Interim Management Statement
November 18 2009 - 10:21AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMUAVT
Unicorn AIM VCT II plc
Interim Management Statement
For the period from 1 July 2009 to 31 October 2009
Introduction
The Company has prepared this Interim Management Statement (IMS) in accordance
with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the UK Listing Authority. The IMS
covers the four month period ended 31 October 2009, together with relevant
information up to the date of publication.
Investment Objective
The objective of the Company is to provide Shareholders with an attractive
return from a diversified portfolio of investments, predominantly in the shares
of AIM quoted companies, by maximising the stream of dividend distributions to
Shareholders from the income and capital gains generated by the portfolio.
It is also the objective that the Company should continue to qualify as a
Venture Capital Trust, so that Shareholders benefit from the taxation
advantages that this brings. To achieve this at least 70% of the Company's
total assets are to be invested in qualifying investments of which 30% by value
must be in ordinary shares carrying no preferential rights to dividends or
return of capital and no rights to redemption.
Performance
Equity markets continued to recover strongly in the period under review. In the
four months to 31 October 2009 the FTSE AIM AllShare Index rose by 22.4%,
whilst the FTSE AllShare Index ended the period up by 19.0%.
The recovery has been predominantly driven by two specific factors. Firstly,
there has been a significant recovery in commodity prices worldwide, which in
turn has driven a strong rebound in the value of Industrial Metals, Mining &
Resource stocks. Secondly, the level of refinancing activity has increased
dramatically. In recent months, many of the UK's most financially distressed
quoted companies have successfully strengthened their balance sheets through
the issue of new equity at deeply discounted prices.
In both cases this has led to substantial short term returns for those
investors willing and able to invest in these higher risk assets. The Funds do
not have direct exposure to these types of companies, partly because they do
not typically qualify as VCT qualifying investments under HMRC rules and partly
because they tend not to meet the Manager's investment criteria.
Over the four months to 31 October 2009, the Net Asset Value of the Ordinary
Share Fund increased by 8.4% (30 June 2009: 74.1p per share, 31 October 2009:
80.3p per share), whilst the Net Asset Value of the C Share Fund rose by 5.5%
(30 June 2009: 63.1p per share, 31 October 2009: 66.6p per share).
Material Transactions
There have been a number of material transactions in both the Ordinary and the
C Share Funds during the period.
The Ordinary and the C Share Funds completed VCT qualifying, secondary
investments in Kiotech and Invu. The latter investment was made in the form of
convertible loan stock with an attractive yield.
The Ordinary Share Fund also made new non-qualifying investments in Augean, a
provider of hazardous waste management services, Glisten, a manufacturer of
confectionery and snack foods, and Supporta, a domiciliary care and outsourced
services provider. The C Share Fund participated in the investment in
Supporta.The total cost of new investments made in the period was GBP1m and GBP
350,000 respectively.
Holdings in Claimar Care, a domiciliary care provider, and Concateno, were
realised after each company was acquired by a competitor. Claimar Care and
Concateno were held in both the Ordinary and the C Share Fund. The Ordinary
Share Fund also made partial disposal of holdings in Abcam and ACM Shipping.
Capital realisations amounted to GBP1.3m in the Ordinary Share Fund and GBP455,000
in the C Share Fund.
Top 10 Equity Holdings at 31 October 2009
Ordinary Share Fund Percentage of Fund
Abcam 13.5%
Cohort 5.6%
Mattioli Woods 5.1%
Unicorn UK Smaller Companies Fund 4.8%
Pressure Technologies 4.5%
Animalcare Group 4.0%
Brulines 3.7%
SnackTime 3.6%
Kiotech 3.4%
Melorio 3.1%
C Share Fund Percentage of Fund
Unicorn UK Income Fund 10.3%
Unicorn UK Smaller Companies Fund 8.6%
Animalcare Group 5.5%
Cohort 4.5%
Kiotech 4.3%
Snacktime 3.4%
Melorio 3.3%
Tracsis 2.8%
Pressure Technologies 2.6%
IS Pharma 2.3%
Material Events
Other than described above, there were no material events during the period
from 1 July 2009 to 31 October 2009.
END
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