ADVFN Logo ADVFN

We could not find any results for:
Make sure your spelling is correct or try broadening your search.

Trending Now

Toplists

It looks like you aren't logged in.
Click the button below to log in and view your recent history.

Hot Features

Registration Strip Icon for default Register for Free to get streaming real-time quotes, interactive charts, live options flow, and more.

CHA Concha

0.175
0.00 (0.00%)
Last Updated: 01:00:00
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Concha LSE:CHA London Ordinary Share GB00B8Y82097 ORD 0.1P
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  0.00 0.00% 0.175 0.00 01:00:00
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
0 0 N/A 0

Henderson Technology - Final Results

16/06/2000 8:01am

UK Regulatory


RNS Number:3549M
Henderson Technology Trust PLC
16 June 2000


HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC

                        HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
                  Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                              ended 30 April 2000

             "Strong year with net assets rising by close to 140%"

Highlights
*    Technology sector's growth continues significantly to outperform the
     overall market
     
*    Demanding valuations together with a strong flow of new issues suggest a
     period of consolidation over the summer
     
*    The long term outlook for the technology sector remains very encouraging

                               30 April     30 April  Increase
                                   2000         1999         %
                                                              
Total net assets           #668,727,000  #279,946,000    +138.9
                                                  
                                                              
FTSE World Index*>                348.7        304.8     +14.4
                                                              
Net assets per share                                          
Undiluted                        452.8p       190.2p    +138.1
Fully diluted                    395.8p       175.3p    +125.8
                                                              
* capital return, sterling adjusted
> formerly FT/S&P Actuaries World Index

Extracts from the Chairman's Statement:
The  Company  has enjoyed a remarkable and most successful year.   Net  assets
rose  by  138.9%  to #669m as technology shares rose sharply in  almost  every
country around the world.  The Company achieved the highest absolute return in
a financial year since its launch.

In  most  regions,  the  Company significantly outperformed  local  technology
benchmarks with particularly good returns in Europe and in the USA.  All areas
of  the  portfolio contributed to the strong absolute returns with Continental
Europe  the single biggest gainer (+237%) and even the worst performing region
in the portfolio, (Asia ex Japan), delivering a Sterling based return of 109%.
Our  geographical  asset  allocation proved quite  satisfactory  and  we  were
fortunate in our choice of sub-sectors both to emphasise and avoid.

                                       
                                   - MORE -
                                     - 2 -
                                       
                        HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
                  Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                              ended 30 April 2000


The   Company's  exceptional  asset  growth  together  with  renewed  investor
enthusiasm  for technology shares led to a marked rerating of our shares  and,
for  much  of the last half year, they have traded at a premium to  net  asset
value.   We  have nevertheless rejected any suggestion that we should  have  a
major new share issue. The Board do not see any merit in size for its own sake
nor  do we believe the timing would have been appropriate, particularly so  as
we  have  been  making cautionary noises about excessive  speculation  in  the
technology sector since last December.

Performance Fee
The  Company's  consolidated statement of total returns  shows  a  significant
increase  in  the revenue loss per ordinary share from 2.57p  to  28.02p.   In
large  part,  this  increased loss relates to a substantial  increase  in  the
performance  related  fee.   The  fee is  calculated  by  taking  15%  of  the
outperformance  of the diluted net asset value as compared to the  FTSE  World
Index.   This fee arrangement was established at the Company's launch in  1996
with  a  review scheduled for 30 September 2001.  Performance fees were earned
in the financial years 1997-8 and 1998-9 as well as last year.

The  last  few  years have seen strong outperformance from  technology  shares
culminating  in the astonishing results recorded last year.  Consequently,  it
now  seems  appropriate to review the fee arrangements and move the  benchmark
towards  ones that directly reflect the Company's specialisation in technology
and  also  its  long  term  objective of generating strong  absolute  returns.
Henderson has agreed to bring forward the review date for the fee and the  new
arrangements will take effect from 1 May 2000 and are explained in more detail
at the end of this announcement.

Review
Equity  markets enjoyed yet another year of good returns.  The global  economy
has  remained in good shape with continuing strength in the US economy helping
to  pull forward the more subdued economies of Asia and Europe.  The latter in
particular  has  begun  to  display more forward  momentum  but  Asia  remains
handicapped  by  the  comatose  performance of  its  largest  economy,  Japan.
Efforts  to  stimulate the Japanese economy have proved  as  futile  as  those
designed  to  slow  the US but to date this has not been  a  major  source  of
concern  for  equity markets. With concerns mounting about  the  build  up  of
inflationary  pressures  within the USA, the  Federal  Reserve  has  moved  to
reassert the brakes. Consequently equity markets have paused and then  slipped
back.   Our financial year closed with equity markets around the world looking
tired and apprehensive.

                                       
                                       
                                   - MORE -
                                     - 3 -
                                       
                        HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
                  Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                              ended 30 April 2000


There  was only one major story in equity markets last year, the extraordinary
and  completely  unprecedented  ascent of the  technology  sector.  Technology
shares  soared  in every market, massively outperforming other equity  sectors
and  dragging  up  areas such as telecoms and media which were,  not  entirely
correctly, perceived to be technology 'proxies'.  Having been one of the  very
few  proponents of technology investment in Europe we found ourselves  swamped
by the sudden surge in interest in the technology sector. This hysteria proved
to  be  a global phenomenon.  The technology boom was supported by very strong
inflows  into  specialist  mutual funds and by  the  institutional  investor's
penchant for retrospective and closet index tracking.

Technology, as we have long argued, has been transforming the global  economic
and  corporate  landscape.   The  emergence of the  internet  has  accelerated
technology  spending as companies and indeed entire economies rush to  embrace
this  productivity  enhancing panacea.  Both consumers  and  corporations  are
dramatically  increasing  their expenditure on  technology.   In  every  major
economy, technology is driving investment spending and, through its impact  on
productivity,  raising the non-inflationary sustainable growth  rate  of  that
country.  There is as yet no evidence of diminishing marginal returns,  rather
the reverse.

It is hardly surprising that the technology sector finally began to attract so
much  attention.   For  years the sector has produced  far  stronger  earnings
growth  than  the  broad  market and last year  was  no  exception.   While  a
succession  of  more  traditional companies announced disappointing  earnings,
technology  companies  led  by  those  in  the  internet  infrastructure   and
semiconductor sectors produced remarkable earnings growth.  However,  much  of
the  performance  delivered by the sector in the last year reflected  a  major
upward  rerating of  growth stocks.  Valuations for many companies climbed  to
indefensible  levels and in the  frantic rush into the sector,  the  bad  rose
alongside  the  good,  in  many instances by far larger  amounts.   Investment
bankers  enjoyed a field day, so too did the managers of technology companies.
While  the bankers unleashed a vast swarm of Initial Public Offerings  (IPOs),
secondary offerings and spin-offs, company founders sold holdings acquired for
minuscule sums for amounts that would once have bought whole companies.

We  ended our year with technology share prices falling precipitously;  by  30
April, most technology indices had declined by 20-30% from their peaks.  As if
to  remind us of what had generated all that frenzied attention, the year also
finished with the sector reporting the best quarterly results that our manager
can  remember  in eighteen years as a sector specialist.  Last year  may  have
generated  excesses in valuation but it also provided a considerable  body  of
evidence to support the long term bull case for the industry.

                                   - MORE -
                                     - 4 -
                                       
                        HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
                  Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                              ended 30 April 2000


Outlook
The technology industry has played a critical role in enabling the global, and
especially  the  US, economy to enjoy an extended period of  expansion.   That
expansion  has  been  accompanied  by subdued  inflationary  pressures  and  a
remarkable  level of corporate prosperity.  In recent months,  however,  there
have  been  some  signs, and a great deal of concern, that  the  extraordinary
strength of the US economy is creating upward pressure on wages and that  this
will,  together with a number of other factors, feed through to higher  levels
of  inflation.  There has been a notable shift at the US Federal  Reserve  and
indeed  at  the  European  Central Bank towards a  more  restrictive  monetary
stance.   With interest rates rising, economic commentators have been  growing
increasingly  pessimistic about the authorities' ability to deliver  a  'soft'
landing.

We remain believers in a soft landing.  Before the end of the summer, we would
expect  to  see  clear evidence that the US economy is indeed  slowing.   This
would  allow  the monetary authorities gradually to relax their stance,  which
would provide support for equity markets and for the technology sector.

We  continue to believe that the long term outlook for technology companies is
excellent.   Both  consumer  and corporate demand for  technology  is  growing
rapidly and the 'catch up' effect is causing spending in Europe and in Asia to
accelerate.   The  internet  remains  the  single  most  important  driver  of
technology spending but it is by no means the only one.  The wireless industry
is  enjoying  continued strength and even the hitherto sluggish PC  market  is
beginning  to  recover.  Earnings growth for the sector  over  the  next  year
should  at least match, and probably exceed, that over the last twelve months.
It should also compare very favourably with that of the overall market.

Painful  though the current technology correction has been, it must ultimately
be  considered healthy.  We entered April with the highest level of  cash  and
derivative  hedging since this Company's launch, namely 20%.  Such  levels  of
liquidity have been helpful in reducing the damage done to our assets but  are
insufficient  to provide more than a modest cushion given the  extent  of  the
share  price falls. By late May, we had reduced our liquidity by more  than  a
half.   While  we  are  encouraged by the way  in  which  the  correction  has
eliminated the froth in share prices built up between November and March,  the
sector  remains  well  above its levels of a year ago.   Typically,  the  most
effective corrections result in the elimination of most of the previous twelve
months' gains. Moreover, valuations remain demanding although some premium  is
certainly  justified  by the much higher growth rates  that  the  industry  is
currently delivering.

                                       
                                   - MORE -
                                     - 5 -
                                       
                        HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
                  Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                              ended 30 April 2000


The  correction has, after a number of false starts, begun to drive IPOs  back
to  the  drawing board.  This is a very healthy development.  We believe  that
there remains some, albeit much reduced, risk to the sector and have therefore
been  feeding  our cash in opportunistically.  We are also  on  the  point  of
finalising  a  number of committed loan facilities which, in  aggregate,  will
allow  us  to gear the Company up to a limit of 40% should share prices  reach
particularly attractive levels.

We  believe that, by the fourth quarter of 2000, the sector will once again be
moving  upward  against  a  backdrop of improved investor  confidence  in  the
prospects  for  the global economy.  We do not believe that technology  shares
will  return to the valuations seen earlier this year although the combination
of  continuing  spectacular  earnings  growth  together  with  some  valuation
expansion should allow many shares to move to new highs.  However, a good many
companies  will  never re-attain the share price peaks of  earlier  this  year
during  the remainder of their corporate lifetimes.  Feeding frenzies  of  the
sort  that  have  been  enjoyed over the last year inevitably  result  in  the
consumption  by  investors  of a substantial number of  unappetising  morsels.
However,  with  the  sharks gone and the waters clearing,  there  remain  many
opportunities to generate more normal but still highly attractive growth.

While  the  stock market, distanced as it so often is from reality,  may  have
driven  technology share prices up to astral levels before plunging them  down
again,  long  term  investors in this industry should take  comfort  from  the
extraordinarily  positive  fundamental outlook.   The  sustainability  of  the
technology  industry's  health  has always depended  on  its  contribution  to
productivity  enhancement.  This Board believes that at no previous  time  has
the industry delivered such vast, nor such rapid, nor such easily quantifiable
returns  on  investment.  For as long as that remains the case,  investors  in
this industry with a sensible time horizon will enjoy continuing prosperity.


                                   - MORE -
                                     - 6 -
                                       
                        HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
                  Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                              ended 30 April 2000

Group Statement of Total Return (incorporating the revenue account) for the
year ended 30 April 2000
                          Year ended 30 April 2000  Year ended 30 April 1999
                                                           (Restated)*
                          Revenue  Capital    Total Revenue  Capital    Total
                            #'000    #'000    #'000   #'000    #'000    #'000
                                                                             
Total capital gains from        -  429,750  429,750       -   81,935   81,935
investments
Repurchase of warrants          -     (85)     (85)       -     (40)     (40)
Income from fixed asset     2,073        -    2,073   1,256        -    1,256
investments
Other interest receivable                                                    
and similar income          6,516        -    6,516   2,036        -    2,036
                          -------  -------  ------- -------  -------  -------

Gross revenue and capital   8,589  429,665  438,254   3,292   81,895   85,187
gains
Management fee           (48,627)        - (48,627) (6,690)        -  (6,690)
Other administrative        (636)        -    (636)   (241)        -    (241)
expenses
                          -------  -------  ------- -------  -------  -------
Net (loss)/return on                                                         
ordinary activities      (40,674)  429,665  388,991 (3,639)   81,895   78,256
before interest payable         
and taxation
Interest payable and        (593)        -    (593)   (125)        -    (125)
similar charges
                          -------  -------  ------- -------  -------  -------
Net (loss)/return on                                                         
ordinary activities      (41,267)  429,665  388,398 (3,764)   81,895   78,131
before taxation                 
Taxation on ordinary         (53)        -     (53)    (25)        -     (25)
activities
                          -------  -------  ------- -------  -------  -------
Net (loss)/return on                                                         
ordinary activities      (41,320) 429,665  388,345  (3,789)   81,895   78,106
after taxation                        
                           ======   ======   ======  ======    =====   ======
(Loss)/return per                                                            
ordinary share
Basic                    (28.02p)  291.32p  263.30p (2.57p)   55.63p   53.06p
                                
                           ======   ======   ======  ======    =====   ======
Diluted                         -  260.42p  235.38p       -   53.87p   51.38p
                           ======   ======   ======  ======    =====   ======
The revenue columns of this statement represent the revenue accounts of the
Group.

* Restated in accordance with FRS16 - see note 2.

Summary of Group Net Assets
                                                     (Audited)
                                  30 April 2000  30 April 1999
                                          #'000          #'000
                                ---------------  -------------
Fixed asset investments                 696,391        289,275
Net current                            (12,881)          3,679
(liabilities)/assets
                                    -----------     ----------
Total assets less current               683,510        292,954
liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due                                
after more than one year               (14,783)       (13,008)
                                    -----------     ----------
Total Net Assets                        668,727        279,946
                                       ========        =======
Net asset value per ordinary                                  
share
- undiluted                             452.75p        190.16p
- diluted                               395.80p        175.29p
                                       
                                   - MORE -
                                     - 7 -
                                       
                        HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
                  Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                              ended 30 April 2000
Notes:

1.   (Loss)/return per ordinary share
     Revenue  loss per ordinary share is based on the net loss after  taxation
     attributable  to the ordinary shares of #41,320,000 (1999:  net  loss  of
     #3,789,000) and on 147,489,961 (1999: 147,209,643) ordinary shares, being
     the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year.
     
     Basic capital return per ordinary share is based on net capital gains  of
     #429,665,000  (1999:  #81,895,000) and on 147,489,961  (1999:147,209,643)
     ordinary  shares, being the weighted average number of  shares  in  issue
     during the year.
     
     The  calculation  of  the fully diluted revenue and capital  returns  per
     ordinary  share  are  carried out in accordance with Financial  Reporting
     Standard  No.14,  Earnings  per  Share  (FRS14).   For  the  purposes  of
     calculating diluted revenue and capital returns per share, the number  of
     shares  is  the weighted average used in the basic calculation  plus  the
     number of shares deemed to be issued for no consideration on exercise  of
     all  warrants,  by reference to the average price of the ordinary  shares
     during the year.  The calculations indicate that the exercise of warrants
     would result in a weighted average number of shares of 164,986,341 (1999:
     152,022,886).
     
2.   1999 Accounts
     The  figures and financial information for the period ended 30 April 1999
     are  an extract of the latest published accounts of the Group and do  not
     constitute  the  statutory accounts for that year.  Those  accounts  have
     been  delivered to the Registrar of Companies and included the report  of
     the  auditors which was unqualified and did not contain a statement under
     either section 237(2) or section 237(3) of the Companies Act 1985.
     
     The  Company  has adopted Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 16  "Current
     Tax"  under which UK franked dividend income should be accounted for  net
     of  the  attributable tax credits.  The comparative figures for the  year
     ended  30 April 1999 have been restated accordingly.  The effect of  this
     change  is  that  net  return on ordinary activities before  taxation  is
     reduced by #65,000 (1999: #108,000).  However, there is no effect on  the
     revenue  or  capital returns per share, nor on the net  asset  value  per
     share.
     
3.   2000 Accounts
     The  preliminary figures for the year ended 30 April 2000 are an  extract
     from  the Group's accounts for that period.  These accounts have not  yet
     been  delivered to the Registrar of Companies, nor have the Auditors  yet
     reported on them.
     
4.   Basis of consolidation
     The Group accounts consolidate the accounts of the Company and its wholly
     owned subsidiary undertaking, HTT Finance Limited.
     
5.   Annual General Meeting
     The  full  annual  report and accounts will be posted to shareholders  in
     late June 2000 and copies will be available thereafter from the Secretary
     at  the Company's Registered Office, 3 Finsbury Avenue, London EC2M  2PA.
     The Annual General Meeting will be held at 12.00 noon on Thursday 27 July
     2000.
                                       
                                   - MORE -
                                     - 8 -
                               
                HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
          Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                      ended 30 April 2000

Largest Investments
The largest 15 investments at 30 April 2000

               Value of  
                Holding
                (#'000)
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Advantest        14,612  Leading supplier of semiconductor
(JAP)                    test systems
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ericsson         13,680  Major supplier of wireless
(SWE)                    infrastructure
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Xilinx           12,639  Leading producer of programmable
(USA)                    logic devices
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Siebel           12,328  Market leader in customer
(USA)                    relationship management software
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Texas            10,929  Leading producer in the digital
Instruments              signal processing market
(USA)
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Oracle           10,728  Global leader in database management
(USA)                    software
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Epcos            10,414  Major producer of capacitors
(GER)
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Teradyne         10,193  US leader in semiconductor and
(USA)                    telecommunications test equipment
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Applied          10,106  Global leader in semiconductor
Materials                production equipment
(USA)
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Motorola          9,886  Diversified manufacturer of wireless
(USA)                    equipment and semiconductors
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
BEA               9,867  Major supplier of enterprise
(USA)                    application integration software
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ciena             9,480  Producer of dense wave division
(USA)                    multiplexing equipment
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Bookham           9,390  Emerging supplier of optical
(UK)                     components
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Scientific        9,147  Leading producer of Cable and
Atlanta                  Satellite equipment
(USA)
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Cisco             9,086  World leader in Networking equipment
(USA)
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------

The valuations of these investments total #162,485,000 or
23.3% of the fixed asset investments of the Company.

                           - MORE -
                             - 9 -
                               
                HENDERSON TECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC
          Unaudited Preliminary Results for the year
                      ended 30 April 2000


New Performance Fee Arrangements
Under  the  new performance fee arrangements from 1 May  2000,
the  performance fee will be split into two parts.  The  first
part  will  be at the rate of 10% of the amount,  if  any,  by
which  the  increase in the undiluted net asset value  of  the
ordinary  shares over the financial year exceeds the  increase
in  the Benchmark over the year.  The Benchmark is a blend  of
worldwide  technology  indices,  comprising  50%  Pacific   SE
Technology,  15% Morgan Stanley Eurotec, 7.5%  Techmark,  7.5%
Euro NM, 15% Datastream Asian Electronics and 5% JASDAQ.   The
second part comprises a longer term incentive and will  be  at
the rate of 5% of the amount, if any, by which the increase in
the undiluted net asset value of the ordinary shares over each
three  year  period exceeds LIBOR +5% over  the  same  period.
Each  three year period will be discrete and hence  the  first
will end on 30 April 2003.

In the event of any underperformance, the arrangements include
a  mechanism  whereby Henderson will only be  paid  subsequent
fees  once  the levels on which previous fees have been  based
are exceeded.

Transitional  arrangements are being proposed  for  the  first
year  (to  30 April 2001) under which the Company will  pay  a
performance fee to Henderson based on the lower of what  would
have  been payable (if anything) under either the new  or  the
old arrangements.

In addition, the management fee will become payable at the end
of  each quarter based on the gross assets at the end of  that
quarter.

                               
For further information please contact:
Brian Ashford-Russell/Norman Brown      or   Peter Binns/Simon Ellis
Henderson Technology Trust PLC               Binns & Co.
or Vicki Staveacre, Henderson Press Office   Tel: 020 7786 9600
Tel: 020 7410 4100


Notes to Editors
Pacific SE Technology        - A long standing and broadly based US
                               technology  index against  which  the  US
                               part    of   the   portfolio   has   been
                               benchmarked for many years.

Morgan Stanley Eurotec       - Is Morgan Stanley's index  of
                               mid and large cap pan European technology
                               stocks.

Euro NM                      - The  leading  Stock  Exchange  for
                               growth stocks in continental Europe.

Datastream Asian Electronics - Is Datastream's  index  of
                               electronic    manufacturers    in    Asia
                               including Japan.

JASDAQ                       - Japan's  answer to the NASDAQ.   An
                               index with Japanese growth stocks.


END

FR SFFFAISSSEDM


1 Year Concha Chart

1 Year Concha Chart

1 Month Concha Chart

1 Month Concha Chart

Your Recent History

Delayed Upgrade Clock