Albion Technology & General VCT PLC: Interim Management Statement

    Albion Technology & General VCT PLC: Interim Management Statement 

Albion Technology & General VCT PLC Interim Management StatementLEI code: 213800TKJUY376H3KN16

IntroductionI present Albion Technology & General VCT PLC’s (the “Company”) interim management statement for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023.

Performance and dividendsThe Company’s unaudited net asset value (NAV) on 30 September 2023 was £133.4 million or 75.05 pence per share (excluding treasury shares), a decrease of 0.97 pence per share (1.28%) since 30 June 2023.

A second dividend for the year ending 31 December 2023 of 1.90 pence per Ordinary share is to be paid on 29 December 2023 to shareholders on the register on 8 December 2023, resulting in total dividends of 3.72 pence per share for the year, a 5.1% yield on opening NAV.

FundraisingThe Company announced on 12 October 2023 that, subject to obtaining the requisite regulatory approval, it intended to launch a prospectus top up offer of new ordinary shares. Full details of the Offer will be contained in a prospectus that is expected to be published prior to launch in early January 2024.

PortfolioThe following investments have been made during the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023:

New investments	£’000	Activity
Phasecraft	514	Software for Quantum Computers
Kennek Solutions	210	Vertical software for lenders
Total new investments	724

Further investments	£’000	Activity
Gravitee	637	API management platform
uMedeor (T/A) uMed	387	A middleware technology platform that enables life science organisations to conduct medical research programmes
Accelex	87	Data extraction and analytics technology for private capital markets
Total further investments	1,111

Top ten holdings as at 30 September 2023:

Investment	Carrying value£’000	% of net asset value	Activity
Quantexa	28,341	21.2	Network analytics platform to detect financial crime
Radnor House School (TopCo)	6,169	4.6	Independent school for children aged 2-18
Proveca	5,656	4.2	Reformulation of medicines for children
Oviva	4,581	3.4	A technology enabled service business in medical nutritional therapy (MNT)
Chonais River Hydro	3,881	2.9	Owner and operator of a 2 MW hydro-power scheme in the Scottish Highlands
Cantab Research (T/A Speechmatics)	3,411	2.6	Provider of low footprint automated speech recognition which can be deployed in the cloud, on premise or on device
Egress Software Technologies	2,915	2.2	Encrypted email & file transfer service provider
The Evewell Group	2,892	2.2	Operator and developer of women’s health centres focusing on fertility
Runa Network	2,829	2.1	Cloud platform and infrastructure that enables corporates to issue digital incentives and payouts
Gharagain River Hydro	2,349	1.8	Owner and operator of a 1 MW hydro-power scheme in the Scottish Highlands

Share buy-backsDuring the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023, the Company did not buy any shares.

It remains the Board’s policy to buy back shares in the market, subject to the overall constraint that such purchases are in the Company’s interest, including the maintenance of sufficient resources for investment in existing and new portfolio companies and the continued payment of dividends to shareholders.

It is the Board’s intention for such buy-backs to be at around a 5% discount to net asset value, so far as market conditions and liquidity permit.

Board compositionFollowing changes to the Board earlier this year, Peter Moorhouse has been appointed chairman of the Remuneration Committee from 29 November 2023.

Material events and transactions after the period end

• As announced on 6 October 2023, the Company sold a proportion of its holding in Quantexa at its current holding value returning proceeds of £3.4m; and
• As announced on 30 October 2023, following a formal tender process, Johnston Carmichael LLP were appointed as the Company's Auditor.

There have been no other material events or transactions after the period end to the date of this announcement.

Further informationFurther information regarding historic and current financial performance and other useful shareholder information can be found on the Company’s webpage on the Manager’s website at www.albion.capital/funds/AATG.

Clive Richardson, Chairman29 November 2023

For further information please contact:Vikash HansraniOperations PartnerAlbion Capital Group LLPTelephone: 020 7601 1850