Final Results

NEW CENTURY AIM VCT PLC NEW CENTURY AIM VCT PLC PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS AS AT 29 FEBRUARY 2008 Financial Summary -0- *T Year ended Period ended 29 February 2008 28 February 2007 Revenue return per share (pence) for the period 1.17 0.66 Total return per share (pence) for the period -18.92 10.42 Dividends per share (pence) 1.90 0.70 Cumulative dividends per share (pence) 2.20 1.50 Net asset value per share (pence) 115.46 136.5 Cumulative value of shareholder investment (net asset value plus cumulative dividends per share) (pence) 117.20 136.50 Shareholders' funds (£'000) 9,773 11,434 *T Chairman's Statement The past twelve months has continued to be difficult with the FTSE AIM Index falling by 7.9%. This index contains many strong performing natural resources stocks, without which the index would have been much lower. The majority of natural resources stocks are not eligible as qualifying investments for VCT's. Reflecting this, your fund Net Asset Value fell by 14.8% over the period. Liquidity played a major part in the weakness of the AIM market. Price falls were often disproportionate to the size of sales. Good results and encouraging statements often saw little reaction to the underlying share prices while anything negative tended to lead to heavy mark downs. During the year, we realised net profits of £1.677million. Most importantly, qualifying investments rose to 77.1% of the total investment cost, i.e. well above the 70% level required to retain VCT qualifying status. Our gross income increased to £166,208 from which we propose to pay a dividend of 1.9p per share, costing £160,826 or 96.8% of the gross income received. While the recent performance has been disappointing, the investment management team believe that many of the constituents of your fund have fallen to levels at which they represent exceptionally good value and this augurs well for the future. On your behalf, I would like to thank the management team for their hard work during these trying times. I would also like to thank our two assistants who, in the interest of saving costs, copied and collated all the annual reports for shareholders. To reduce the amount of work involved and to reduce costs further, it would help, if you have not already done so, to arrange for your future reports to be sent by e-mail. This can be arranged by contacting Alison or Jackie on 01268 493333. Annual General Meeting The annual general meeting will be held at 11.30 a.m. on 28 August 2008 at 17-21 New Century Road, Laindon, Essex SS15 6AG. I look forward to meeting those shareholders who are able to attend. John Brice Chairman 27 May 2008 Investment Managers' Review With smaller company funds like New Century AIM VCT, one of the most difficult problems facing fund managers is the liquidity of the holdings. While it is relatively easy to sell large holdings of bigger companies, the same is not true for many AIM companies. When a company floats on the Stock Market for the first time, or when it comes back to the Stock Market to raise extra capital, it is often possible to obtain a meaningful holding in the company, typically between £100,000 and £500,000 in value. However, when it comes to selling, it can prove difficult to shift holdings of this size. For this reason, we have to take a long term approach regarding investment. Maintaining at least 70% of the fund in VCT qualifying stocks also necessitates us to view such shares as long term investments. To reduce such risks, we carefully analyse each investment prior to purchase and in the case of the largest holdings, we spend as much time as possible meeting the management of the companies in order to understand their business and long term prospects. To help mitigate the risks of liquidity, we aim to build up an ever increasing spread of investments, made up of smaller and smaller holdings. Thus, over the past year, we have increased the number of holdings from 48 to 67. The advantage of this approach is that, if any one investment goes wrong, it has a less detrimental impact on the overall performance of the fund; while the smaller the size holding, the easier it is to dispose of. We also look to bank some of the profits when holdings become disproportionately large. Where possible, we try to adhere to the old adage of running our successful investments but cutting those that go wrong. During the year we benefited from takeovers of Computer Software Group, Broker Network Holdings and Synexus Clinical Research. These three investments netted your fund profits of just over £185,000. We took profits or partial profits on 16 other investments, the most notable being on Tanfield where we secured a profit of over £1.56million. We reduced or disposed of holdings in eight companies where we believed the prospects had diminished. In total, we cut losses of just over £250,000 on these investments. We have continued to invest in companies that will benefit from new legislation, particularly relating to environmental issues. These have included: BGlobal - Provides smart metering services to record and monitor energy consumption. Eaga - Engaged in making residential improvements in the environmental, social justice and energy efficiency arenas. Superglass Holdings - Manufacturing and supplying glass wool thermal insulation products. Kurawood - Manufactures and distributes organically hardened softwood using a proprietary and innovative timber treatment process. Southern Bear - Installs energy efficient heating systems to social housing. Prospects You may feel concerned and disappointed to have seen a reduction in the net asset value of your fund. Indeed, I regret to say that since the year end, we have continued on a downward trend and at the time of writing, 27th May 2008, the net asset value per share has fallen further to 113.2p. Whilst we share your disappointment in the fall in share price, we do not see this as a cause for concern. We are very happy with the constituents of the fund, most of which are making good progress in profit terms, even if their share prices are not reflecting this. Many shares within the fund are on ratings that historically looked exceptionally good value. That does not mean that they will not become cheaper still but at current levels, we believe there is scope for the value of the shares within your fund to move considerably higher. Michael Barnard 27 May 2008 Income Statement (incorporating the revenue account) for the year to 29 February 2008 -0- *T Year ended Period ended 29 February 2008 28 February 2007 Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Gains/ (losses) on investments - realised - 1,677 1,677 - 1,176 1,176 - unrealised - (3,274) (3,274) - (262) (262) Income 166 - 166 111 - 111 Investment management fee (34) (103) (137) (29) (88) (117) Other expenses (33) - (33) (26) - (26) ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- -------- ------------ Return on ordinary activities before taxation 99 (1,700) (1,601) 56 826 882 Tax (charge)/credit on ordinary activities (20) 20 - (17) 17 - ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- -------- ------------ Return on ordinary activities after taxation 79 (1,680) (1,601) 39 843 882 ========== ========== =========== ========== ======== ============ Return per ordinary share (pence) 0.93 (19.85) (18.92) 0.47 9.95 10.42 *T All revenue and capital items in the above statement are from continuing operations in the current year. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the current period. Other than shown above, the company had no recognised gains or losses. Accordingly no statement of total recognised gains and losses has been prepared. Balance Sheet At 29 February 2008 -0- *T Year ended Period ended 29 February 2008 28 February 2007 £000 £000 Fixed assets Investments 9,206 8,934 Current assets Debtors 591 2,528 Current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (24) (28) -------------- ------------ 9,773 11,434 ============== ============ Capital and reserves Called up share capital 846 846 Share premium 7,534 7,534 Capital reserve - realised 2,705 1,131 Capital reserve - unrealised (1,374) 1,880 Revenue reserve 62 43 -------------- ------------ Total equity shareholders' funds 9,773 11,434 *T -0- *T Net asset value per ordinary share 115p 135p *T Cash Flow Statement for the year to 29 February 2008 -0- *T Year ended Period ended Note 29 February 2008 28 February 2007 £000 £000 Net cash outflow from operating activities 4 (174) (147) Returns on investments Interest received 86 55 Investment income 80 56 ============ ============ Net cash inflow/ (outflow) for returns on investments and servicing of finance 166 111 Taxation - (14) Dividend paid (60) (127) Capital expenditure & financial investment Sale of investments 3,545 3,789 Purchase of investments (5,414) (2,721) ============ ============ Net cash inflow/ (outflow) for capital expenditure (1,869) 1,068 & financial investment ------------ ------------ Net cash inflow/(outflow) before financing (1,937) 891 Net proceeds of share issue - - ------------ ------------ (Decrease)/ Increase in uninvested funds with broker (1,937) 891 ============ ============ *T Notes 1 Return per share The revenue return, per ordinary share, is based on the net revenue on ordinary activities after taxation of £78,928 (2007: £39,505) and on 8,464,500 (2007: 8,464,500) ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period. The capital return per ordinary share is based on a net realised and unrealised capital profit/(loss) of (£1,700,384) (2007: £809,132) and on 8,464,500 (2007: 8,464,500) ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period. 2 Dividend The directors are proposing a final dividend of 1.90p per share for the period ended 29 February 2008. 3 Accounts The financial information presented is not statutory accounts within the meaning of s.240 of the Companies Act 1985. The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 29 February 2008 will be filed at the Registrar of Companies following the annual general meeting and will be posted to shareholders shortly. 4 Net cash flows from operating activities -0- *T Year ended Period ended 29 February 2008 28 February 2007 £000 £000 Operating activities Operating profit (1,601) 882 Profit on sale of investments (1,677) (1,176) Investment income (166) (111) Unrealised losses/(gains) on investments 3,274 262 (Decrease)/increase in creditors (4) (4) ------------- ---------- Net cash inflow/outflow from operating activities (174) (147) ============= ========== *T 5 Announcement A copy of this announcement will be available at the offices of the Company for 14 days from the date of this announcement. This preliminary announcement is not being posted to shareholders. Directors John Roger Simpson Brice (Chairman) Michael David Barnard Geoffrey Gamble Robin Kirby Peter William Riley All directors are non-executive. Management and Administration -0- *T Registered Office & Registered Number Investment Manager and Broker 4th Floor, M D Barnard & Company Limited 150-152 Fenchurch Street 17-21 New Century Road London EC3M 6BB Laindon Essex SS15 6AG 5352611 Company Secretary Auditor & VCT Status Adviser Graham Urquhart UHY Hacker Young 4th Floor, Quadrant House 150-152 Fenchurch Street 17 Thomas More Street London EC3M 6BB London E1W 1YW Registrar Bankers Neville Registrars Limited Bank of Scotland Neville House, 18 Laurel Lane New Uberior House Halesowen, West Midlands B63 3DA 11 Earl Grey Street Edinburgh EH3 9BN Solicitors Dundas & Wilson 5th Floor, Northwest Wing Bush House Aldwych London WC2B 4EZ *T

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