Final Results

8 May 2007 14:40

Oxford Technology Vent Cap Tst PLC08 May 2007 Preliminary Announcement for Oxford Technology Venture Capital Trust plc for the year ended 28 February 2007 Chairman's Statement Investment Portfolio In October 2006, Oxford Technology paid a dividend of 15p per share, bringingthe total dividends paid to date to 27.7p per share. In addition OT1 retainscash sufficient to pay a further dividend of 5p per share. This money isring-fenced and no fees are being charged on it. As explained in pastnewsletters and Chairman's statements, as part of the sale of Valid InformationSystems, OT1 signed the normal warranties on sale. Most of these warrantieshave now expired. The tax warranties, however endure until 2010. With thepassage of time, any claim under the warranties becomes increasingly unlikely,and the Board will declare a dividend when it considers it prudent to do so. Many of the companies in the OT1 portfolio have experienced difficulties ofvarious sorts, and, as yet, with the exception of Valid, there has not been amajor success. OT1 was the initial investor in Avidex in 1999, and Avidex has been a success inmany senses. At the time of the initial investment it had three employees andwas based in a lab at the Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford. When itwas acquired by Medigene in August 2006, it was valued, in Medigene shares atabout £35m and had 36 employees, based in Milton Park, near Oxford. However,along the way, both Oxford Technology VCT and the other early shareholders werebadly damaged by the terms under which the large UK VCs provided capital. OT1invested a total of £310,000 in Avidex. On selling its shares in Medigene, inDecember 2006, OT1 received £75,838. Getmapping suffered badly when Ordnance Survey which was to have been a partnerand which had signed a reseller agreement, decided instead to become acompetitor and to produce its own aerial imagery. This very nearly causedGetmapping to fail entirely, and it had to reduce staff from 60 to 12 and todelist from AIM to save money. But Getmapping has survived. Sales to December2006 rose to £3.4m (2005 £1.8m), and the business made a profit of c£500,000(2005 £107,000). But the market is changing rapidly with Google and Microsoftnow displaying free high resolution aerial imagery on the web. Getmapping hassigned a long-term supply agreement with Microsoft. But although Getmapping ismaking good progress, the market is changing very fast, and this is creatingboth threats and opportunities. In the Summer Getmapping will be launching "The People's Map', an OS independent map, to which people will be able tocontribute, adding street names, and objects of interest in their local area,using up to date aerial imagery as the starting point. The map will be availableat several scales, from a road atlas scale, to a street atlas scale showingindividual streets and major buildings. Other companies in the portfolio including Im-Pak, OST and Coralfoam havecontinued to experience problems, and have been written down in value, whileothers are making some progress. Select Technology, in which OT1 owns 36%probably offers the best chance for a good return to OT1. Its new softwareproduct which has been developed in close collaboration with Ricoh, enables MFDs(modern photocopiers/scanners/printers) to be controlled by users from their ownPDAs. This means that these MFDs can be used by the disabled, with softwarespecially tailored to their particular needs (the visually impaired, those inwheelchairs etc) . This programme has been the subject of many delays, butfirst sales by Ricoh in the US, expected to be the largest market are scheduledfor early summer. The sales volume is difficult to estimate (this is a newproduct) but Ricoh themselves are optimistic. Since this is software, themargin on sales is high. Results for the year Interest on bank deposits and investee loans produced gross income of £47,000(2006: £836,000 including realised gains) in the year. Retained loss for theyear was £279,000 (2006 : £185,000 profit) and earnings per share for the yearshowed a loss of 5.75p (2006: 3.81p profit) per share. AGM Shareholders should note that the AGM for Oxford Technology VCT will be held onMonday 25th June 2007, at the Magdalen Centre, Oxford Science Park, starting at12.00 noon and will include presentations by some of the companies in which theOxford Technology VCTs have invested. A formal Notice of AGM has been includedat the back of these Accounts together with a Form of Proxy for those notattending. John Jackson Chairman 4 May 2007 Profit and Loss Account for the year ended 28 February 2007 Year ended Year ended 28/02/07 28/02/06 £000 £000Turnover 47 836Administrative Expenses (102) (119) -------- ----------Operating Profit (55) 717 Realised loss on disposal (224) (532)Profit/(loss) on ordinary activities (279) 185before taxationProfit/(loss) on ordinary activities (279) 185after taxationRetained proft/(loss) for the year (279) 185 ====== ======Earnings per share (5.75) p 3.81p ====== ====== Statement of total recognised gains and losses for the period ended 28 February 2007 £'000 Loss for the financial period (279)Unrealised loss on investments held at fair value (183)Total losses reported since last annual report (462) Balance sheet at 28 February 2007 28 February 2007 Audited 28 February 2006 Audited £000 £000 £000 £000Fixed assetsInvestments 1,740 2,094Current assetsDebtors & prepayments 3 5Cash at bank 562 1,881 _____ _____ 565 1,886 Creditors: amounts falling due (6) (6)within one year _____ _____Net current assets/ 559 1,880(liabilities) _____ _____Net assets 2,299 3,974 ===== =====Capital and reservesCalled up share capital 485 485Profit and loss account 1,714 3,206 Revaluation reserve 100 283 Shareholders' funds 2,299 3,974 ===== =====Net asset value per share 47p 82p ===== ===== Cash flow statement for the year ended 28 February 2007 2007 2006 Audited Audited £000 £000Net cash inflow from operating (53) 723activitiesCapital expenditure and financialinvestment Purchase of investments (131) (99) Disposal / redemption of investments 78 - ______ ______Net cash inflow from capital (131) (99)expenditure and financial investment Dividends paid (1,213) - ______ ______Decrease in cash (1,319) 624 ====== ====== Notes: 1. Basis of preparation The preliminary announcement has been prepared in accordance with applicableaccounting standards and with the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Financialstatements of investment trust companies' issued in December 2005. The principalaccounting policies are set out in the company's financial statements for theyear ended 28 Februrary 2007. 2. Earnings per Ordinary Share The calculation of earnings per share is based on the net loss for the financialperiod of £279,000 (2006: £185,000 profit) divided by the weighted averagenumber of ordinary shares of 4,852,900 (2006: 4,852,900) in issue during theyear. 3. General The financial information set out in this preliminary announcement does notconstitute statutory accounts as defined in section 240 of the Companies Act1985. The balance sheet at 28 February 2007 and the profit and loss account,cash flow statement and associated notes for the year then ended have beenextracted from the company's 2007 statutory financial statements on which theauditors' opinion is unqualified and does not include any statement undersection 237 of the Companies Act 1985. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange