital Group plc is anAIM-quoted, specialist asset management and advisory group. Sigma focuses onspecialist fund management, commercialisation of University IP and propertyinvestment. Sigma currently has two university IP commercialisation agreements, with theUniversity of Dundee and the Robert Gordon University. Through these agreements,Sigma works with the commercialisation teams of each university, providingadvice and support to ensure that the commercial opportunities of anytechnologies developed within these universities are maximised. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange