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| Name | Symbol | Market | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProShares UltraShort Utilities New | AMEX:SDP | AMEX | Exchange Traded Fund |
| Price Change | % Change | Price | High Price | Low Price | Open Price | Traded | Last Trade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.4819 | -2.76% | 16.9981 | 17.58 | 16.89 | 17.58 | 4,205 | 21:41:34 |
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RNS Number:7294K
Schroder AsiaPacific Fund PLC
06 May 2003
6 May 2003
SCHRODER ASIAPACIFIC FUND PLC
Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc announces its unaudited Interim Results for the
period ended 31 March 20032.
Unaudited Statement of Total Return (incorporating the Revenue Account)
For the six months For the six months
ended 31 March 2003 ended 31 March 2002
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
#'000 #'000 #'000 #'000 #'000 #'000
Realised (losses)/gains on
investments - (6,444) (6,444) - 43,911 43,911
Exchange gains/(losses) on
currency balances - 70 70 - (153) (153)
Income 1,225 - 1,225 982 - 982
Management fees (411) - (411) (535) - (535)
Administrative expenses (174) - (174) (157) - (157)
Net return/(deficit) on
ordinary activities before
finance costs and taxation 640 (6,374) (5,374) 290 43,758 44,048
Interest payable (120) - (120) (86) - (86)
Return/(deficit) on ordinary
activities before taxation 520 (6,374) (5,854) 204 43,758 43,962
Tax on ordinary activities (150) - (150) (5) - (5)
Return/(deficit) on ordinary
activities after taxation 370 (6,374) (6,004) 199 43,758 43,957
Return/(deficit) per share 0.27p (4.58)p (4.31)p 0.14p 31.44p 31.58p
The revenue column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the
Company.
All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing
operations.
Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc
Unaudited Balance Sheet
31 March 30 September
2003 2002
#'000 #'000
Fixed assets
Investments 83,333 94,441
Current assets
Debtors 710 1,221
Cash at bank and short-term deposits 6,103 4,941
6,813 6,162
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 10,197 14,650
Net current (liabilities) / assets (3,384) (8,488)
Net assets 79,949 85,953
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 13,920 13,920
Capital redemption reserve 81 81
Share premium account 4 4
Share purchase reserve 110,529 110,529
Warrant reserve 8,702 8,702
Warrant exercise reserve 2 2
Capital reserve (53,666) (47,292)
Revenue reserve 377 7
Equity shareholders' funds 79,949 85,953
Net asset value per share 57.44p 61.75p
Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc
Unaudited Cash Flow Statement
For the six months ended For the year ended
31 March 2003 30 September 2002
#'000 #'000
Operating activities
Dividend income received 726 2,333
Deposit interest received 102 166
Other income 5 10
Management fee paid (441) (1,001)
Administrative expenses (178) (314)
Net cash inflow from operating activities 214 1,194
Servicing of finance
Interest paid (113) (334)
Cash outflow from servicing of finance (113) (334)
Taxation
UK income tax recovered - 199
Overseas tax paid (71) (109)
Tax recovered (71) 90
Capital expenditure and financial investment
Purchase of investments (24,434) (79,516)
Disposal of investments 29,281 69,393
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from capital expenditure and
financial investment 4,847 (10,123)
Equity dividends paid
(557) -
Net cash outflow before financing
4,320 (9,173)
Financing
Purchase of own shares for cancellation - (1)
Bank loans (repaid)/raised (3,171) 4,553
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financing (3,171) 4,552
Net cash inflow/(outflow) 1,149 (4,621)
Investment Manager's Review
Regional markets have weakened over the first half of the year. The Company's
benchmark index declined on a total return basis by 5.3% in sterling terms over
the six months to 31st March 2003. The net asset value total return of the
Company fell 6.7%*, and the share price total return fell 9.1%* over the same
period.
Asian equities have lost around a third of their value since peaking at the end
of April last year. The scale of the declines has been a reflection of global
factors that have impacted all equity markets. Over the last six months, rising
tensions surrounding the situation in the Middle East have dominated the
headlines. Equally troubling have been signs of global economic slowdown that
cannot be wholly explained by either war tensions or the related strength in oil
prices. Most leading indicators of activity have pointed to further deceleration
in the pace of global growth, with consumer confidence at a low ebb and surveys
of business spending intentions suggest that capital spending is being kept to a
minimum, and costs remain under close scrutiny.
With the growing caution over the external situation, investors have favoured
areas perceived as being more dependent upon domestic sources of growth, and
therefore less sensitive to the deteriorating global situation. The most obvious
has been China, where the growth in outsourcing of manufacturing has more than
outweighed the cyclical pressures on end demand, certainly judging by the
continued strength of exports. The strength of capital investment in China,
including infrastructure, has had an impact on a range of commodity prices, and
basic material stocks round the region have performed strongly. Similarly,
markets of countries seen as relatively insulated from global trends performed
relatively well, with Thailand up 19.6% in sterling terms.
Hong Kong has presented contrasting fortunes. Stocks seen as benefiting from the
trends in China have performed well, with many of the Hong Kong listed but China
based manufacturing stocks actually up over the six months. In contrast, the
leading blue chip stocks, more exposed to the continued weakness of domestic
sentiment, have fallen sharply, with the outbreak of the SARS virus at the end
of the period compounding their problems.
Korea, amongst the most open of the region's economies and particularly
sensitive to oil prices, has had plenty of more local issues contributing to a
decline only exceeded in the region by the Philippines. Rising delinquencies
among the consumer credit companies and increased levels of household debt have
led to a slowdown in consumer demand and concern over the broader health of the
financial sector. On top of this, the accession of a new president at the end of
February contributed to perceptions of a leadership vacuum at a time when rising
tensions on the peninsula developed into a global issue.
Investment Policy and Outlook
The Table below shows the asset distribution of the Company's portfolio at the
beginning and end of the period to 31st March 2003, along with the distribution
of the benchmark index at end March 2003 for comparison purposes.
Net Asset Value Weightings (%) Benchmark Index Weight (%)
Market 30-Sep-02 31-Mar-03 31-Mar-03
Hong Kong / China 37.0 37.9 31.6
Korea 33.1 26.5 25.7
Taiwan 12.0 12.1 18.3
Singapore 16.4 14.4 11.3
Malaysia 5.9 6.1 8.2
Indonesia 3.7 3.7 1.5
Thailand 1.7 1.0 2.7
India 0.0 3.1 0.0
Philippines 0.2 0.0 0.7
Other net assets -9.9 -4.7 0.0
Total 100 100 100
Underperformance by the Company's portfolio over the first half of the year was
primarily due to the impact of our gearing as markets declined. Stock selection
was fractionally positive, primarily due to strong performance by our
medium-sized stocks in Singapore and industrials in Hong Kong. Korean stock
selection was less successful as our financial and domestic consumer holdings
fell sharply. Country weightings had a negative impact as Taiwan, Thailand and
Malaysia (where the Company's portfolio was underweight) outperformed.
Over the period, we shifted exposure away from China (reflecting valuation
concerns following strong performance) and Singapore in favour of India and
Korea, the latter reflecting increasingly attractive valuations. Sectoral focus
has been stable throughout the period. The portfolio remains overweight in
financials, consumer cyclicals and, to a lesser extent, information technology,
and underweight utilities, telecoms and materials.
Investment Outlook
Markets have rallied since the commencement of the Iraq campaign, although Asian
markets have recovered less than those of the United States or Europe. Lacking
perhaps some of the technical issues that have given Western markets a higher
degree of volatility, the region is likely to continue to be driven by
perceptions of the level of global economic activity.
Even if there is some "end of war" relief to come in terms of deferred corporate
spending and consumer confidence, this does not appear likely to be sufficient
to offset the more entrenched restraints on growth; the high levels of consumer
indebtedness (particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom), the
structural imbalances in both Europe and Japan, and the low levels of capacity
utilisation. It is these factors that belie more simplistic analogies with the
market reaction to the last Gulf War in 1991.
It is likely that regional export growth decelerates over the next two quarters,
although for China at least there is still impressive momentum with exports up
34.7% in March and GDP growth of over 9% in the first quarter. Growth rates
elsewhere are already signalling a sharp slowdown, with Singapore registering
only a 1.5% rate of expansion in GDP in the first quarter.
Given the near-term economic uncertainties faced by the region, and the lack of
immediate catalysts to recovery, it is likely that markets will continue to
drift. Areas of recent focus such as North Korea and the SARS virus are not
susceptible to speedy resolution, and may well take turns for the worse before
they are perceived as improving. In this context, some areas of the portfolio's
exposure (domestic stocks in Korea and Hong Kong in particular), are likely to
be volatile, even though in our view valuations now appear to reflect much of
the uncertainty.
However, we continue to maintain a modest degree of gearing. Current market
levels clearly reflect the uncertain economic backdrop, and compared with
historic valuation levels, the region's equity markets do not look expensive.
Relative to other global markets, the degree of undervaluation is not as
dramatic, although any discount seems increasingly harder to justify given the
improvement in profitability and balance sheets that Asian companies have
achieved.
Schroder Investment Management (UK) Limited
2 May 2003
* Source: AITC/Fundamental data
Notes
The Interim Report will be mailed to registered shareholders in May 2003 and
from the date of release copies of the Interim Report will be made available to
the public at the Company's Registered Office at 31 Gresham Street, London EC2V
7QA.
This announcement is prepared on the basis of the accounting policies as set out
in the most recently published set of annual financial statements.
Enquiries:
John Spedding
Schroder Investment Management Limited
6 May 2003
(020 7658 3206)
(e-mail john.spedding@schroders.com)
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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