Final Results

RNS Number : 9369U

JPMorgan Smaller Cos IT PLC

21 October 2014

 



STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT

JPMORGAN SMALLER COMPANIES INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

FINAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST JULY 2014

The Directors of JPMorgan Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc announce the Company's results for the year ended 31st July 2014. The following comprises extracts from the Company's Annual Financial Report for the year ended 31st July 2014. The full Annual Report and Accounts, including the Notice of the Annual General Meeting will be available to be viewed on or downloaded from the Company's website at www.jpmsmallercompanies.co.uk shortly.

Chairman's Statement

Investment Performance

Following the strong results in the last financial year, the Company delivered further gains this year, albeit at a lower level. The total return on net assets was +8.5% which compares with +15.2% for the benchmark index. The return on the share price was +9.4% reflecting a slight narrowing of the discount to net assets from 18.3% to 17.8%.

It is disappointing to have delivered a lower return than the benchmark this year. This should be seen, however, against the background of strong long-term outperformance. By way of example, over the ten years to 31st July 2014 the Company has delivered a total return on net assets of 263% exceeding the benchmark return by 153%. This long term success has been driven largely by an emphasis on high quality stocks with strong growth prospects and earnings momentum. More recently, the market has rewarded lower quality, value stocks, which has led to short-term underperformance. The Board is confident that a bias towards strong, growing companies will in due course lead to outperformance, and serve shareholders well in years to come.

Since the year end, smaller company shares have declined, with the net asset value per share decreasing 10.3% to 814.2p, and the share price 11.4% to 661.5p at 17th October 2014. By comparison, the Company's benchmark has fallen 8.1%. The current level of discount is 18.8%.

In their report, the Investment Managers have provided further detail on portfolio performance and attribution, together with a commentary on markets.

Revenue and Dividends

Net revenue after taxation for the year was £1,824,000 (2013: £1,892,000) and revenue return per share, calculated on the average number of shares in issue, was 10.01p (2013: 10.38p). The Directors are recommending a final dividend of 9.60p per share (2013: 9.50p), costing £1,747,000 (2013: £1,731,000). If approved, the dividend will be paid on 5th December 2014 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 7th November 2014.

The level of income received each year varies according to the Company's gearing, its investment stance and economic conditions. It is the Company's policy to distribute substantially all the available income each year, and shareholders should note that the Company's dividends may vary accordingly.

Gearing

Gearing is regularly discussed by the Board. A new increased two year borrowing facility of £24 million was negotiated with Scotiabank in April this year upon expiry of the previous £19 million facility. This facility is highly flexible and is used with the aim of enhancing returns. There is a further option to increase the facility commitment amount by £10 million to £34 million subject to certain conditions. At the year end, £19 million was drawn on the facility representing a gearing level of 9.3% of net assets.

Investment Manager

The Company's objective is to provide shareholders with capital growth from a portfolio of investments in UK smaller companies. The Board has again carried out a formal review of the capabilities and services of the Manager during the year. This covered the investment management, company secretarial, administrative and marketing services provided to the Company by JPMorgan Funds Limited ('JPMF') and further included their investment performance record, management processes, investment style and resources. We have concluded that JPMorgan Funds Limited remains the most appropriate manager of the Company's assets and that the ongoing appointment of the existing Investment Manager is in the best interests of shareholders.

Share Buy backs

At last year's Annual General Meeting ('AGM'), shareholders granted the Directors authority to repurchase the Company's shares for cancellation, such authority to expire on 24th May 2015 unless the authority is renewed at the 2014 AGM. During the financial year the Company repurchased a total of 23,000 ordinary shares for cancellation for a total consideration of £173,000, representing 0.1% of the issued share capital at the beginning of the year.

The Board's objective remains to use the share repurchase authority to manage imbalances between the supply and demand of the Company's shares, with the intention of reducing the volatility of the discount. To date the Board believes this mechanism has been helpful and therefore proposes and recommends that powers to repurchase up to 14.99% of the Company's shares for cancellation be renewed for a further period.

Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive

The Company was required to comply with the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive ('AIFMD') before 22nd July 2014. As a result of this new European legislation and its incorporation into the local law and regulations in the UK, the Company has made a number of changes to its service providers to bring it into compliance with the AIFMD from 1st July 2014. The Company has appointed JPMorgan Funds Limited ('JPMF'), an affiliate of JPMorgan Asset Management (UK) Limited ('JPMAM') as its Alternative Investment Fund Manager ('AIFM') subject to the terms and conditions of a new investment management agreement. Other than the management fee tiering noted below, this new agreement leaves the Managers' remuneration and other commercial terms unchanged from the preceding agreement with JPMAM. From a portfolio management perspective, there will be no change in the resources or team working on behalf of the Trust as JPMF has delegated portfolio management to JPMAM. JPMF also acts as the new Company Secretary from 1st July 2014, replacing JPMAM in the role.

Board of Directors

As part of the Board's succession planning and in anticipation of future retirements, the Board will commence the recruitment of another non-executive Director to the Board early next year. The Board has resolved to continue to refresh its composition in an orderly manner over time and specific developments will be reported in my next statement to shareholders.

During the year, the Nomination Committee met formally to evaluate the effectiveness of the Board, its Committees and individual Directors. It was concluded that the composition of the Board is appropriate and that all Directors possess the knowledge and attributes required to be effective. In line with the Board's corporate governance policy and best practice, a triennial independent external evaluation of the Board and its Committees will be conducted in 2015. In addition, the Board has decided that all Directors will stand for re-election every year. The Nomination Committee recommends the re-election of all Directors at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting to shareholders.

Continuation of the Company

The Company's Articles of Association require that shareholders vote on the continuation of the Company at every third Annual General Meeting. The sixth of these votes falls this year. The Board has evaluated the performance and progress of the Company over the last year and, in particular, the three years since the last continuation vote was passed.

The Board has renegotiated the Company's management fee which will be implemented contingent on the passing of the resolution in favour of the Company's continuation. With effect from 1st August 2014, the management fee will be tiered as follows: 0.8% on gross assets up to £200 million; thereafter, 0.7% on all assets in excess.

Over the last three years, the total return from the Company's net assets has been +47.2%, compared with a +60.5% return on its benchmark, the FTSE Small Cap Index (excluding investment trusts). Despite this shorter-term underperformance, the Directors have confidence in the long-term growth prospects for UK smaller companies and in the ability of the Manager to continue to select a portfolio of attractive investments in this area.

The investment competence of the Manager is borne out by the Company's out-performance compared with the benchmark over the last ten years as noted above. The Board therefore recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the resolution at the AGM on 28th November 2014, as the Directors intend to do so in respect of their own holdings.

The Board is considering proposing a bonus issue of Subscription shares to Shareholders subject to the passing of the resolution in favour of the Company's continuation. The Board expects to post a prospectus which will explain the proposals and convene a general meeting to approve the issue. The bonus issue will be available to those on the register in early 2015.

Annual General Meeting

The Company's twenty fourth AGM will be held on Friday, 28th November 2014 at 3.30 p.m. at 60 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0JP. In addition to the formal part of the meeting, there will be a presentation from the Investment Manager who will answer questions on the portfolio and performance. Shareholders who are unable to attend the AGM in person are encouraged to use their proxy votes.

Outlook

This time last year we foresaw a period of volatility ahead, and as expected it was a difficult year. Initially, the Company's shares reached an all-time high as optimism grew about the economy, only to give back much of their gain in the second half on fears of rising interest rates. The overall result was positive but not remarkable. Unfortunately, this conflict between the positive effect of economic growth on earnings and the negative effect of higher interest rates on valuations is likely to continue for some time. Despite this uncertainty, the Board remains confident that the strategy being followed by the Company and its Investment Manager will deliver attractive long-term returns.

Michael Quicke OBE

Chairman                                                                                                                                                                                                 

21st October 2014

Investment Manager's Report

Performance

After a strong rise in the benchmark in the first half of the Company's financial year, the second half saw a small decline due mainly to concerns that the interest rate cycle is turning in the UK and US and also in reaction to geopolitical events in the Middle East and around the world. This led to a total return for the FTSE Small Cap Index (ex Investment Trust) of 15.2% for the year to July 2014.

Against this benchmark rise your company produced a disappointing total return on net assets of 8.5% and a share price return of 9.4%. While it can be seen from the attribution table below that we remained geared throughout the period, which provided a positive contribution to returns, overall the year was characterised by a market preference for value stocks over our favoured momentum and growth bias within the portfolio, which led to the underperformance versus the benchmark.

Portfolio

Key positive contributors to the portfolio include a number of our AIM positions, Plus 500, Utilitywise, Staffline and Telit Communications. In addition, the holding in Heritage Oil was a strong contributor as it was acquired. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) picked up in the year, and we also benefitted from bids for Hyder Consulting, Mecom and Iomart among others. However, clearly the negatives within the portfolio outweighed the positives, with significant disappointments in the first half of the year in long term holdings in Carclo, International Personal Finance and Dialight, and a more volatile market in the second half, during which two of our significant holdings, Thomas Cook and Tribal Group, saw large declines for no company specific reason. We continue to hold both of these companies.

Performance attribution
	12 months to		12 months to		12 months to
	31st July 2014		31st July 2013		31st July 2012
Contributions to total return	%	%	%	%	%	%
Benchmark return		15.2		48.5		-6.2
Sector and stock selection	-6.9		-4.7		0.1
Gearing/net cash	1.4		3.6		-0.6
Investment Manager's contribution		-5.5		-1.1		-0.5
Portfolio total return		9.7		47.4		-6.7
Management fee/other expenses	-1.2		-1.2		-1.2
Repurchase of shares for cancellation	0.0		0.1		0.4
Other effects		-1.2		-1.1		-0.8
Return on net assets		8.5		46.3		-7.5
Impact of change in discount		0.9		10.7		-7.5
Return to shareholders		9.4		57.0		-15.0

Source: Xamin/JPMAM/Morningstar. All figures are on a total return basis.

A glossary of terms and definitions is provided on page 62 of the Annual Report and Accounts.

In addition to a revival in M&A, this was the year when we saw the long-awaited 'new blood' appearing in the small cap arena, as a number of new companies came to the market. While we remained very selective, we participated in a number of these exciting new opportunities, most notable among them being One Savings Bank, FDM (an IT training company), Safecharge (a payment processing company) and Volution (which manufactures ventilation equipment).

These new positions were funded in part by the proceeds received from M&A. In addition, we sold out of some of our successful long term holdings such as Howden Joinery and Interserve, which are now sizeable mid-cap companies. We also exited several small positions in the Oil Exploration and Production sector, where investor sentiment remains firmly negative.

Outlook

Given the recent geopolitical upheavals seen in the Ukraine, Gaza and Iraq, the resilience of UK stockmarkets may have come as a surprise. However, while recent events on the global stage are clearly disturbing, we see good reason for the equanimity currently displayed by equity markets in the developed world.

The economic backdrop in both the US and the UK continues to strengthen. Forecasts for GDP growth have increased again for both countries; in the UK the Bank of England recently upgraded its UK outlook to 3.5% growth in 2014, and 3.0% in 2015. Inflation remains subdued and unemployment continues to decline at a rapid pace. While the upcoming UK election and anticipated interest rate rise provide some uncertainty, rate rises will be gradual and monetary policy will be set in a way that helps to sustain growth and employment. Current low wage inflation is likely to affect the consumer, and uncertainty in the global economy, especially in Continental Europe, could impact GDP growth, but this should result in rate rises being tempered.

The message from UK businesses also continues to improve. A recent report by Lloyds indicates companies are at their most confident in over 20 years and business activity continues to rise across the country. This should lead to a further decline in unemployment and to an increase in capital expenditure - both important ingredients for future growth. While volatility and lack of liquidity are likely to remain a feature, especially as the election draws near, we are confident in the earnings outlook, as confirmed by net upgrades to profit forecasts during the summer earnings season. We also remain comfortable with valuation levels in the smaller companies arena and the M&A activity that we have seen during the financial year and post the year end provides support for this view. While we have been prematurely predicting the return of M&A for some time, there is now clear evidence that it has moved up the agenda of larger, cash-rich companies, adding extra support to our confident view on the outlook for smaller companies.

Georgina Brittain

Katen Patel

Investment Managers                                                                                                                                                                             

21st October 2014

Principal Risks

With the assistance of the Manager, the Board has drawn up a risk matrix, which identifies the key risks to the Company. These key risks remain unchanged since last year and fall broadly under the following categories:

•     Investment and Strategy: An inappropriate investment strategy, for example asset allocation or the level of gearing, may lead to under-performance against the Company's benchmark index and peer companies, resulting in the Company's shares trading on a wider discount. The Board manages these risks by diversification of investments through its investment restrictions and guidelines which are monitored and reported on. The Manager provides the Directors with timely and accurate management information, including performance data and attribution analyses, revenue estimates, liquidity reports and shareholder analyses. The Board monitors the implementation and results of the investment process with the Investment Managers, who attend all Board meetings, and reviews data which shows statistical measures of the Company's risk profile. The Investment Manager employs the Company's gearing, within a strategic range set by the Board. The Board usually holds a separate meeting devoted to strategy each year.

•     Discount: A disproportionate widening of the discount relative to the Company's peers could result in loss of value for shareholders. The Board regularly discusses discount policy and has set parameters for the Manager and the Company's broker to follow.

•     Smaller company Investment: Investing in smaller companies is inherently more risky and volatile, partly due to lack of liquidity in some shares, plus AIM stocks are less regulated. The Board discusses these risk factors regularly at each Board meeting with the Investment Managers. The Board has placed

•     Political: Changes in financial or tax legislation, including in the European Union, may adversely affect the Company. The Manager makes recommendations to the Board on accounting, dividend and tax policies, and seeks external advice where appropriate.

•     Corporate Governance and Shareholder Relations: Details of the Company's compliance with Corporate Governance best practice, including information on relations with shareholders, are set out in the Corporate Governance report on pages 25 to 30 of the Annual Report and Accounts.

•     Market: Market risk arises from uncertainty about the future prices of the Company's investments. It represents the potential loss that the Company might suffer through holding investments in the face of negative market movements. The Board considers asset allocation, stock selection and levels of gearing on a regular basis and has set investment restrictions and guidelines, which are monitored and reported on by the Manager. The Board monitors the implication and results of the investment process with the Manager.

•     Accounting, Legal and Regulatory: In order to qualify as an investment trust, the Company must comply with Section 1158 of the Income and Corporation Tax Act 2010 ('Section 1158'). Details of the Company's approval are given under 'Business of the Company' above. Should the Company breach Section 1158, it may lose its investment trust status and as a consequence capital gains within the Company's portfolio would be subject to Capital Gains Tax. The Section 1158 qualification criteria are continually monitored by the Manager and the results reported to the Board each month. The Company must also comply with the provisions of The Companies Act 2006 and, as its shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, the UKLA Listing Rules and Disclosure and Transparency Rules ('DTRs'). A breach of the Companies Act 2006 could result in the Company and/or the Directors being fined or the subject of criminal proceedings. Breach of the UKLA Listing Rules or DTRs may result in the Company's shares being suspended from listing which in turn would breach Section 1158. The Board relies on the services of its Company Secretary, JPMAM, and its professional advisers to ensure compliance with the Companies Act and the UKLA Listing Rules and DTRs.

•     Operational: Disruption to, or failure of, the Manager's accounting, dealing or payments systems or the custodian's records may prevent accurate reporting and monitoring of the Company's financial position. Details of how the Board monitors the services provided by the Manager and its associates and the key elements designed to provide effective internal control are included within the Internal Control section of the Corporate Governance report on pages 28 and 29 of the Annual Report and Accounts.

•     Financial: The financial risks faced by the Company include market price risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk and credit risk. Bank counterparties are subject to daily credit analysis by the Manager and regular consideration at meetings of the Board. In addition the Board receives reports on the Manager's monitoring and mitigation of credit risks on share transactions carried out by the Company. Further details are disclosed in note 21 of the Annual Report and Accounts.

Related Parties Transactions

During the financial year, no transactions with related parties have taken place which have materially affected the financial position or the performance of the Company during the year.

Statement of Directors' Responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the accounts in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the Directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under Company law the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that, taken as a whole, the Annual Report and Accounts are fair, balanced and understandable, provide the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Company's performance, business model and strategy and that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the total return or loss of the Company for that period. In order to provide these confirmations, and in preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required to:

•     select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

•     make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

•     state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

•     prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.

The Directors confirm that they have done so.

The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The accounts are published on the www.jpmsmallercompanies.co.uk website, which is maintained by the Company's Manager. The maintenance and integrity of the website maintained by the Manager is, so far as it relates to the Company, the responsibility of the Manager. The work carried out by the auditor does not involve consideration of the maintenance and integrity of this website and, accordingly, the auditor accepts no responsibility for any changes that have occurred to the accounts since they were initially presented on the website. The accounts are prepared in accordance with UK legislation, which may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Under applicable law and regulations the Directors are also responsible for preparing a Directors' Report, Strategic Report and Directors' Remuneration Report that comply with that law and those regulations.

Each of the Directors, whose names and functions are listed on pages 21 and 22 of the Annual Report and Accounts confirm that, to the best of their knowledge:

•     the financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law), give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and return or loss of the Company; and

•     the Strategic Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that it faces.

The Board confirms that it is satisfied that the annual report and accounts taken as a whole are fair, balanced and understandable and provide the information necessary for shareholders to assess the strategy and business model of the Company.

For and on behalf of the Board

Michael Quicke OBE

Chairman

21st October 2014

Income Statement

for the year ended 31st July 2014

		2014			2013
		Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Gains on investments held at
fair value through profit or loss		-	12,074	12,074	-	47,532	47,532
Net foreign currency (losses)/gains		-	(1)	(1)	-	1	1
Income from investments		3,126	-	3,126	2,910	-	2,910
Other interest receivable and similar
income		25	-	25	27	-	27
Gross return		3,151	12,073	15,224	2,937	47,533	50,470
Management fee		(743)	(743)	(1,486)	(546)	(546)	(1,092)
Other administrative expenses		(413)	-	(413)	(403)	-	(403)
Net return on ordinary activities
before finance costs and taxation		1,995	11,330	13,325	1,988	46,987	48,975
Finance costs		(137)	(137)	(274)	(98)	(98)	(196)
Net return on ordinary activities
before taxation		1,858	11,193	13,051	1,890	46,889	48,779
Taxation		(34)	-	(34)	2	-	2
Net return on ordinary activities
after taxation		1,824	11,193	13,017	1,892	46,889	48,781
Return per share (note 3.)		10.01p	61.44p	71.45p	10.38p	257.26p	267.64p

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the year.

The 'Total' column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the Company and the 'Revenue' and 'Capital' columns represent supplementary information prepared under guidance issued by the Association of Investment Companies. The Total column represents all the information that is required to be disclosed in a Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses ('STRGL'). For this reason a STRGL has not been presented.

Reconciliation of Movement in Shareholders' Funds

for the year ended 31st July 2014

	Called up		Capital
	share	Share	redemption	Capital	Revenue
	capital	premium	reserve	reserves	reserve	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
At 31st July 2012	4,571	18,360	2,095	79,585	2,671	107,282
Repurchase and cancellation of the
Company's own shares	(16)	-	16	(307)	-	(307)
Net return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	46,889	1,892	48,781
Dividend appropriated in the year	-	-	-	-	(1,640)	(1,640)
At 31st July 2013	4,555	18,360	2,111	126,167	2,923	154,116
Repurchase and cancellation of the
Company's own shares	(6)	-	6	(173)	-	(173)
Net return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	11,193	1,824	13,017
Dividend appropriated in the year	-	-	-	-	(1,731)	(1,731)
At 31st July 2014	4,549	18,360	2,117	137,187	3,016	165,229

Balance Sheet

at 31st July 2014

		2014	2013
		£'000	£'000
Fixed assets
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss		181,571	166,550
Investment in liquidity fund held at fair value through profit or loss		3,050	1,700
Total investments		184,621	168,250
Current assets
Debtors		482	1,157
Cash and short term deposits		564	328
		1,046	1,485
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year		(1,438)	(15,619)
Net current liabilities		(392)	(14,134)
Total assets less current liabilities		184,229	154,116
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year		(19,000)	-
Net assets		165,229	154,116
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital		4,549	4,555
Share premium		18,360	18,360
Capital redemption reserve		2,117	2,111
Capital reserves		137,187	126,167
Revenue reserve		3,016	2,923
Total equity shareholders' funds		165,229	154,116
Net asset value per share (note 4.)		908.0p	845.9p

Company registration number: 2515996.

Cash Flow Statement

for the year ended 31st July 2014

		2014	2013
		£'000	£'000
Net cash inflow from operating activities		1,070	1,402
Returns on investments and servicing of finance
Interest paid		(258)	(267)
Net cash outflow from returns on investments and
servicing of finance		(258)	(267)
Taxation recovered		17	9
Capital expenditure and financial investment
Purchases of investments		(132,280)	(98,241)
Sales of investments		129,434	93,096
Other capital charges		(15)	(11)
Net cash outflow from capital expenditure and
financial investment		(2,861)	(5,156)
Dividends paid		(1,731)	(1,640)
Net cash outflow before financing		(3,763)	(5,652)
Financing
Net drawdown of loans		4,000	6,000
Repurchase and cancellation of the Company's own shares		-	(307)
Net cash inflow from financing		4,000	5,693
Increase in cash and cash equivalents		237	41

Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31st July 2014

1.   Accounting policies

(a)  Basis of accounting

      The accounts are prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice ('UK GAAP') and with the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies and Venture Capital Trusts' (the 'SORP') issued by the AIC in January 2009.

      All of the Company's operations are of continuing nature.

      The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis. The disclosures on going concern in the Directors' Report on page 23 of the Annual Report and Accounts form part of these accounts.

      The policies applied in these accounts are consistent with those applied in the preceding year.

2.   Dividends

(a)  Dividends paid and proposed

	2014	2013
	£'000	£'000
2013 final dividend of 9.5p (2012: 9.0p)	1,731	1,640
Total dividends paid in the year	1,731	1,640
Final dividend proposed of 9.6p (2013: 9.5p)	1,747	1,731

      The final dividend has been proposed in respect of the year ended 31st July 2014 and is subject to approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. In accordance with the accounting policy of the Company, this dividend will be reflected in the accounts for the year ending 31st July 2015.

3.   Return per share

      The revenue return per share is based on the earnings attributable to the ordinary shares of £1,824,000 (2013: £1,892,000) and on the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year of 18,219,309 (2013: 18,225,982).

      The capital return per share is based on the capital return attributable to the ordinary shares of £11,193,000 (2013: £46,889,000) and on the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year of 18,219,309 (2013: 18,225,982).

      Total return per share is based on the total return attributable to the ordinary shares of £13,017,000 (2013: £48,781,000) and on the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year of 18,219,309 (2013: 18,225,982).

4.   Net asset value per share

      Net asset value per share is based on the funds attributable to ordinary shareholders and on 18,196,372 (2013: 18,219,372) ordinary shares in issue at the year end.

Status of results announcement

2013 Financial Information

The figures and financial information for 2013 are extracted from the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st July 2013 and do not constitute the statutory accounts for the year. The Annual Report and Accounts includes the Report of the Independent Auditors which is unqualified and does not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. The Annual Report and Accounts will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course.

2014 Financial Information

The figures and financial information for 2014 are extracted from the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st July 2014 and do not constitute the statutory accounts for the year. The Annual Report and Accounts includes the Report of the Independent Auditors which is unqualified and does not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. The Annual Report and Accounts will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course.

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.

JPMORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT

21st October 2014

For further information please contact:

Divya Amin

For and on behalf of

JPMorgan Funds Limited, Secretary                                                                                                                  

020 7742 4000

ENDS

A copy of the annual report will shortly be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM

The annual report is also available on the Company's website at www.jpmsmallercompanies.co.uk where up to date information on the Company, including daily NAV and share prices, factsheets and portfolio information can also be found.

 

END

 

 

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