Albion Ven Cap Trust Albion Venture Capital Trust Plc: Interim Management Statement

 
TIDMAAVC 
 
   ALBION VENTURE CAPITAL TRUST PLC 
 
   LEI Code: 213800JKELS32V2OK421 
 
   Interim Management Statement 
 
   Introduction 
 
   I am pleased to present Albion Venture Capital Trust PLC (the 
"Company")'s interim management statement for the period from 1 October 
2020 to 31 December 2020. 
 
   Performance and dividends 
 
   The Company's unaudited net asset value (NAV) as at 31 December 2020 was 
GBP73.7 million or 73.48 pence per share (excluding treasury shares), an 
increase of 3.89 pence per share (5.6 per cent.) since 30 September 
2020. The uplift in NAV is predominantly a result of the sale of the 
Company's care home investments after the period end, which are 
reflected in the 31 December 2020 NAV, and further information on the 
disposal can be found below. 
 
   After accounting for the dividend paid of 1.74 pence per share on 29 
January 2021 to shareholders on the register on 8 January 2021, the NAV 
is 71.74 pence per share. 
 
   Portfolio 
 
   The following investments have been made during the period from 1 
October 2020 to 31 December 2020: 
 
 
 
 
New investments  GBP000's  Activity 
---------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------- 
Seldon 
Technologies               Software company that enables enterprises to deploy 
Limited            902      Machine Learning models in production. 
---------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------- 
                           A middleware technology platform that enables life 
uMedeor Limited             science organisations to conduct medical research 
(T/A uMed)         334      programmes. 
---------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------- 
Total new 
 investments        1,236 
---------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Further 
investments   GBP000's                          Activity 
------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------------- 
Limitless 
Technology                 Provider of a customer service platform powered by 
Limited         151             the crowd and machine learning technology. 
------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------------- 
Arecor                  Development of biopharmaceuticals through the application 
Limited          69               of a formulation technology platform. 
------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------------- 
Total 
 further 
 investments       220 
------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------------- 
 
   Disposals 
 
   The following material disposals were made during the period from 1 
October 2020 to 31 December 2020: 
 
 
 
 
Portfolio company                   GBP000's 
----------------------------------  --------  -------------------------------- 
                                              Disposal of investment on a cost 
G. Network Communications Limited    1,281             of GBP228,000. 
----------------------------------  --------  -------------------------------- 
                                              Disposal of investment on a cost 
Clear Review Limited                  793              of GBP384,000. 
----------------------------------  --------  -------------------------------- 
Total proceeds                         2,074 
----------------------------------  --------  -------------------------------- 
 
 
   Top ten holdings (as at 31 December 2020) 
 
 
 
 
Investment          Carrying value  % of   Activity 
                     GBP000's       net 
                                    asset 
                                    value 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
Shinfield Lodge             14,088  19.1%  Owner and operator of a 66 bed care home in Shinfield, 
Care Limited                                Berkshire. 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
Active Lives Care            8,713  11.8%  Owner and operator of a 75 bed care home in Cumnor 
Limited                                     Hill, Oxfordshire. 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
Ryefield Court               7,328   9.9%  Owner and operator of a 60 bed care home in Hillingdon, 
Care Limited                                Middlesex. 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
Chonais River                4,266   5.8%  Owner and operator of a 2 MW hydro-power scheme in 
Hydro Limited                               the Scottish Highlands. 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
Radnor House                 2,122   2.9%  Independent school for children aged 3-18. 
School (TopCo) 
Limited 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
Gharagain River              1,784   2.4%  Owner and operator of a 1 MW hydro-power scheme in 
Hydro Limited                               the Scottish Highlands. 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
The Street by                1,273   1.7%  Owner and operator of photovoltaic systems on domestic 
Street Solar                                properties in the UK. 
Programme Limited 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
Elliptic                     1,244   1.7%  Provider of Anti Money Laundering services to digital 
Enterprises                                 asset institutions. 
Limited 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
Cantab Research              1,144   1.6%  Provider of low footprint automated speech recognition 
Limited (T/A                                which can be deployed in the cloud, on premise or 
Speechmatics)                               on device across 29 languages. 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
The Evewell                  1,080   1.5%  Operator of a women's health centre focusing on 
(Harley Street)                            fertility. 
Limited 
------------------  --------------  -----  ------------------------------------------------------- 
 
 
   A full breakdown of the Company's portfolio can be found on the 
Company's webpage on the Manager's website at 
www.albion.capital/funds/AAVC. 
 
   Share buy-backs 
 
   During the period from 1 October 2020 to 31 December 2020, the Company 
purchased 389,868 Ordinary shares at a cost of GBP259,000 including 
stamp duty. All shares are to be held in treasury. 
 
   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 per 
cent. discount to net asset value, so far as market conditions and 
liquidity permit. 
 
   Material events and transactions after the period end 
 
   Portfolio 
 
   After the period end, the Company had the following material investment 
transaction: 
 
 
   -- Investment of GBP1,262,000 in a new portfolio company, Threadneedle 
      Software Holdings Limited (T/A Solidatus), a provider of data lineage 
      software to enterprise customers in regulated sectors, which allows them 
      to rapidly discover, visualise, catalogue and understand how data flows 
      through their systems; 
 
   -- Investment of GBP503,000 in an existing portfolio company, Healios 
      Limited, provider of an online platform delivering family centric 
      psychological care primarily to children and adolescents; and 
 
   -- Investment of GBP44,000 in an existing portfolio company, ePatient 
      Network Limited (T/A Raremark), provider of an online community 
      connecting people affected by rare diseases. 
 
   Care home portfolio disposal 
 
   The Board is pleased to announce that, following the period end, the 
Company completed the sale of its three care homes for the elderly; 
Active Lives Care Limited, Ryefield Court Care Limited, and Shinfield 
Lodge Care Limited. The purpose built residential care homes situated 
across the South of England, offer luxury living with all-inclusive 
service and an excellent level of care. The homes were trading at mature 
occupancy levels. 
 
   The first investments in the homes were made over 5 years ago and the 
sale will generate a 2.4x return on cost (including interest received), 
an excellent result for the Company. 
 
   Following the sale, which results in the Company holding significant 
cash, the Board intends to consider the options available to the Company, 
including the potential payment of a special dividend, and will provide 
an update to shareholders in the Annual Report and Financial Statements 
for the year ended 31 March 2021. 
 
   There have been no other significant events or transactions that the 
Board is aware of which would have a material impact on the financial 
position of the Company between 1 January 2021 and 4 March 2021. 
 
   Further information 
 
   The Company continues to offer a dividend reinvestment scheme to 
existing shareholders. Details of this Scheme can be found at 
www.albion.capital/funds/AAVC. 
 
   Further 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/AAVC. 
 
   Richard Glover, Chairman 
 
   4 March 2021 
 
   For further information please contact: 
 
   Albion Capital Group LLP, Company Secretary - Tel: [phone] 
 
 
 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 04, 2021 10:10 ET (15:10 GMT)

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