ATY Athelney Trust Plc

TIDMATY

RNS Number : 8043L

Athelney Trust PLC

04 May 2020

Athelney Trust PLC

Legal Entity Identifier:

213800ON67TJC7F4DL05

The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 209.9p at 30 April 2020.

Fund Manager's comment for April 2020

Data released in April provided an insight into how COVID-19 is impacting on the major economies around the world. In the UK and the Eurozone, manufacturing and services PMIs fell to record lows, foreshadowing a likely recession in 2020.

The world stock markets, similar to animals that hibernate in the winter and lose up to half their body weight, awoke at the start of spring. The MSCI World Index and the S&P 500 were up by 10.8% and 12.7% respectively. The UK, European and Asian markets reacted in similar fashion. In the UK, the FTSE 100 was up by 4.0% in local currency terms while the indices associated with smaller companies fared much better after being pummelled in March. The Small Cap Index increased by 9.8% with the Fledgling Index up by 13.8%. The best performing index was the AIM All Share Index which was up by 18.8%.

While we were delighted with the 10.5% increase in our portfolio, it was not as good as the performance achieved by the small company indices. After providing for the company expenses the net performance as reflected in the NAV was an increase of 9.5%.

As stated in previous commentaries, our investment philosophy is based on the belief that the economics of a business drives long-term investment returns. Typically, companies in the portfolio have organic growth with predictable earnings, a sustainable competitive advantage, high returns on equity, a strong financial position and an experienced and talented management team. As owners of these businesses we are supportive of management otherwise we would vote with our feet and, to this end, we generally vote our proxies in accordance with management's direction other than when the resolution concerns their own remuneration. In times of business turmoil, we would not be concerned at management foregoing margin to retain talented staff or reducing dividends to shore up the balance sheet after depleting some of the reserves built up in the good times. However, we take a dim view of management who lay off staff and reduce dividends without adopting a similar approach to executive remuneration. We note that a few of our investee companies have cancelled the payment of the current dividend.

Some of our cash has been used to acquire additional shares in Fevertree. Cash is currently 2.3% of the portfolio.

Fact Sheet

An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website www.athelneytrust.co.uk under "Portfolio Details".

Background Information

Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl AM

Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"), an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney trust for many years.

E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (licence no.421704).

www.ecpohl.com

www.ecpam.com

Manny Pohl and the ECP group has over AU$1500m under its management including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one in the UK:

   --    Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI) 

AUD50m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au

   --    Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST) 

AUD25m www.barrackst.com

   --    Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL) 

AUD25m www.globalmastersfund.com.au

   --    Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY) 

GBP5m www.athelneytrust.co.uk

Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy

The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.

The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.

Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link

www.theaic.co.uk/aic/news/press-releases/next-generation-of-dividend-heroes

Website

www.athelneytrust.co.uk

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END

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