Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 5771O

Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT PLC

09 February 2016

 

Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT plc

(the "Company")

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

For the quarter ended 31 December 2015

Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT plc presents an Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 31 December 2015.  The statement also includes relevant financial information between the end of the quarter and the date of this statement.

NET ASSET VALUE AND TOTAL RETURN PER SHARE

	At 31 December 2015	At 30 September  2015
Net assets attributable to shareholders	£44,749,017	£43,980,781
Shares in issue	36,218,463	36,218,463
Net asset value (NAV) per share	123.55p	121.43p
Cumulative dividends paid to date per share	42.00p	42.00p
Total return per share since inception (NAV basis)	165.55p	163.43p

DIVIDENDS

No dividends were paid during the quarter.

The Board has today declared an interim dividend of 5.00 pence per share for the year ending 31 March 2016, which will be paid on 18 March 2016 to shareholders on the share register on 19 February 2016.  This dividend fulfils the Company's target of paying a dividend in respect of each financial year of not less than 5.00 pence per share, as stated in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2015.

SHARE BUY-BACKS

There were no share buy-backs during the quarter.

INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

New Investments

On 2 October 2015, amounts held in existing companies preparing to trade, Knighton Management Limited (£0.89 million) and Tovey Management Limited (£0.85 million), were used to invest in Access IS Limited, a leading provider of data capture and scanning hardware. A further non-qualifying loan of £0.22 million was made to Access IS Limited.  

A follow-on loan investment was also made into Racoon International of £0.05 million, on 7 October 2015.

Realisations

On 2 December 2015, the Company realised its investment in Tessella Holdings Limited.

The Company received £2.10 million from the sale and realised a gain over cost of £1.39 million. As part of the transaction, the Company has retained a small investment in Preservica, a data archiving business previously held within Tessella. Total cash proceeds received over the life of this investment are £2.55 million and represent a multiple of 2.8 times the original cost of this investment of £0.91 million.

During January 2016, a total of £0.17 million was received as deferred consideration from previous disposals of Monsal Holdings, Focus Pharma Holdings, Youngman Group and ATG Media Holdings.

Loan Stock Repayments

A total of £0.23 million was received in loan stock repayments and premiums during the quarter to 31 December 2015, from Jablite, Leap New Co (Ward Thomas), and Fullfield (Motorclean).

After the quarter end, a further £0.66 million in loan stock repayments and premiums was received from Leap New Co (Ward Thomas) and Fullfield (Motorclean).

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

In the Half-Yearly Report to shareholders dated 26 November 2015, the Board informed shareholders of its intended response to the new legislation contained in the UK Finance Act 2015, which had become law on 18 November 2015.  In summary, the new rules are designed to ensure that VCT investment is used only for growth and development purposes. Investments by VCTs to finance the acquisitions of businesses, such as MBO investments, are no longer permitted.  The Board stated that it would draft a revised Investment Policy which it would invite shareholders to approve at or before the next annual general meeting.

Since the Half-Yearly Report, the Board has continued to work with the Investment Adviser and other professional advisers to understand the full implications of the new rules for the Investment Policy.  At this juncture, the Board sees no reason to amend its response, as outlined above and more fully in the Half-Yearly Report.  Alongside this process, the Investment Adviser is focusing upon investment opportunities that comply with the new legislation.

Please note that all of the information above is unaudited.

Other than as described above, there were no material events during the quarter and to the date of this announcement.

For further information, please contact:

Jonathan McGuire, for Mobeus Equity Partners LLP, Company Secretary: 020 7024 7600

 

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