Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 8944K

F&C U.S. Smaller Companies PLC

27 April 2010

 



F&C US Smaller Companies PLC

Interim Management Statement

For the three month period ended 31 March 2010

Investment Objective

To achieve long-term capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio primarily of quoted US smaller and medium sized companies.

Performance summary

	31 March  2010	31 December  2009	Movement
Net assets	£85.54m	£73.48m	16.4%
Net asset value (NAV) per share	413.09p	354.85p	16.4%
Share price	374.00p	304.50p	22.8%
Russell 2000 Index      (sterling adjusted)	447.39	387.27	15.5%
Discount to NAV per share	9.5%	14.2%

Three month review

The NAV per share rose 16.4% in the three months to 31 March 2010.  This compares to a rise of 15.5% in the benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index (sterling adjusted) during the same period. Shareholders benefited from a gain of 6.5% in the US dollar compared to sterling.

Performance was helped by a number of stocks including CapitalSource, Airgas and Career Education but hindered by disappointing results at FLIR Systems and CRA International. Airgas received a hostile bid from Air Products.

We bought five new holdings, including Intrepid Potash, Viasat and Quanta Services and sold three, namely Airgas, CommScope and ACCO Brands, all three of which had performed strongly compared to the market.

The Company is not currently geared.

There have been no share buybacks during the period.

The Board is not aware of any significant events or transactions which have occurred between 31 March 2010 and the date of publication of this statement which would have a material impact on the financial position of the Company.

Ten Largest Holdings

31 March  2010	31 December 2009	Company Description	Percentage of  total investments
1	39	Brush Engineered Materials Specialty materials producer	2.3
2	27	The Andersons Diversified agribusiness	2.1
3	28	Horizon Lines Jones Act shipping	2.0
4	9	Career Education Provider of post secondary education.	2.0
5	51	Mohawk Industries Flooring manufacturer	2.0
6	13	Premiere Global Services Outsourced communication services.	2.0
7	4	AMERIGROUP Healthcare provider.	1.9
8	56	Conn's Retailer	1.9
9	21	Alleghany Specialist commercial underwriter.	1.9
10	43	ICF International Government consultant	1.9

Industrial Classification

	31 March 2010 Percentage of total investments	31 December 2009 Percentage of total investments
Producer Durables	33.3	30.9
Financial Services	18.0	19.1
Consumer Discretionary	9.2	9.4
Healthcare	7.9	8.5
Materials & Processing	7.5	7.5
Technology	6.2	6.7
Other Energy	5.6	5.9
Consumer Staples	4.8	5.1
Utilities	4.6	5.1
Net current assets	2.9	1.8

Outlook

Signs that the US economy is recovering are now apparent. The Fed has indicated that it intends to keep interest rates low for an extended period which should be good for equities, however, when interest rates actually rise the market may suffer set-backs.

.

Daily and Key Information

Further information regarding the Company, including monthly factsheets and daily NAVs published since the end of the period are available on the internet at www.fandcussmallers.com

By order of the Board

F&C Management Limited, Secretary

27 April 2010

 

END

 

 

IMSLLFESSRIDFII