Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 5580C

Herald Investment Trust PLC

17 April 2013

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        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HERALD INVESTMENT TRUST plc

Interim Management Statement - 3 months to 31 March 2013

Herald's objective is to achieve capital appreciation through investments in smaller quoted companies, in the areas of telecommunications, multimedia and technology (TMT).  Investments may be made across the world.  The business activities of investee companies will include information technology, broadcasting, printing and publishing and the supply of equipment and services to these companies.

Review of the Period

·	Over the period, the Company's net asset value total return was 7.6% compared to the comparative index total return of 13.4%, while the share price total return was 12.7%.
·	In the three months to 31 March 2013, the Company made purchases of £21.9 million and sales of £29.2 million which gave rise to net sales of £7.3 million.
·	During the quarter, the Company bought back 508,737 of its own shares for cancellation at a cost of £2.8 million.
·	The final dividend of 1.0p per share, if approved at the Annual General Meeting, will be paid on 3 May 2013 to shareholders on the register on 12 April 2013.
·	At the end of March 2013, £50 million had been drawn under the £50 million multi-currency facility. The fair value of the related interest rate swap contract at 31 March 2013 was an estimated liability of £20 million based on the swap provider's valuation.
Geographic Analysis of Total Assets					Top Ten Equity Holdings
Name		% of total assets at 31/03/13	% of total assets at 31/12/12		Name	% of total assets at 31/03/13
UK		64.0	66.3		Imagination Technologies	3.8
Americas		20.0	18.6		IDOX	2.3
Asia Pacific		5.1	4.9		Telecom Plus	2.2
Continental Europe		5.1	4.7		Diploma	2.1
Emerging Markets		0.4	0.4		SDL	2.0
Net Liquid Assets		5.4	5.1		Bango	1.9
					Phoenix IT Group	1.7
					M&C Saatchi	1.6
					OpSec Security	1.6
					Euromoney Institutional Investor	1.6
Total		100.0	100.0		Total	20.8

Performance

	%
Capital	3 Months	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years
Share Price†	12.7	10.8	56.2	108.7
NAV†	7.6	5.5	49.1	95.4
Comparative Index*	11.7	11.8	35.1	52.6
Total Return
Share Price†	12.7	11.1	56.6	114.9
NAV†	7.6	5.7	49.4	99.6
Comparative Index*	13.4	15.3	43.3	68.3

^†   Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream

* Source: HSBC.  The comparative index against which performance is measured is 2/3 Numis Smaller Companies Index plus AIM (capital gains ex. Investment companies) and 1/3 Russell 2000 (small cap) Technology Index (in sterling terms).  

Past performance is not a guide to future performance

General Information
	31/03/13	31/12/12
Equities:
UK	£371.3m	£361.9m
Overseas	£170.4m	£149.4m
	£541.7m	£511.3m
Government bonds	£23.3m	£23.0m
Corporate bonds	£7.8m	£8.8m
Net liquid assets	£33.1m	£29.1m
Bank loans	(£50.0m)	(£50.0m)
Derivative financial instruments	(£20.0m)	(£20.3m)
Shareholders' funds	£535.9m	£501.9m
Net asset value per ordinary share (including current year income)	680.0p	632.8p
Net asset value per ordinary share (excluding current year income)	680.1p	631.8p
Share price	578.0p	513.0p
Discount	15.0%	18.9%
Gearing*	7.0%	8.2%
Gearing into equity, convertibles and corporate bonds†	2.7%	3.7%

Unless stated otherwise, the above figures have been calculated using the AIC cum income basis (includes current financial year retained income). For the current period, expenses to date exceed income earned, resulting in a lower cum income than ex income NAV.

^* Calculated per AIC (total assets (including all debt used for investment purposes) less cash divided by shareholders' funds).

^† Total assets (including all debt used for investment purposes) less all cash and fixed interest securities (excluding convertibles and corporate bonds) divided by shareholders' funds.

The Company's Net Asset Value is calculated daily and can be viewed on the London Stock Exchange website at www.londonstockexchange.com

The Share Price is published daily in the Financial Times, Times and Daily Telegraph.

The interim management statement is available on the Company's website www.heralduk.com^‡.

^‡Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

For further information contact: Katie Potts on 020 7553 6300

 

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