Annual Financial Report

RNS Number : 6978Z

Schroder AsiaPacific Fund PLC

12 December 2014

 



12 December 2014

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc (the "Company") hereby submits its annual financial report for the year ended 30 September 2014 as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.1. 

The Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 September 2014 are also being published in hard copy format and an electronic copy will shortly be available to download from the Company's website http://www.schroderasiapacificfund.com.  Please click on the following link to view the document:

The Company has submitted its Annual Report and Accounts to the National Storage Mechanism and it will shortly be available for inspection at www.hemscott.com/nsm.do.

Enquiries:

John Spedding

Schroder Investment Management Limited               

Tel: [phone]

Chairman's Statement

Investment Performance

The year to 30 September 2014 was positive for Asian markets and the Company's net asset value produced a total return of 10.9%. The Company also outperformed its benchmark Index as the MSCI All Countries Asia ex. Japan Index produced a total return of 8.4% over the year. The Company's share price produced a total return of 11.2%.

A more detailed comment on performance and investment policy may be found in the Manager's Review.

Final Dividend

The Directors recommend the payment of a final dividend of 2.75 pence per share for the year ended 30 September 2014. Net revenue after taxation for the year dropped only slightly when compared to the previous year (2014: £4,749,000 - 2013: £5,000,000). However, the number of shares in issue increased substantially in January 2013 following the final exercise of subscription shares. If the resolution proposed at the Annual General Meeting to pay a final dividend is passed, the dividend will be paid on 2 February 2015 to shareholders on the Register on 9 January 2015.

Board Composition

Your Board continues to consider its balance of skills and experience, its diversity and its long term succession plan. Mr James Williams was appointed as a non-executive Director of the Company on 11 August 2014 and his election will be proposed at the Annual General Meeting. A summary of his experience and background may be found on the inside front cover of the 2014 Annual Report.

As part of the Board's planned refreshment, Mr Robert Binyon will step down from the Board at the Annual General Meeting in January 2015. The Board would like to thank him for his invaluable contribution to the Company during his 14 year tenure as a Director.

Alternative Investment Fund Managers ("AIFM") Directive

In accordance with the AIFM Directive, the Company has, with effect from 17 July 2014, become an Alternative Investment Fund and has appointed Schroder Unit Trusts Limited ("SUTL"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Schroders plc, as the Alternative Investment Fund Manager (the "Manager") to provide portfolio management, risk management, accounting and company secretarial services to the Company in accordance with an Alternative Investment Fund Manager Agreement. SUTL has delegated investment management, accounting and company secretarial services to another wholly owned subsidiary of Schroders plc, Schroder Investment Management Limited.

Notwithstanding the additional responsibilities of the Manager under the AIFM Directive, fees paid to the Manager were reduced with effect from 1 April 2014 in order to ensure that the Company remained competitive when compared with both closed ended and open ended peer group funds. Further details of the fee reduction may be found in the Report of the Directors on page 15 of the 2014 Annual Report.

The Company has appointed HSBC Bank plc as its Depositary, as required by the AIFM Directive, also with effect from 17 July 2014. An additional fee of 0.01% of net assets will be payable for Depositary Services.

Further details of both the AIFM Agreement and the Depositary Agreement may be found in the Report of the Directors in the 2014 Annual Report.

Gearing Policy and AIFM Directive Leverage Limit

During the year, the Company extended its US$75 million revolving credit facility for a further twelve months.

At the beginning of the year, the Company held net cash of 3.3% and, whilst the Company continued to utilise borrowings during the year these were offset by cash balances and, at the end of the year the Company had a net cash position of 0.6%.

The Company's gearing continues to operate within pre-agreed limits so that net effective gearing does not represent more than 20% of shareholders' funds.

The AIFM Directive has introduced a requirement for the Manager to set maximum levels of leverage, using a wider definition than gearing and including the use of derivatives. Full details of this leverage limit may be found on the Manager's website at www.schroders.co.uk/its and in the Strategic Report on page 11 of the 2014 Annual Report.

Discount Management

At the Company's last Annual General Meeting on 30 January 2014, the Company was given the authority to purchase up to 14.99% of its issued share capital for cancellation. During the year under review, a total of 475,000 Ordinary shares were purchased for cancellation in accordance with the Company's discount control policy. The Board continues to monitor the discount to which the Company's Ordinary shares trade on the market and to consider whether purchases of the Ordinary shares should be made on a regular basis. It therefore proposes that this authority be renewed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Over the last year, the longer term target maximum discount level was again set at approximately 10% and the discount traded in line with this target. At the beginning of the year, the discount to the income inclusive NAV was 10.2% and this had decreased to 9.8% at the end of year, the average discount being 10.4% over the year.

The Board continues to believe that it is not necessarily in the best interests of shareholders as a whole to adopt a rigid discount control mechanism that seeks to target a defined maximum discount level regardless of market conditions. Instead the Board continues to follow a more flexible strategy that takes into account the level of discount at which the Company's peer group trades as well as the absolute level of its own discount and prevailing market conditions.

Outlook

I am happy to report a year of double-digit NAV returns, but I am conscious that it only brings the share price back to the levels of the second quarter of 2013. This lack of progress has been partly for reasons outside of Asia, but the region has also not provided investors with many compelling reasons to send markets to new heights. The Manager's Review discusses interesting political changes in India and Indonesia, as well as regional economic growth which is not necessarily being turned into improved profits growth, and also the issues concerning China's future development.

Uncertainties of this nature have always been the case in the Company's history, but one of Asia's strengths has been its ability to meet challenges. As a result the Company is approaching next year's twentieth anniversary with a NAV more than three times that at launch. Asia is one of the world's great success stories, and we see no reason why the Company should not remain an ideal way for investors to participate in it.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 28 January 2015 at 12.00 noon and shareholders are encouraged to attend. As in previous years, Matthew Dobbs, on behalf of the Manager, will give a presentation on the prospects for Asia and the Company's investment strategy.

The Hon. Rupert Carington

Chairman

12 December 2014

Manager's Review

The net asset value per share of the Company recorded a total return of 10.9% over the twelve months to end September 2014. This was ahead of the performance of the benchmark, the MSCI All Countries Asia ex Japan Index, which was up 8.4% over the same period.

It has been a solid (if not spectacular) year for the performance of Asian stock markets, with all the return coming in the second half of the Company's financial year. Although the strength of sterling was a headwind through most of the second half, this unwound completely in the final month. A benign global backdrop included supportive liquidity conditions and reasonably positive economic data globally, led by a bounce back in the United States following the weather-induced distortions of the first quarter.

The stronger tone in the second half also reflected a recovery in sentiment on China, and a strong rally in India following the decisive election victory for Mr Modi and the BJP party. Emerging ASEAN markets, with the exception of Malaysia, performed relatively well supported by evidence that these economies were adapting well to tighter local liquidity with higher policy rates, a stabilisation in foreign currency reserves and an improving export performance. Taiwan was supported by strong returns in the information technology sector.

South Korea was the notable laggard. A perfect storm of a strong currency eroding competitiveness, further evidence of poor corporate governance, and downward earnings revisions resulted in negative returns for the year.

The year was marked by some notable political events. In China, the (relatively) new leadership endeavoured to stamp their authority in setting a new economic direction, with potentially sweeping new policies on urbanisation (reform of the "hukou" registration system), environmental protection, and State Owned Enterprises restructuring (including official encouragement of higher dividend pay-outs by Government-controlled companies). The drive on official corruption claimed a number of prominent victims, and impacted demand in areas as diverse as luxury goods, restaurants and the Macau casino operators. Sentiment, however, was dominated by perceptions of "official" growth targets and credit conditions, with signs of loosening in the spring leading to a rally in the Chinese equity markets, further aided by announcement of the HK-Shanghai Connect that will facilitate cross-border access to the respective stock markets.

Notable political developments elsewhere included the Thai military coup in May (the tenth since the Second World War) which, following on from six months of flux, was generally well received by investors. Similarly, the election of Joko Widodo as President of Indonesia was seen as a positive development, although the election was less emphatic than expected, and he faces a fractured legislature. In India, the extent of the BJP's victory in the May elections was not anticipated and sparked a further sharp rally in the market led by financials and infrastructure sectors. Finally, in Korea there was much speculation surrounding government proposals to penalise fiscally companies retaining excessive levels of cash, though there were no specific incentives to pay out higher dividends (as opposed to higher capital spending and/or wages).

Performance and Portfolio Activity

The primary factor behind the Company's outperformance has been stock selection, with particularly notable contributions from selection in India, Hong Kong and Taiwan, along with lesser contributions from Singapore, Indonesia and The Philippines. The only significant area of underperformance was in Korea. Country allocation was a positive overall, due to the underweighting of China, Korea, and Malaysia, and overweighting of India and Thailand. Partial offsets came from the overweighting of Hong Kong and non-index exposure to Australia.

In terms of portfolio activity, over the year we added to India (and ended the year overweight) while taking an even more cautious stance on Korea. We have added to China and reduced Hong Kong, but continue underweight the former and overweight the latter. Thailand remained our favoured ASEAN market. In sector terms, the portfolio remained overweight consumer discretionary and industrials, and we added to health care. Exposure in financials and consumer staples was reduced.

Outlook and Policy

Arguably the main issue facing investors is posed by credit markets rather than equity markets. The latter do not look excessively expensive in valuation terms, but credit markets look like the unnerving mirror image of where they were in 2008. Then, borrowers faced potentially ruinous rates to access credit. Now there appears little discrimination in credit as, for example, Spain's borrowing cost converges towards Germany and the US. Meanwhile, it is difficult to ignore the rise in geopolitical risks and continued signs of deflationary pressures, in particular a slower growth trajectory in China. This makes us nervous about predicting short term market direction.

More specific to Asia has been rising investor optimism over government-led economic reform which has become a major theme in China, India, Indonesia and Korea. In India and Indonesia progress is likely to be very slow going and current euphoria will be subject to severe testing. However, India has a number of other factors that should support the market including falling inflation, an improving current account and scope for an upturn in capital spending after seven years of decline. For Korea, we need to see more convincing signs of better corporate governance than has been in evidence thus far.

Attention in the region has shifted to China where growth has stabilised amidst a more stimulatory environment in recent months. This generated a more positive trend for Chinese assets over the summer. The currency has started to appreciate mildly again and property prices have stabilised. While this may appear good news, our view is that there is already too much credit in the economy which really needs a period of tightening, rather than more loosening, to resolve the bad debt problems.  There is significant value in China that can be unlocked by reforms and a shift in economic direction but not until some of the past excesses have been recognised.

If the hopes for reform may prove misplaced, there are some positive supports for the region. A combination of steady global economic expansion and falling commodity prices is beneficial to the regional export outlook, and industrial and information technology sectors are important components of the equity markets. National balance sheets are also, in general, sound with high savings rates, foreign exchange reserves and positive current accounts. These provide re-assurance that the longer-term scope for domestic demand growth in Asia remains ample.

Our key preferred markets in the region are Hong Kong, India and Thailand. While the Company's portfolio remains underweight in China, we have added to the position over the year concentrating on quality companies that are well positioned for the restructuring of the economy that we expect. Korea and Malaysia are the main underweight markets, while in Taiwan our focus remains upon the information technology sector.

Schroder Investment Management Limited

12 December 2014

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The Board has adopted a matrix of key risks which affect its business and has put in place a robust framework of internal control which is designed to monitor those risks and to enable the Directors to mitigate them as far as possible. The matrix and the monitoring system, which have been in place throughout the year and which are reviewed annually by the Board, assist in determining the nature and extent of the risks the Board is willing to take in achieving its strategic objectives. The principal risks are considered to be as follows:

Investment activity and performance

An inappropriate investment strategy (for example in terms of asset allocation or the level of gearing) may result in underperformance against the market and the companies in the peer group. The Board monitors at each Board meeting the Manager's compliance with the Company's Investment Restrictions.

Financial and Currency Risk

The Company is exposed to the effect of market and currency fluctuations due to the nature of its business. A significant fall in regional equity markets or substantial currency fluctuations could have an adverse impact on the market value of the Company's underlying investments. The Board considers the portfolio's risk profile at each Board meeting and discusses with the Manager appropriate strategies to mitigate any negative impact of substantial changes in markets.

The Company invests in underlying assets which are denominated in a range of currencies and therefore has an exposure to changes in the exchange rate between Sterling and other currencies, which has the potential to have a significant effect on returns. While the Directors consider the Company's hedging policy on a regular basis, the Company did not engage in currency hedging to reduce the risk of currency fluctuations and the volatility of returns which might result from such currency exposure during the year ended 30 September 2014.

The Company may invest in put options on indices and equities in the region, to protect part of the capital value of the assets against market falls.

The Company utilises a credit facility, currently in the amount of US$75 million, which increases the funds available for investment through borrowing (with US$15 million drawn down as at the date of this Report). Therefore, in falling markets, any reduction in the net asset value and, by implication, the consequent share price movement is amplified by the gearing. The Directors keep the Company's gearing under constant review and impose strict restrictions on borrowings to mitigate this risk. The Company's gearing continues to operate within pre-agreed limits so that gearing does not exceed 20% of shareholders' funds.

A full analysis of the financial risks facing the Company is set out in note 20 on pages 37 to 41 of the 2014 Annual Report.

Strategic Risk

Over time investment vehicles and asset classes can become out of favour with investors or may fail to meet their investment objectives. This may be reflected in a wide discount of the share price to underlying asset value. The Directors periodically review whether the Company's investment remit remains appropriate and continually monitor the success of the Company in meeting its stated objectives.

Accounting, Legal and Regulatory Risk

In order to continue to qualify as an investment trust, the Company must comply with the requirements of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010. Should the Company not comply with these requirements, it might lose investment trust status and capital gains within the Company's portfolio could, as a result, be subject to Capital Gains Tax.

Breaches of the UK Listing Rules, the Companies Act or other regulations with which the Company is required to comply, could lead to a number of detrimental outcomes and damage the Company's reputation. Breaches of controls by service providers, including the Manager, could also lead to reputational damage or loss.

Statement of Directors' Responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report, the Strategic Report, the Report of the Directors, the Corporate Governance Statement, the Remuneration Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they have prepared 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 they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or loss of the Company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required to:

•     select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

•     make judgements and accounting 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 respectively; and

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

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate 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 enable them to ensure that the financial statements and the Remuneration Report 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.

Each of the Directors, whose names and functions are set out in the inside front cover of this Report, confirms 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 net return of the Company;

•     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; and

•     the Annual Report and Accounts, taken as a whole, are fair, balanced and understandable and provide the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Company's performance, business model and strategy.

Going Concern

The Directors believe that, having considered the Company's investment objective (see inside front cover of the 2014 Annual Report), risk management policies (see note 20 to the accounts on pages 37 to 41 of the 2014 Annual Report), capital management policies and procedures (see note 21 to the accounts on page 41 of the 2014 Annual Report), expenditure projections and the fact that the Company's investments comprise readily realisable securities which can be sold to meet funding requirements if necessary, that the Company has adequate resources, an appropriate financial structure and suitable management arrangements in place to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For these reasons, they consider that there is reasonable evidence to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

Income Statement

for the year ended 30 September 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	-	42,218	42,218	-	1,130	1,130
Net foreign currency losses	-	(102)	(102)	-	(351)	(351)
Income from investments	10,368	438	10,806	10,879	-	10,879
Other interest receivable and similar income	46	-	46	139	-	139
Gross return	10,414	42,554	52,968	11,018	779	11,797
Management fee	(4,224)	-	(4,224)	(4,319)	-	(4,319)
Administrative expenses	(898)	-	(898)	(796)	-	(796)
Net return before finance costs
and taxation	5,292	42,554	47,846	5,903	779	6,682
Finance costs	(93)	-	(93)	(621)	-	(621)
Net return on ordinary activities
before taxation	5,199	42,554	47,753	5,282	779	6,061
Taxation on ordinary activities	(450)	-	(450)	(282)	-	(282)
Net return on ordinary activities after taxation	4,749	42,554	47,303	5,000	779	5,779
Return per Ordinary share	2.80p	25.12p	27.92p	3.08p	0.48p	3.56p

The "Total" column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the Company. The "Revenue" and "Capital" columns represent supplementary information prepared under guidance issued by the Association of Investment Companies. The Company has no recognised gains and losses other than those included in the results above and therefore no separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented.

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

Reconciliation of Movements in Shareholders' Funds

for the year ended 30 September 2014

	Called-up		Capital	Share	Warrant
	share	Share	redemption	purchase	exercise	Capital	Revenue
	capital	premium	reserve	reserve	reserve	reserves	reserve	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
At 30 September 2012	14,880	33,816	2,704	48,479	8,704	281,361	5,396	395,340
Issue of Ordinary shares on
exercise of Subscription shares	2,560	67,140	-	-	-	-	-	69,700
Repurchase and cancellation
of the Company's own
Ordinary shares	(470)	-	470	(11,063)	-	-	-	(11,063)
Net return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	-	-	779	5,000	5,779
Ordinary dividend paid in the year	-	-	-	-	-	-	(4,732)	(4,732)
At 30 September 2013	16,970	100,956	3,174	37,416	8,704	282,140	5,664	455,024
Repurchase and cancellation
of the Company's own
Ordinary shares	(47)	-	47	(1,115)	-	-	-	(1,115)
Net return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	-	-	42,554	4,749	47,303
Ordinary dividend paid in the year	-	-	-	-	-	-	(5,685)	(5,685)
At 30 September 2014	16,923	100,956	3,221	36,301	8,704	324,694	4,728	495,527

Balance Sheet

at 30 September 2014

	2014	2013
	£'000	£'000
Fixed assets
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss	490,574	442,669
Current assets
Debtors	3,082	830
Cash at bank and in hand	12,466	35,303
	15,548	36,133
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	(10,595)	(23,778)
Net current assets	4,953	12,355
Net assets	495,527	455,024
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital	16,923	16,970
Share premium	100,956	100,956
Capital redemption reserve	3,221	3,174
Share purchase reserve	36,301	37,416
Warrant exercise reserve	8,704	8,704
Capital reserves	324,694	282,140
Revenue reserve	4,728	5,664
Total equity shareholders' funds	495,527	455,024
Net asset value per Ordinary share	292.82p	268.13p

These accounts were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 12 December 2014 and signed on its behalf by:

The Hon. Rupert Carington

Chairman

Cash Flow Statement

for the year ended 30 September 2014

	2014	2013
	£'000	£'000
Net cash inflow from operating activities	3,019	8,337
Servicing of finance
Interest paid	(119)	(612)
Net cash outflow from servicing of finance	(119)	(612)
Taxation
Overseas taxation paid	(470)	(300)
Investment activities
Purchases of investments	(184,337)	(268,756)
Sales of investments	176,514	245,414
Special dividend received allocated to capital	438	-
Net cash outflow from investment activities	(7,385)	(23,342)
Dividend paid	(5,685)	(4,732)
Net cash outflow before financing	(10,640)	(20,649)
Financing
Issue of Ordinary shares on exercise of Subscription shares	-	69,700
Repurchase and cancellation of the Company's own Ordinary shares	(1,115)	(11,063)
Bank loan repaid	(11,135)	(12,997)
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financing	(12,250)	45,640
Net cash (outflow)/inflow in the year	(22,890)	24,991

Notes to the Accounts

1. Accounting Policies

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 Association of Investment Companies in January 2009. All of the Company's operations are of a continuing nature.

The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of investments at fair value.

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

2. Income

	2014	2013
	£'000	£'000
Income from investments:
Overseas dividends	10,172	10,388
UK dividends	115	426
Scrip dividends	81	65
Total income from investments	10,368	10,879
Other interest receivable and similar income
Stock lending fees	31	86
Deposit interest	15	53
Total interest receivable and similar income	46	139
	10,414	11,018
Capital:
Special dividend allocated to capital	438	-

3. Management fee

	2014	2013
	£'000	£'000
Management fee	4,224	4,319

The basis for calculating the management fee is set out in the Report of the Directors on page 15 of the 2014 Annual Report.

4. Dividends

Dividend paid and declared

	2014	2013
	£'000	£'000
2013 final dividend paid of 3.35p (2012: 3.35p)	5,685	4,732
	2014	2013
	£'000	£'000
2014 final dividend proposed of 2.75p (2013: 3.35p)1	4,654	5,685

1 The proposed final dividend amounting to £4,654,000 (2013: £5,685,000) is the amount used for the basis of determining whether the Company has satisfied the distribution requirements of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010. The revenue available for distribution for the year is £4,749,000 (2013: £5,000,000).

5. Return per Ordinary share

	2014	2013
	£'000	£'000
Revenue return	4,749	5,000
Capital return	42,554	779
Total return	47,303	5,779
Weighted average number of Ordinary shares in issue during the year	169,416,702	162,538,879
Revenue return per share	2.80p	3.08p
Capital return per share	25.12p	0.48p
Total return per share	27.92p	3.56p

6. Net asset value per Ordinary share

	2014	2013
Net assets attributable to the Ordinary shareholders (£'000)	495,527	455,024
Ordinary shares in issue at the year end	169,225,716	169,700,716
Net asset value per Ordinary share	292.82p	268.13p

7. Transactions with the Manager and Related Parties

(a) Transactions with the Manager

The Company has appointed Schroder Unit Trusts Limited ("the Manager"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Schroders plc, to provide investment management, accounting and company secretarial services. If the Company invests in funds managed or advised by the Manager or any of its associated companies, those funds are excluded from the assets used for the purposes of the management fee calculation and therefore attract no fee. Under the terms of the Alternative Investment Fund Manager ("AIFM") Agreement, the Manager is also entitled to receive a company secretarial fee.

Details of the AIFM Agreement are given in the Report of the Directors on page 15 of the 2014 Annual Report.

The management fee payable in respect of the year ended 30 September 2014 amounted to £4,224,000 (2013: £4,319,000), of which £1,091,000 (2013: £3,330,000) was outstanding at the year end. The company secretarial fee payable in respect of the year ended 30 September 2014 amounted to £94,000 (2013: £91,000), of which £24,000 (2013: £68,000) was outstanding at the year end.

The Company's current account facility with Schroder & Co Limited was closed during the year. The balance held at Schroder & Co Limited at the year end was nil (2013: £500,000).

(b) Related Party Transactions

The Company has no employees and therefore the Directors are the only related party.  The Company paid fees of £127,240 and taxable benefits of £8,939 to the Directors; more details can be found in the Remuneration Report which is set out on pages 21 to 23 of the 2014 Annual Report.

8. Status of announcement

2013 Financial Information

The figures and financial information for 2013 are extracted from the published Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 September 2013 and do not constitute the statutory accounts for that year. The 2013 Annual Report and Accounts have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and included the Report of the Independent Auditors which was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

2014 Financial Information

The figures and financial information for 2014 are extracted from the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 September 2014 and do not constitute the statutory accounts for the year. The 2014 Annual Report and Accounts include 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 2014 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.

 

END

 

 

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