Miton Global Opp Plc Half-yearly Report
January 07 2016 - 9:15AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMIGO
MITON GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES PLC
(formerly Miton Worldwide Growth Investment Trust PLC)
Half-Yearly Report for the period ended 31 October 2015
Miton Global Opportunities plc ("the Company") has today released its
Half-Yearly Report for the six months ended 31 October 2015.
Key Information:
* The Company's name has been changed to more accurately reflect the
investment approach, which seeks principally to exploit pricing
inefficiencies in closed-end investment funds.
* The Company has been reclassified into the AIC's new Flexible Investment
sector, being companies "whose policy allows them to invest in a range of
asset types".
* Shareholders have approved new provisions within the Articles to enable
shareholders to elect, in 2018 and then at three year intervals, for the
realisation of all or part of their shareholding.
* Investment Manager believes that the current environment increases the
potential for pricing inefficiencies and provides a number of interesting
opportunities. Despite maintaining a cautious view about the general
direction of equity markets, the Company is fully invested.
The Half-Yearly Report and other information is available via
www.mitongroup.com/migo.
Enquiries:
Miton Group plc
David Barron
DDI: +44 (0) 203 714 1474
Email: david.barron@mitongroup.com
Numis Securities Limited
Nathan Brown, Corporate Broking and Advisory
DDI: +44 (0) 20 7260 1426
Email: n.brown@numis.com
HALF-YEARLY REPORT
Miton Global Opportunities plc is an investment trust which was launched on 6
April 2004.
CAPITAL STRUCTURE
At a General Meeting of the Company held on 9 September 2015, shareholders
approved proposals to remove the requirement for future continuation votes in
the Company's Articles of Association and instead include provisions enabling
shareholders to elect, in 2018 and then at three year intervals, for the
realisation of all or part of their shareholding. The Company's share capital
therefore comprises Ordinary shares of 1p each with one vote per share and
Realisation shares of 1p each, when in issue, with one vote per share.
The rights of holders of Ordinary shares (being shares in respect of which no
election for realisation has been made) and of Realisation shares (being shares
in respect of which an election for realisation has been made), when in issue,
will be as follows: the portfolio will be split into two separate and distinct
pools, namely a continuation pool comprising assets attributable to the
continuing Ordinary shares (the "Continuation Pool") and a realisation pool
comprising the assets attributable to the Realisation shares (the "Realisation
Pool"). The assets in the Realisation Pool will be managed in accordance with
an orderly realisation programme with the aim of making progressive returns of
cash to holders of Realisation shares as soon as practicable. The precise
mechanism for any return of cash to holders of Realisation shares will depend
upon the relevant factors prevailing at the time and will be at the discretion
of the Board.
As at 31 October 2015 and the date of this report, there were 25,279,985
Ordinary shares in issue, none of which were held in Treasury.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The objective of the Company is to outperform 3 month LIBOR plus 2% over the
longer term, principally through exploiting inefficiencies in the pricing of
closed-end funds. This objective is intended to reflect the Company's aim of
providing a better return to shareholders over the longer term than they would
get by merely placing money on deposit.
The benchmark in the investment objective is a target only and should not be
treated as a guarantee of performance of the Company or its portfolio.
INVESTMENT POLICY
The Company invests in closed-end investment funds traded on the London Stock
Exchange's Main Market, but has the flexibility to invest in investment funds
listed or dealt on other recognised stock exchanges, in unlisted closed-end
funds (including, but not limited to, funds traded on AIM) and in open-ended
investment funds. The funds in which the Company invests may include all types
of investment trusts, companies and funds established onshore or offshore. The
Company has the flexibility to invest in any class of security issued by
investment funds including, without limitation, equity, debt, warrants or other
convertible securities. In addition, the Company may invest in other
securities, such as non-investment fund debt, if deemed to be appropriate to
produce the desired returns to shareholders.
The Company is unrestricted in the number of funds it holds. However, at the
time of acquisition, no investment will have an aggregated value totalling more
than 15% of the gross assets of the Company. Furthermore, the Company will not
invest more than 10%, in aggregate, of the value of its gross assets at the
time of acquisition in other listed closed-end investment funds, although this
restriction does not apply to investments in any such funds which themselves
have stated investment policies to invest no more than 15% of their gross
assets in other listed closed-end investment funds. In addition, the Company
will not invest more than 25%, in aggregate, of the value of its gross assets
at the time of acquisition in open-ended funds.
There are no prescriptive limits on allocation of assets in terms of asset
class or geography, save that no more than 80% of the Company's gross assets
can be held in any one geographical region.
There are no limits imposed on the size of hedging contracts, save that their
aggregated value will not exceed 20% of the portfolio's gross assets at the
time they are entered into.
The Board permits borrowings of up to 20% of the Company's net asset value
(measured at the time new borrowings are incurred).
The Company's investment objective may lead, on occasions, to a significant
amount of cash or near cash being held.
REVIEW OF THE PERIOD
Over the period, the Company's net asset value decreased by 4.37% and the share
price decreased by 2.76% (capital return).
During the period, the shares traded between a 6.01% and an 11.55% discount,
ending the period on an 8.89% discount (source: Bloomberg).
As at 31 October 2015, the Company had short-term borrowings of GBP5,000,000.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
31 October 30 April
2015 2015
Net asset value per Ordinary
share (including revenue 173.70p 181.63p
reserves)
Net asset value per Ordinary
share (excluding all revenue 175.07p 182.25p
reserves)
Share price 158.25p 162.75p
Discount to net asset value 8.89% 10.40%
Total net assets (after
deduction of borrowings) GBP43.91m GBP45.92m
Total borrowings GBP5.00m GBP3.00m
Ongoing charges 1.32% 1.16%
TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE TO 31 OCTOBER 2015
6 months 1 year Since
% % launch
%
Net asset value* (4.4) 2.3 78.5
Share price ** (2.8) 4.8 58.3
MSCI World Index in (3.6) 5.4 137.8
Sterling**
FTSE All-Share Index** (5.7) 3.0 132.7
Sterling 3 month LIBOR +2%* 1.3 2.6 68.3
**
Sources:
* Based on initial NAV of 97.33p (after launch expenses).
** Bloomberg. Net income reinvested GBP.
*** Miton Asset Management Limited (Sterling 3 month LIBOR +2% at the
beginning of the accounting period).
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING/GENERAL MEETING
In accordance with the Articles of Association, a continuation vote was put to
shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 9 September
2015 and approved. Over 67% of shareholders voted on this resolution, with 99%
voting in favour.
A General Meeting was held on the same date, at which proposals were approved
to amend the Articles of Association. The changes removed the requirement for
future continuation votes and instead shareholders will be offered the
opportunity to elect to exit the Company at three year intervals, through the
conversion of all or part of their holding of Ordinary shares into Realisation
shares.
As a result of the changes to the Articles, the management and performance fees
payable by the Company to the Manager have also been amended to reflect new fee
arrangements that would apply in respect of the share reorganisation that would
take place on the issue of Realisation shares. As this was a related party
transaction, a resolution was put to, and approved by, shareholders at the
General Meeting on 9 September 2015. Details of the fee changes are set out in
Note 9 below.
CHANGE OF NAME
The Directors believe that the Company's name should be simplified and more
accurately reflect the investment approach. Accordingly, with effect from 5
January 2016, the name of the Company was changed from Miton Worldwide Growth
Investment Trust PLC to Miton Global Opportunities plc. A change of name is
permitted by the Company's Articles of Association and does not require a
shareholder vote. The Company's ticker has changed to MIGO.
AIC SECTOR
With effect from January 2016, the AIC has introduced a new sector
classification: Flexible Investment. The definition for this sector is
"Companies whose policy allows them to invest in a range of asset types". Miton
Global Opportunities is one of the companies that has been reclassified into
this new sector.
INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT
for the period ended 31 October 2015
The period under review was a tough period for equity markets. During the
summer, the major indices fell to levels around 15% below where they had
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