Final Results

Glasgow Income Trust PLC 14 November 2003 News Release 14 November 2003 Glasgow Income Trust plc Preliminary Results for the year ended 30 September 2003 Glasgow Income Trust's principal objective is to provide shareholders with a high level of income and to obtain growth in both income and capital over the longer term. The Company is managed by Glasgow Investment Managers Limited. 2003 2002 Total assets less current liabilities £34.25m £31.66m Shareholders' funds £21.16m £19.14m Market capitalisation £23.60m £21.19m Net asset value per share 57.17p 51.70p Ordinary share price 63.75p 57.25p Premium (share price to net asset value) 11.5% 10.7% Revenue return per share 4.85p 4.92p Dividends per share 4.85p 4.85p Gearing 64.3% 81.8% • The total return on net assets in the year was 20.0% against 16.7% on the FTSE All-Share Index. • Final dividend of 1.76p per share brings total dividends for year to 4.85p, the same as last year. • At the year end share price of 63.75p, the yield was 7.6%, well above the FTSE All-Share Index dividend yield of 3.4%. • Gearing was reduced over the year from 81.8% to 64.3%, mainly invested in corporate fixed interest securities of investment grade. • The share price stands at a healthy premium to net asset value per share, reflecting the strength of private investor demand for the Company's shares. • The Board is reviewing the possibility of an issue of new shares by way of a placing and offer for subscription at a premium to net asset value. For further information please contact: David Williams, Managing Director Glasgow Investment Managers 0141 572 2700 Glasgow Income Trust plc Annual Report 30 September 2003 Chairman's Statement Background The principal feature of the first half of the Company's financial year was share price volatility, as investors reacted to the growing prospect of conflict in Iraq. In the second half, however, with the war concluded, stockmarkets around the world made progress as sentiment responded to a recovery in business activity and improving economic forecasts. Investment Returns Against a sometimes difficult background, the Company's portfolio performed well and the total return on net assets for the year was exactly 20.0%, which compares with the return of 16.7% on the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index, the Company's benchmark. Dividends The Board is recommending a final dividend of 1.76p per ordinary share, which brings total dividends for the year to 4.85p per share, the same level as last year. If approved at the Annual General Meeting on 16 December 2003 the final dividend will be paid on 31 December 2003 to shareholders on the Register at close of business on 5 December 2003. Dividend Payment Policy Please note that the final dividend is being paid two months earlier than usual. This reflects the introduction of a new dividend payment policy. In my statement last year I drew shareholders' attention to the apparent anomaly that a small transfer from reserves was required to pay the dividend although it was covered by the reported Revenue Return per share. This situation arose because new shares issued during the year ranked for dividends paid in respect of income earned before the new capital was subscribed. To avoid this happening in future the Board has decided to pay the dividend from income earned in each quarter at the end of the first month of the following quarter. The first interim dividend for next year, therefore, will be paid on 30 January 2004 and, to avoid complications arising from bringing forward that payment, the final dividend for the year to 30 September 2003 will be paid on 31 December 2003. The timetable of future dividend payments is shown on Page 41 of the Annual Report. Implementation of the new policy requires one further change in practice. As a final dividend may not be paid without the approval of shareholders and that cannot be obtained in time to pay a dividend within one month of the fourth quarter's end, the Board has decided to pay four interim dividends each year in future, but no final dividend. These new arrangements will not affect the level of total annual dividends paid per share. Portfolio Profile Over the year total gearing fell from 81.8% to 64.3% of net assets, due partly to sales of securities and partly to the rise in the value of net assets. Equity gearing fell from 20% to 14.8%. The major portion of gearing, 49.5% at 30 September 2003, is invested in the corporate fixed interest and convertible securities which contribute a large proportion of the income which the Company distributes. The principal component of the Company's gearing is Zero Coupon Finance, raised in May 2000 through a series of option transactions on the FTSE 100 Index and repayable in May 2005. The structure of the strategy is such that the amount of the liability is unaffected by movements of the Index and the counterparty in the transactions is a leading global bank. As the initial proceeds, £9.9 million, the maturity value, £14 million, and the term of the financing, five years, are all known, so is the annualised cost, 7.19% per annum. Although the total cost of funds raised is thus predetermined, its incidence over time and the final outcome in respect of each constituent option are not, both being determined by movements in market prices. Over the period from May 2000, when the funds were raised, to 30 September 2003 the actual financing cost was 8.7% per annum, leaving the balance to maturity in May 2005 to be provided at 4.1% per annum. The net movement in the value of the options involved is charged to capital reserve and there is no charge to revenue. The proceeds of this financing are largely invested in corporate fixed interest securities of investment grade, making a major contribution to the income earned by the Company. Longer Term Over the last three years, with the Company pursuing the higher yielding strategy adopted in May 2000, the total return on net assets has averaged -1.5% per annum, markedly better than the return of -9.9% per annum on the All-Share Index. During that period the yield on net assets averaged 7.5% and the premium at which the Company's shares stand to net asset value per share 5.2%. New Issue The Company has issued over four million new shares through the stockmarket in response to demand from private investors since the new strategy was introduced. As the buoyancy of the share price premium indicates that there continues to be unsatisfied demand for the Company's shares, the Board is reviewing the possibility of an issue of new shares by way of a placing and offer for subscription at a premium to net asset value. Continuation Vote As required by the Company's Articles of Association an ordinary resolution will be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting that the Company should continue as an investment trust for a further five year period. The Directors recommend shareholders to vote in favour of the resolution as they intend to do in respect of their own beneficial holdings. The Board believes that continuation is in the best interests of all shareholders. The Company's performance record under the investment strategy currently being followed demonstrates its ability to combine provision of a high dividend yield with growth of both income and capital to achieve a total return well above the average available from UK Equities. Moreover, the premium at which the share price has stood to net asset value per share for the last two and a half years reflects the continuing demand for the Company's shares from private investors. Outlook Stock markets have been through turbulent times in recent years and reached a low point as the war in Iraq approached. Since then forecasts of output growth have been raised for all regions except the Eurozone, as measures taken to stimulate economies have been seen to take effect. The growing confidence in the potential for a strengthening recovery in company profits provides the basis for selecting opportunities for sound investment in UK shares. Board Norman Murray, who joined the Board in 1999, resigned in May 2003. I should like to take this opportunity to thank him for his contribution to the Board's deliberations over the past four years and wish him well for the future. The Board welcomed Mr Kevin Hart, Finance Director of Cairn Energy plc, who became a director of the Company in May this year. R G Hanna (Chairman) Glasgow Income Trust plc Consolidated Statement of Total Return (incorporating the Revenue Account*) for the year ended 30 September 2003 2003 2002 Revenue£000 Capital £000 Total Revenue Capital Total £000 £000 £000 £000 Losses on - 2,098 2,098 - (5,694) (5,694) investments Income 2,264 - 2,264 2,238 - 2,238 ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- Management and administrative expenses (260) (89) (349) (278) (108) (386) ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- NET RETURN BEFORE FINANCE COSTS AND TAXATION 2,004 2,009 4,013 1,960 (5,802) (3,842) Finance costs of (17) (17) (34) (71) (71) (142) borrowings ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- RETURN ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES BEFORE TAXATION 1,987 1,992 3,979 1,889 (5,873) (3,984) Taxation (191) 32 (159) (207) 104 (103) ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- RETURN ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES AFTER TAXATION FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1,796 2,024 3,820 1,682 (5,769) (4,087) Dividends on (1,795) - (1,795) (1,777) - (1,777) equity shares ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- TRANSFER TO/ (FROM) RESERVES 1 2,024 2,025 (95) (5,769) (5,864) ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- Return per 4.85p 5.47p 10.32p 4.92p (16.88)p (11.96)p share Dividends per 4.85p 4.85p share *The revenue column of this statement is the consolidated revenue account of the Group. All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the year. The financial information set out above and on the following page does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 30 September 2002 and 2003 but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for 2002 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for 2003 will be delivered following the Company's annual general meeting. The auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified and did not contain statements under section 237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. Glasgow Income Trust plc Group Balance Sheet as at 30 September 2003 2003 2002 £000 £000 FIXED ASSETS Ordinary shares 24,288 22,964 Convertibles 1,484 2,043 Corporate bonds 9,010 9,786 --------- --------- 34,782 34,793 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 613 1,949 Investments of dealing subsidiary undertaking - 128 Cash at bank 339 - --------- --------- 952 2,077 CREDITORS Amounts falling due within one year (1,487) (5,208) --------- --------- NET CURRENT LIABILITIES (535) (3,131) --------- --------- TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 34,247 31,662 CREDITORS Amounts falling due after more than one year (13,085) (12,525) --------- --------- NET ASSETS 21,162 19,137 --------- --------- EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS 21,162 19,137 --------- --------- Net asset value per share 57.17p 51.70p Glasgow Income Trust plc Consolidated Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 30 September 2003 2003 2002 £000 £000 £000 £000 OPERATING ACTIVITIES Dividends and interest received from 1,959 1,925 investments Income tax recovered - 65 Deposit interest received 38 13 Dealing subsidiary receipts 366 120 Other cash received 136 300 Administrative expenses paid (352) (387) Payments to and on behalf of (36) (32) Directors Dealing subsidiary payments (188) (277) -------- -------- NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING 1,923 1,727 ACTIVITIES SERVICING OF FINANCE Interest paid (61) (121) TAXATION Corporation tax paid (201) - CAPITAL EXPENDITURE Purchases of investments (10,178) (19,045) Sales of investments 12,847 16,100 -------- -------- NET CASH INFLOW/(OUTFLOW) FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES 2,669 (2,945) EQUITY DIVIDENDS PAID (1,795) (1,626) -------- -------- 2,535 (2,965) FINANCING Issues of shares 1,427 1,496 Debt due within one year - increase in short-term borrowings (2,700) 2,000 -------- -------- (1,273) 3,496 -------- -------- INCREASE IN CASH 1,262 531 -------- -------- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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