Interim Results

Schroder AsiaPacific Fund PLC 06 May 2003 6 May 2003 SCHRODER ASIAPACIFIC FUND PLC Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc announces its unaudited Interim Results for the period ended 31 March 20032. Unaudited Statement of Total Return (incorporating the Revenue Account) For the six months For the six months ended 31 March 2003 ended 31 March 2002 Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Realised (losses)/gains on investments - (6,444) (6,444) - 43,911 43,911 Exchange gains/(losses) on currency balances - 70 70 - (153) (153) Income 1,225 - 1,225 982 - 982 Management fees (411) - (411) (535) - (535) Administrative expenses (174) - (174) (157) - (157) Net return/(deficit) on ordinary activities before finance costs and taxation 640 (6,374) (5,374) 290 43,758 44,048 Interest payable (120) - (120) (86) - (86) Return/(deficit) on ordinary activities before taxation 520 (6,374) (5,854) 204 43,758 43,962 Tax on ordinary activities (150) - (150) (5) - (5) Return/(deficit) on ordinary activities after taxation 370 (6,374) (6,004) 199 43,758 43,957 Return/(deficit) per share 0.27p (4.58)p (4.31)p 0.14p 31.44p 31.58p The revenue column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the Company. All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc Unaudited Balance Sheet 31 March 30 September 2003 2002 £'000 £'000 Fixed assets Investments 83,333 94,441 Current assets Debtors 710 1,221 Cash at bank and short-term deposits 6,103 4,941 6,813 6,162 Current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 10,197 14,650 Net current (liabilities) / assets (3,384) (8,488) Net assets 79,949 85,953 Capital and reserves Called up share capital 13,920 13,920 Capital redemption reserve 81 81 Share premium account 4 4 Share purchase reserve 110,529 110,529 Warrant reserve 8,702 8,702 Warrant exercise reserve 2 2 Capital reserve (53,666) (47,292) Revenue reserve 377 7 Equity shareholders' funds 79,949 85,953 Net asset value per share 57.44p 61.75p Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc Unaudited Cash Flow Statement For the six months ended For the year ended 31 March 2003 30 September 2002 £'000 £'000 Operating activities Dividend income received 726 2,333 Deposit interest received 102 166 Other income 5 10 Management fee paid (441) (1,001) Administrative expenses (178) (314) Net cash inflow from operating activities 214 1,194 Servicing of finance Interest paid (113) (334) Cash outflow from servicing of finance (113) (334) Taxation UK income tax recovered - 199 Overseas tax paid (71) (109) Tax recovered (71) 90 Capital expenditure and financial investment Purchase of investments (24,434) (79,516) Disposal of investments 29,281 69,393 Net cash inflow/(outflow) from capital expenditure and financial investment 4,847 (10,123) Equity dividends paid (557) - Net cash outflow before financing 4,320 (9,173) Financing Purchase of own shares for cancellation - (1) Bank loans (repaid)/raised (3,171) 4,553 Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financing (3,171) 4,552 Net cash inflow/(outflow) 1,149 (4,621) Investment Manager's Review Regional markets have weakened over the first half of the year. The Company's benchmark index declined on a total return basis by 5.3% in sterling terms over the six months to 31st March 2003. The net asset value total return of the Company fell 6.7%*, and the share price total return fell 9.1%* over the same period. Asian equities have lost around a third of their value since peaking at the end of April last year. The scale of the declines has been a reflection of global factors that have impacted all equity markets. Over the last six months, rising tensions surrounding the situation in the Middle East have dominated the headlines. Equally troubling have been signs of global economic slowdown that cannot be wholly explained by either war tensions or the related strength in oil prices. Most leading indicators of activity have pointed to further deceleration in the pace of global growth, with consumer confidence at a low ebb and surveys of business spending intentions suggest that capital spending is being kept to a minimum, and costs remain under close scrutiny. With the growing caution over the external situation, investors have favoured areas perceived as being more dependent upon domestic sources of growth, and therefore less sensitive to the deteriorating global situation. The most obvious has been China, where the growth in outsourcing of manufacturing has more than outweighed the cyclical pressures on end demand, certainly judging by the continued strength of exports. The strength of capital investment in China, including infrastructure, has had an impact on a range of commodity prices, and basic material stocks round the region have performed strongly. Similarly, markets of countries seen as relatively insulated from global trends performed relatively well, with Thailand up 19.6% in sterling terms. Hong Kong has presented contrasting fortunes. Stocks seen as benefiting from the trends in China have performed well, with many of the Hong Kong listed but China based manufacturing stocks actually up over the six months. In contrast, the leading blue chip stocks, more exposed to the continued weakness of domestic sentiment, have fallen sharply, with the outbreak of the SARS virus at the end of the period compounding their problems. Korea, amongst the most open of the region's economies and particularly sensitive to oil prices, has had plenty of more local issues contributing to a decline only exceeded in the region by the Philippines. Rising delinquencies among the consumer credit companies and increased levels of household debt have led to a slowdown in consumer demand and concern over the broader health of the financial sector. On top of this, the accession of a new president at the end of February contributed to perceptions of a leadership vacuum at a time when rising tensions on the peninsula developed into a global issue. Investment Policy and Outlook The Table below shows the asset distribution of the Company's portfolio at the beginning and end of the period to 31st March 2003, along with the distribution of the benchmark index at end March 2003 for comparison purposes. Net Asset Value Weightings (%) Benchmark Index Weight (%) Market 30-Sep-02 31-Mar-03 31-Mar-03 Hong Kong / China 37.0 37.9 31.6 Korea 33.1 26.5 25.7 Taiwan 12.0 12.1 18.3 Singapore 16.4 14.4 11.3 Malaysia 5.9 6.1 8.2 Indonesia 3.7 3.7 1.5 Thailand 1.7 1.0 2.7 India 0.0 3.1 0.0 Philippines 0.2 0.0 0.7 Other net assets -9.9 -4.7 0.0 Total 100 100 100 Underperformance by the Company's portfolio over the first half of the year was primarily due to the impact of our gearing as markets declined. Stock selection was fractionally positive, primarily due to strong performance by our medium-sized stocks in Singapore and industrials in Hong Kong. Korean stock selection was less successful as our financial and domestic consumer holdings fell sharply. Country weightings had a negative impact as Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia (where the Company's portfolio was underweight) outperformed. Over the period, we shifted exposure away from China (reflecting valuation concerns following strong performance) and Singapore in favour of India and Korea, the latter reflecting increasingly attractive valuations. Sectoral focus has been stable throughout the period. The portfolio remains overweight in financials, consumer cyclicals and, to a lesser extent, information technology, and underweight utilities, telecoms and materials. Investment Outlook Markets have rallied since the commencement of the Iraq campaign, although Asian markets have recovered less than those of the United States or Europe. Lacking perhaps some of the technical issues that have given Western markets a higher degree of volatility, the region is likely to continue to be driven by perceptions of the level of global economic activity. Even if there is some 'end of war' relief to come in terms of deferred corporate spending and consumer confidence, this does not appear likely to be sufficient to offset the more entrenched restraints on growth; the high levels of consumer indebtedness (particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom), the structural imbalances in both Europe and Japan, and the low levels of capacity utilisation. It is these factors that belie more simplistic analogies with the market reaction to the last Gulf War in 1991. It is likely that regional export growth decelerates over the next two quarters, although for China at least there is still impressive momentum with exports up 34.7% in March and GDP growth of over 9% in the first quarter. Growth rates elsewhere are already signalling a sharp slowdown, with Singapore registering only a 1.5% rate of expansion in GDP in the first quarter. Given the near-term economic uncertainties faced by the region, and the lack of immediate catalysts to recovery, it is likely that markets will continue to drift. Areas of recent focus such as North Korea and the SARS virus are not susceptible to speedy resolution, and may well take turns for the worse before they are perceived as improving. In this context, some areas of the portfolio's exposure (domestic stocks in Korea and Hong Kong in particular), are likely to be volatile, even though in our view valuations now appear to reflect much of the uncertainty. However, we continue to maintain a modest degree of gearing. Current market levels clearly reflect the uncertain economic backdrop, and compared with historic valuation levels, the region's equity markets do not look expensive. Relative to other global markets, the degree of undervaluation is not as dramatic, although any discount seems increasingly harder to justify given the improvement in profitability and balance sheets that Asian companies have achieved. Schroder Investment Management (UK) Limited 2 May 2003 * Source: AITC/Fundamental data Notes The Interim Report will be mailed to registered shareholders in May 2003 and from the date of release copies of the Interim Report will be made available to the public at the Company's Registered Office at 31 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QA. This announcement is prepared on the basis of the accounting policies as set out in the most recently published set of annual financial statements. Enquiries: John Spedding Schroder Investment Management Limited 6 May 2003 (020 7658 3206) (e-mail john.spedding@schroders.com) This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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