TIDMNCA
New Century AIM VCT plc
For the six months to 31 August 2022
Chairman's Statement
The past six months has been a very difficult one for New
Century, not just from a Stock Market point of view, but also with
dealing with the many obstacles we had to face.
I would like to first apologise for the time it has taken to
commence the return of your funds. The previous Board and our
investment managers were opposed to the winding up of your fund.
Instead of supporting the wish of the majority of the shareholders,
they did their utmost to prevent such moves. John Brice, the fund's
former chairman with the support of myself put forward a motion to
remove the Board with the exception of myself. The opposition to
the former Board was so overwhelming that all the directors, with
the exception of myself felt they were directly opposed to the
wishes of the majority of the shareholders and decided to resign
from the Board. John Brice and his colleague, Simon Bragg were
appointed to the Board with a view to returning funds to the
shareholders.
With regard to winding up the fund, we took legal advice as to
the best way to achieve this. It was decided that the simplest and
cheapest way to carry this out would be to wind the fund down. This
required a legal document to be prepared by our lawyers which had
to be approved by the FCA and then be voted upon by the
shareholders. A resounding 100% of the shareholders who voted,
voted in favour of the winding down of the fund. Unfortunately, by
the time the approvals were met, we were already facing a bear
market in the AIM market.
We are indebted to Simon Bragg who helped enormously in the
legal process and in the preparation of the accounts, all without
any remuneration. Having successfully helped us prepare the way for
winding down the fund, Simon decided to step down from the Board to
concentrate on his other interests.
Our previous auditors decided to withdraw from the audit of
vct's and we had to spend time getting quotes for a replacement
auditor. At the same time, Oberon decided to terminate the
bookkeeping facility that they provided to us. We have now
successfully found new auditors and bookkeepers.
Oberon also decided that they were no longer going to provide us
with the facility to make announcements for us to the London Stock
Exchange. To set up a new facility, New Century had to first set up
its own website incorporating my personal email linked to it.
Although that involved much work, I'm pleased to say that we
managed to set this up for less than GBP15.
For 17 years, M D Barnard & Co Ltd and more laterally,
Oberon had settled the few invoices that we had to pay from any
cash we held with them. Oberon decided that they were no longer
going to pay third parties on our behalf. This meant that we had to
obtain our own bank account. I imagined that this would be a
relatively simple task but having tried around 25 banks, we have
been unable to find a replacement bank. Initially, we found that
one obstacle was that John Brice was a non UK resident and this
proved to be a deterrent to several banks taking us on. To improve
our chances of securing a current account with a bank, John Brice
agreed to step down. We would like to thank him for his
contribution which was also without remuneration. Until we secure a
bank account we are unable to pay a dividend. I am personally
covering any of the fund's invoices and will be refunded when we
eventually obtain a bank account.
John has been replaced by Spencer Crooks who was one of the
founders of Winterflood Securities who are specialist dealers in
the AIM market. His knowledge of this market is proving to be
extremely helpful with regard to the winding down of the fund.
We have taken a policy decision to initially dispose of the more
risky investments. We are particularly concerned about loss making
companies that have low cash reserves and which are likely to have
to come to the market for fresh funds. With interest rates rising
and confidence in the market waning, we believe it will become more
and more difficult for companies to raise fresh cash. This could
lead to new shares being issued at a large discount to their
prevailing share prices and in the worst cases, could lead to some
of those companies being unable to survive. We have avoided quick
fire sales of our holdings but instead been careful with the way we
have conducted our selling with a view to trying to maximise the
proceeds from sales. Some of the holdings have been quite large and
it has not always been easy to liquidate them in one go.
Nevertheless, we have successfully sold all the holdings where we
have had concerns. Since the beginning of the company's financial
year, this has involved the complete exit from fifty holdings. With
the recent sales the fund is now 46 % liquid and allows us to pay
back a dividend of 28p per share. As soon as we can obtain a bank
account, we plan to pay the maximum dividend that we can. Following
these sales, the fund is now comprised of much higher quality
stocks which are better placed to withstand any economic shocks and
to participate from the eventual recovery.
Michael Barnard
8 November 2022
Unaudited Balance Sheet
Interim Accounts Final Accounts Interim Accounts
as at 31 August as at 28 February as at 31 August
2022 2022 * 2021
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Fixed Assets
Investments 4,810 7,324 9,212
Current
Assets
Debtors 472 411 369
472 411 369
Current
Liabilities
Creditors:
amounts due
Within one year (14) (32) (24)
Net Assets 5,268 7,703 9,557
Capital and
Reserves
Share capital 786 786 786
Share premium 682 682 682
Capital
redemption
reserve 400 400 400
Capital reserve
-- realised 1,831 1,810 1.272
Special
distributable
reserve 2,773 3.638 -
Capital reserve
-- unrealised (1,341) 248 6,246
Revenue reserve 137 139 171
5,268 7,703 9,557
Net Asset Value per share 67p 98p 121.6p
Audited
Unaudited Statement of Comprehensive Income
(incorporating the revenue account)
6 month period ended 31 6 month period ended 31
August 2022 Year to 28 February 2022* August 2021
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Gains/(losses)
on investments
Realised - (45) (45) - 448 448 - 114 114
Unrealised - (1,500) (1,500) - (236) (236) - 1,379 1,379
Income 32 - 32 69 - 69 34 - 34
Investment
management
fees (8) (23) (31) (22) (66) (88) (12) (36) (48)
Other expenses (26) - (26) (73) - (73) (16) - (16)
Return on
ordinary
activities (2) (1,568) (1,570) (26) 146 120 6 1,457 1,463
Tax on ordinary
activities - - - - - - - - -
Return on
ordinary
activities
after taxation (2) (1,568) (1,570) (26) 146 120 6 1,457 1,463
Return per (19.95) (19.97)
ordinary share (0.02) (0.33) 1.86 1.53 0.08 18.53 18.61
in pence
*Audited
All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations in the
current six month period. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the current period.
Other than that shown above, the company had no recognised gains or losses. Accordingly, the
above represents the total comprehensive income for the period. The weighted average number of
shares in issue during the period was 7,860,937.
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
Share Share Capital Capital Special Capital Revenue Total
Capital Premium Redemption Realised Distributable Unrealised Reserve
Account Account Reserve Reserve
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
As at 1
March 2022 786 682 400 1,810 3,638 248 139 7,703
Realised
losses this
period - - - (45) - - - (45)
Unrealised
decrease in
value - - - - - (1,500) - (1,500)
Transfer of
unrealised
valuation
gain to
realised
reserves on
disposal of
investments - - - 89 - (89) - -
Net revenue
before tax - - - - - - (2) (2)
Capital
element of
investment
management
fee - - - (23) - - - (23)
Dividends
paid - - - - (865) - - (865)
At 31 August
2022 786 682 400 1,831 2,773 (1,341) 137 5,268
Share Share Capital Capital Special Capital Revenue Total
Capital Premium Redemption Realised Distributable Unrealised Reserve
Account Account Reserve Reserve
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
As at 1
March 2021 786 682 400 1,143 0 4918 165 8,094
Realised
gains this
period - - - 448 - - - 448
Unrealised
decrease in
value - - - (236) - (236)
Transfer of
unrealised
valuation
gain to
realised
reserves on
disposal of
investments - - - 285 - (285) - -
Net revenue
before tax - - - - - - (26) (26)
Capital
element of
investment
management
fee - - - (66) - - - (66)
Inter
reserve
transfer - - - - 4,149 (4,149) - -
Dividends
paid - - - - (511) - - (511)
At 28
February
2022* 786 682 400 1,810 3,638 248 139 7,703
*Audited
Note: Some columns on this page may not cast because of rounding differences.
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
(continued)
Share Share Capital Capital Capital Revenue Total
Capital Premium Redemption Realised Unrealised Reserve
Account Account Reserve
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
As at 1 March
2021 786 682 400 1,143 4,918 165 8,094
Realised
gains/losses
this period - - - 114 - - 114
Unrealised
decrease in
value - - - 1,379 - 1,379
Transfer of
unrealised
valuation
gain to
realised
reserves on
disposal of
investments - - - 50 (50) - -
Net revenue
before tax - - - - - 6 6
Capital
element of
investment
management
fee - - - (36) - - (36)
Inter reserve
transfer - - - - - - -
At 31 August
2021 786 682 400 1,272 6,246 171 6,557
Note: Some columns on this page may not cast because of rounding differences.
Unaudited Cash Flow Statement
6 month period 6 month period
ended ended
Year to 28
31 August 2022 February 2022 * 31 August 2021
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Net cash used in
operating
activities (18) (217) (73)
Cash flows from
investing
activities
Investment income 32 69 34
Net cash from
investing
activities 32 69 34
Cash flows from
investing
activities
Sale of investments 1,159 1,278 529
Purchase of
investments (192) (386) (244)
Dividends paid (865) (511) -
Net cash generated
from financing
activities 102 381 285
Net
increase/(decrease}
in cash and cash
equivalents 116 233 246
Cash and cash
equivalents at
beginning of period 356 123 123
Cash and cash
equivalents at end
of period 472 356 369
Audited
Security Cost Valuation % %
31 August 2022 Cost Valuation
Qualifying Investments 5,709,736 4,669,233 89.75 90.38
Non-qualifying Investments 296,011 140,833 4.65 2.73
6,005,747 4,810,065 94.4 93.11
Uninvested funds 356,250 356,250 5.6 6.89
6,361,997 5,166,315 100.00 100.00
Qualifying Investments
AIM Quoted
AFC Energy 50,254 85,875 0.79 1.66
Angle plc 103,016 111,015 1.62 2.15
Anglo African Oil & Gas plc 45,229 0 0.71 0.00
Arecor Therapeutics 12,816 15,231 0.20 0.29
Audioboom Group plc 121,167 331,542 1.90 6.42
Bango plc 7,563 34,125 0.12 0.66
Belluscara 100,506 171,111 1.58 3.31
Belvoir Lettings plc 23,320 44,000 0.37 0.85
Bigblu Broadband plc 140,398 156,934 2.21 3.04
Bilby/Kinovo plc 156,673 95,413 2.46 1.85
Blackbird plc 96,735 375,375 1.52 7.27
Brighton Pier Group plc 50,253 23,063 0.79 0.45
C4X Discovery Holding plc 60,354 97,681 0.95 1.89
Clean Power Hydrogen 50,253 48,778 0.79 0.94
Cloudbuy plc 58,483 228 0.92 0.00
Concepta plc/Myhealthchecked 75,379 112,219 1.18 2.17
Myhealthchecked 25,128 114,014 0.39 2.21
Coral Products plc 118,095 111,667 1.86 2.16
Cyanconnode Holdings plc 376,755 90,793 5.92 1.76
DCD Media plc 562,800 0 8.85 0.00
Destiny Pharma plc 175,885 128,808 2.76 2.49
Diaceutics plc 10,314 12,285 0.16 0.24
DP Poland plc 20,113 10,472 0.32 0.20
Ecsc Group 20,104 15,018 0.32 0.29
Entertainment Ai/now SEEEN plc 150,754 30,000 2.37 0.58
Escape Hunt plc/now XP Factory 31,006 2,616 0.49 0.05
Falanx Group Ltd 145,939 33,911 2.29 0.66
Feedback plc 100,508 52,048 1.58 1.01
Gear4Music Holdings lc 27,121 27,277 0.43 0.53
Gfinity plc 116,218 43,065 1.83 0.83
Immotion Group plc 130,661 63,363 2.05 1.23
Inspired Energy plc 43,391 157,705 0.68 3.05
Intelligent Ultrasound Group
plc 170,320 156,118 2.68 3.02
K3 Business Technology Group
plc 90,360 129,870 1.42 2.51
Keywords Studios plc 5,563 111,780 0.09 2.16
Libertine Holdings 75,378 76,856 1.18 1.49
Lightwaverf plc 45,233 2,647 0.71 0.05
Location Sciences Group plc 132,946 9,479 2.09 0.18
M.Winkworth plc 64,320 144,000 1.01 2.79
Marechale Capital plc 133,828 34,980 2.10 0.68
Maxcyte Inc 25,128 161,249 0.39 3.12
Microsaic Components 154,711 2,040 2.43 0.04
N4 Pharma plc 60,304 9,600 0.95 0.19
Pelatro plc 25,128 9,200 0.39 0.18
PHSC plc 169,845 67,600 2.67 1.31
Property Franchise Group plc 156,431 386,446 2.46 7.48
Quixant plc 6,935 21,750 0.11 0.42
Scholium Group plc 50,253 20,000 0.79 0.39
Scancell Holdings plc 54,877 36,775 0.86 0.71
Scancell Holdings plc 75,741 71,906 1.19 1.39
Solid State plc 40,134 181,500 0.63 3.51
SRT Marine Systems plc 4,523 7,500 0.07 0.15
Sysgroup plc 99,177 41,113 1.56 0.80
Touchstar plc 281,400 87,500 4.42 1.69
Trellus Health 25,128 5,150 0.39 0.10
Tristel plc 14,306 118,746 0.22 2.30
Vianet Group plc 40,175 18,363 0.63 0.36
Verici Dx 101,505 72,347 1.60 1.40
Yourgene Health plc 69,349 20,700 1.09 0.40
Yu Group plc 27,893 25,500 0.44 0.49
5,408,083 4,626,343 85.01 89.55
AQSE listed
Sulnox Grp 35,279 19,890 0.55 0.38
Truspine 50,253 23,000 0.79 0.45
85,532 42,890 1.34 0.83
Unlisted Investments
Invocas Group plc 100,400 0 1.58 0.00
Outsourcery plc 45,027 0 0.71 0.00
Optare plc 50,753 0 0.80 0.00
Syqic plc 19,943 0 0.31 0.00
216,122 0 3.40 0.00
Total Qualifying Investments 5,709,737 4,669,233 89.75 90.38
Non Qualifying Investments
AIM Quoted
Audioboom Group plc 1,163 678 0.02 0.01
Bango plc 92 195 0.00 0.00
Bango plc 199 195 0.00 0.00
Cyanconnode Holdings plc 131 16 0.00 0.00
Driver Group plc 8,992 3,300 0.14 0.06
Gateley Holdings plc 4,876 9,600 0.08 0.19
K3 Business Technology Group plc 131 130 0.00 0.00
Rotala plc 60,796 54,945 0.96 1.06
Tristel plc 60 324 0.00 0.01
76,439 69,383 1.20 1.35
UK LISTED
Aviva plv 5,344 5,075 0.08 0.10
Investec plc -- preference shares 107,376 66,375 1.69 1.28
112,720 71,450 1.77 1.38
Unlisted Investments
China Food Company plc 65,969 0 1.04 0.00
Gable Holdings Inc 12,112 0 0.19 0.00
Mar City plc 10,053 0 0.16 0.00
Sorbic International plc 18,717 0 0.29 0.00
106,851 0 1.68 0.00
Total Non-qualifying Investments 296,011 140,833 4.65 2.73
Notes to the Accounts
This interim financial information and the unaudited interim
accounts for the six months to 31 August 2022 from which it has
been extracted, are the responsibility of the directors and were
approved by them on 8 November 2022, do not constitute statutory
accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act
2006 and have not been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
The Company is an investment company as defined in Section 833
of the Companies Act 2006. The unaudited interim accounts have been
prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Council's (FRC)
Financial Reporting Standard 104 Interim Financial Reporting (March
2018) and with the Statement of Recommended Practice for Investment
Companies re-issued by the Association of Investment Companies in
November 2014 and updated in April 2021.
The unaudited interim accounts have been prepared using
accounting policies that the company applied in the accounts for
the year ending 28 February 2022, incorporating FRS 102 The
Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of
Ireland. The company considers these accounting policies will be
used in the accounts for the year ending 28 February 2022.
Listed, AIM or AQSE Markets-traded investments are stated at
market value, which is based upon market bid prices at the balance
sheet date. These would all meet tier 1 of the fair value
hierarchy.
7,860,937 Ordinary Shares of 10 pence each were in issue
throughout the period under review.
The net asset value per share, using bid-prices to value the
fund's investment portfolio, at 31 August 2022 was 67p (at 28
February 2022: 98p; 31 August 2021: 121.6p).
On the 22 September 2021 a dividend of 9p per share was paid to
shareholders.
There have not been any significant events since the balance
sheet date.
New Century AIM VCT plc is managed by Oberon Investments Limited
('OIL'). Under the terms of the management agreement OIL is
entitled to a fee (exclusive of VAT) equal to 1% per annum of the
net assets of the company. During the period the management fee was
GBP48k (the year ended 28 February 2022: GBP65k, the period ended
31 August 2021:
GBP27k).
Bearing in mind that the assets of the Company consist mainly of
marketable securities, the directors are of the opinion that at the
time of approving this interim financial information, the company
has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the
foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the
going concern basis in preparing this interim financial
information.
Copies of the Interim Report to Shareholders have been sent to
shareholders and are available at the Company's Registered Office:
Tricor Secretaries Ltd, 4th Floor, 50 Mark Lane, London EC3R
7QR.
Directors, Investment Managers and Advisors
Directors, Investment Manager and Advisors
Directors
Michael David Barnard (Chairman)
Spencer Crooks (appointed 16 August 2022) Simon
Bragg (appointed 10 February 2022 resigned 30
June 2022) John Brice (appointed 10 February
2022 resigned 16 August 2022)
Secretary
Tricor Secretaries Ltd
and registered office 4th Floor, 50 Mark Lane
London EC3R 7QR
Investment Manager and Broker
Oberon Investments Limited
First Floor
12 Hornsby Square
Southfields Business Park
Basildon
Essex SS15 6SD
Registrars
Neville Registrars Limited
Neville House
Steelpark Road
Halesowen
West Midlands B62 8HD
Auditor
Hazlewoods
Windsor House
Bayshill Road
Cheltenham GL50 3AT
Solicitors
Douglas Minto
Broadgate Tower
20 Primrose Street
London EC2A 2EW
View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221111005392/en/
CONTACT:
NEW CENTURY AIM VCT PLC
SOURCE: New Century AIM VCT Plc
Copyright Business Wire 2022
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 14, 2022 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
New Century Aim Vct (LSE:NCA)
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