TIDMBSC
RNS Number : 5276U
British Smaller Companies VCT2 Plc
24 November 2023
British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc
Interim Management Statement
For the quarter ended 30 September 2023
British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc (the "Company") presents its
interim management statement for the quarter ended 30 September
2023. The statement also includes relevant financial information
between the end of the quarter and the date of this statement. A
copy of this interim management statement can be found at
www.bscfunds.com .
Overview
In the quarter to 30 September 2023, the Company generated a 0.8
per cent return on its opening Net Asset Value of 57.95 pence,
compared to a 0.1 per cent rise in the FTSE Small Cap.
The Company's Total Return at 30 September 2023 was up 0.45
pence at 143.15 pence per ordinary share.
During the quarter, the Company invested GBP1.6 million into
GEEIQ, a data and market intelligence platform in the gaming space.
The Company has also invested a further GBP0.2 million into
Elucidat.
Following the quarter end, a GBP0.5 million follow-on investment
into Force24 has been completed, taking the total invested in the
current financial year to GBP9.7 million, following the GBP16.3
million invested in 2022.
Post-period end, in November 2023, the Company exited its
investments in E2E, a consultancy in the satellite industry, for
GBP1.4 million, representing a 2.5x return on the Company's cost;
and MacroArt, a large scale branding and signage specialist, for
GBP1.0 million, representing a 2.0x return on the Company's cost.
This was a pleasing outcome for the Company following a challenging
hold period, and reflects the Company's ethos of working hard to
generate positive returns from all of its investments.
Performance
The movement in Total Return in pence per ordinary share is set
out in the table below:
30 June Increase Buy-back Movement 30 Sept
2023 in value of shares in period 2023
Net Assets (GBPm) 133.0 1.0 (0.5) 0.5 133.5
------------ ---------- ----------- ----------- ------------
NAV per share
(PPS) 57.95p 0.45p - 0.45p 58.40p
------------ ---------- ----------- ----------- ------------
Cumulative dividends
paid (PPS) 84.75p - - - 84.75p
------------ ---------- ----------- ----------- ------------
Total Return
(PPS) 142.7p 0.45p - 0.45p 143.15p
------------ ---------- ----------- ----------- ------------
Shares in issue 229,484,783 - (907,200) (907,200) 228,577,583
------------ ---------- ----------- ----------- ------------
The movements in NAV per ordinary share are set out in the table
below:
GBPm Pence per
ordinary share
NAV at 30 June 2023 133.0 57.95
Increase in portfolio value 1.4 0.6
Net operating costs (0.2) (0.05)
Incentive fee (0.2) (0.1)
------ ---------
1.0 0.45
Buy-back of shares (0.5) -
------ ---------
Total Return in the period 0.5 0.45
------ ------ --------- -------
NAV at 30 September 2023 133.5 58.40
----------------------------- ------ ------ --------- -------
Post-period end, on 3 November 2023, a second interim dividend
of 1.5 pence per ordinary share for the year ending 31 December
2023 was paid, taking cumulative dividends paid to paid to 86.25
pence per ordinary share and resulting in a corresponding reduction
to the 30 September 2023 unaudited NAV, to 56.90 pence per ordinary
share.
Buy-backs, dividends and shares in issue
On 25 September 2023, the Company purchased 907,200 ordinary
shares of 10 pence each at a price of 55.55 pence per ordinary
share. These shares were placed in treasury.
The number of ordinary shares in issue at 30 September 2023 was
228,577,583 (30 June 2023: 229,484,783). In addition, at 30
September 2023 the Company held 20,449,923 ordinary shares in
treasury (30 June 2023: 19,542,723).
Subsequent to the quarter end, on 3 November 2023 the Company
issued 1,114,927 shares under the Company's Dividend Re-investment
Scheme (DRIS) following the payment of the interim dividend, taking
the number of shares in issue at that date to 229,692,510, with a
further 20,449,923 shares held in treasury.
Net assets
Net assets at 30 September 2023 comprised the following:
% of net
GBP000 assets
Unquoted investments at fair
value 92,274 69.1
Listed investment funds 1,698 1.3
Cash and cash equivalents 39,273 29.4
Other net current assets 269 0.2
-------- ---------
Net assets 133,514 100.0
======== =========
Investments
The investment portfolio at 30 September 2023 comprised:
Cumulative
valuation
as a %
Valuation of net
GBP000 assets
Matillion 21,314 16.0%
Unbiased 7,708 21.7%
Outpost 5,957 26.2%
Displayplan 4,637 29.7%
Elucidat 4,330 32.9%
Wooshii 4,004 35.9%
Force24 3,195 38.3%
ACC Aviation 2,949 40.5%
Vypr 2,746 42.6%
Quality Clouds 2,628 44.5%
59,468 44.5%
Other investments 32,806 69.1%
Total investments 92,274 69.1%
========== ===========
Shareholder relations
The Company will be hosting an online webinar on 27 November
2023 to provide an update to shareholders; for further details
please contact Tracey Nice at tracey.nice@yfmep.com .
Regulatory Developments
In the Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023, the Government
announced it would extend the sunset clause currently in place for
Venture Capital Trusts until April 2035, and that it would include
legislation to achieve this in the next Finance Bill.
Fundraising
Having assessed its expected cash requirements, the Company
announced a new share offer on 20 September 2023, alongside British
Smaller Companies VCT plc, with the intention of raising up to
GBP90 million (in aggregate), which includes an over-allotment
facility of GBP25 million. Applications exceeding GBP45 million
have been received as of the date of this report, of which GBP18
million relate to the Company. The first allotment of GBP30 million
of gross proceeds will take place between 29 and 31 January 2024.
The second and final allotment will take place in early April
2024.
Outlook
The UK macro-economic environment has stabilised somewhat and
the economy may well avoid a recession, although growth levels are
likely to remain weak. And while rates of inflation are expected to
reduce, interest rates are anticipated to remain at the current
elevated levels for some time. Portfolio companies have coped well
in this environment, and continue to grow revenues, which helps to
offset the impact on the Company of muted valuations multiples. It
has also been pleasing to continue to achieve good realisations of
portfolio companies and we feel the Company's investments are well
placed to deliver further exits in the coming quarters.
We continue to see opportunities to deploy capital into
promising new businesses, as well as to continue funding existing
portfolio companies to help them scale up their growth plans.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU No. 596/2014). Upon the
publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service
this inside information is now considered to be in the public
domain.
24 November 2023
For further information please contact:
David Hall YFM Private Equity Limited Tel: 0113 244 1000
Alex Collins Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited Tel: 0207 886 2767
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
QRTPPGPPGUPWGRW
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2023 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
British Smaller Companie... (LSE:BSC)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De May 2024 a Jun 2024
British Smaller Companie... (LSE:BSC)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Jun 2023 a Jun 2024