Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 0581D

Schroder UK Growth Fund PLC

24 March 2014

 

SCHRODER UK GROWTH FUND PLC

Interim Management Statement for the Quarter Ended 31 January 2014

The Board of Schroder UK Growth Fund Plc ("the Company") announces its second Interim Management Statement for the year ending 30 April 2014, as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. This Statement is in respect of the period from 1 November 2013 to 31 January 2014.

Investment Objective

The Company's principal investment objective is to achieve capital growth predominantly from investment in UK equities, with the aim of providing a total return in excess of the FTSE All-Share Index.

Material Events or Transactions

First Interim Dividend for the year ending 30 April 2014

The Board declared a first interim dividend of 2.25p per share for the year ending 30 April 2014, which was paid on 31 January 2014 to shareholders on the Register on 3 January 2014.

Directorate Change

Post the quarter-end, Carolan Dobson has been appointed as a non-executive Director of the Company, effective from 13 March 2014.

Ms Dobson is Chairman of Aberdeen Smaller Companies High Income Trust plc and JP Morgan European Smaller Companies Trust plc.  She is also a non-executive Director of Brunner Investment Trust plc.  She was a fund manager holding a number of positions including Director at Murray Johnstone Ltd and subsequently undertook several key roles at Abbey Asset Managers Ltd.

There have been no other material events or transactions that have taken place in respect of the Company between 1 November 2013 and the date of publication of this Statement.

Company Statistics as at 31 January 2014

Net assets	£307.6 million
Net Asset Value per Ordinary share (cum income)	191.16p
Share price	192.5p
Premium (to ex income NAV)	1.32%
Number of portfolio holdings	62
Gearing	6.9%
Yield	2.3%

% Cumulative Performance to 31 January 2014

Performance over	3m	6m	1yr	3yr
Share Price (total return)	1.4	10.5	27.3	56.7
Net Asset Value (total return)	-2.5	3.3	19.4	49.5
FTSE All-Share Index	-2.0	1.1	10.1	27.7

Source for all performance data: Morningstar

Portfolio Information as at 31 January 2014

Ten Largest Holdings

Stock Name	Sector Classification	Market value   (£,000)	Percentage of NAV
Rio Tinto	Basic Materials	23,033	7.5
Royal Dutch Shell	Oil and Gas	18,575	6.0
Barclays	Financials	16,279	5.3
Melrose	Industrials	14,970	4.9
Legal & General	Financials	14,472	4.7
Reed Elsevier	Consumer Services	12,987	4.2
Sage	Technology	11,659	3.8
Pearson	Consumer Services	11,203	3.6
GKN	Consumer Goods	11,040	3.6
Ashmore	Financials	9,176	3.0

Sector Allocation

Sector	Percentage of NAV
Consumer Services		26.8
Industrials		24.1
Financials		22.2
Basic Materials		9.6
Oil and Gas		8.9
Consumer Goods		7.0
Technology		5.8
Healthcare		5.3
Other net liabilities		(9.7)

Changes to Share Capital during the Quarter Ended 31 January 2014

There were no changes to the Company's share capital during the quarter. There remain a total of 160,917,184 Ordinary shares of 25p in issue at 31 January 2014 and at the date of publication of this Statement. Each share carries one voting right.

Material Events or Transactions

There have been no material events or transactions that have taken place between 1 November 2013 and the date of publication of this Statement.

Company Information as at 31 January 2014

SEDOL Code	0791348
Sector	Equity Investment Instruments
Launch Date	25 April 1994
Financial Year End	30 April
Next Dividend Payment	July 2014

Enquiries:

John Spedding

Schroder Investment Management Limited

Company Secretary

Tel: [phone]

24 March 2014

 

END

 

 

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