AAVC Albion Venture Capital Trust Plc

 
TIDMAAVC 
 
   Albion Venture Capital Trust PLC 
 
   As required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency 
Rule 4.2, Albion Venture Capital Trust PLC today makes public its 
information relating to the Half-yearly Financial Report (which is 
unaudited) for the six months to 30 September 2015. This announcement 
was approved by the Board of Directors on 25 November 2015. 
 
   The full Half-yearly Financial Report (which is unaudited) for the 
period to 30 September 2015, will shortly be sent to shareholders. 
Copies of the full Half-yearly Financial Report will be shown via the 
Albion Ventures LLP website by clicking 
www.albion-ventures.co.uk/ourfunds/AAVC.htm. 
 
   Investment objective and policy 
 
   The investment strategy of Albion Venture Capital Trust PLC (the 
"Company") is to manage the risk normally associated with investments in 
smaller unquoted companies whilst maintaining an attractive yield, 
through allowing investors the opportunity to participate in a balanced 
portfolio of asset-backed businesses. The Company's investment portfolio 
will thus be structured to provide a balance between income and capital 
growth for the longer term. 
 
   This is achieved as follows: 
 
 
   -- qualifying unquoted investments are predominantly in specially-formed 
      companies which provide a high level of asset backing for the capital 
      value of the investment; 
 
   -- the Company invests alongside selected partners with proven experience in 
      the sectors concerned; 
 
   -- investments are normally structured as a mixture of equity and loan 
      stock. The loan stock represents the majority of the finance provided and 
      is secured on the assets of the portfolio company. Funds managed or 
      advised by Albion Ventures LLP typically own 50 per cent. of the equity 
      of the portfolio company; 
 
   -- other than the loan stock issued to funds managed or advised by Albion 
      Ventures LLP, portfolio companies do not normally have external 
      borrowings. 
 
 
   The Company offers tax-paying investors substantial tax benefits at the 
time of investment, on payment of dividends and on the ultimate disposal 
of the investment. 
 
   Background to the Company 
 
   The Company is a venture capital trust which raised a total of GBP39.7 
million through an issue of Ordinary shares in the spring of 1996 and 
through an issue of C shares in the following year. The C shares merged 
with the Ordinary shares in 2001. The Company has raised a further 
GBP15.2 million under the Albion VCTs Top Up Offers since 2011. 
 
   On 25 September 2012, the Company acquired the assets and liabilities of 
Albion Prime VCT PLC ("Prime") in exchange for new shares in the 
Company. Each Prime shareholder received 0.8801 shares in the Company 
for each Prime share that they held at the date of the Merger. 
 
   Financial calendar 
 
 
 
 
Record date for second dividend     11 December 2015 
 Payment date for second dividend   31 December 2015 
 Financial year end                    31 March 2016 
 
 
   Financial highlights 
 
 
 
 
                    Unaudited six       Unaudited six         Audited year 
                     months ended        months ended             ended 
                   30 September 2015   30 September 2014      31 March 2015 
                   (pence per share)   (pence per share)    (pence per share) 
Dividends paid                  2.50                2.50                 5.00 
Revenue return                  0.95                0.92                 2.07 
Capital return                  2.74                0.18                 3.26 
Net asset value                72.65               69.92                71.62 
 
 
 
 
Total shareholder return since launch to                 Ordinary shares 
 30 September 2015                                       (pence per share) 
  Dividends paid during the year ended : 31 March 1997                2.00 
                                         31 March 1998                5.20 
                                         31 March 1999               11.05 
                                         31 March 2000                3.00 
                                         31 March 2001                8.55 
                                         31 March 2002                7.60 
                                         31 March 2003                7.70 
                                         31 March 2004                8.20 
                                         31 March 2005                9.75 
                                         31 March 2006               11.75 
                                         31 March 2007               10.00 
                                         31 March 2008               10.00 
                                         31 March 2009               10.00 
                                         31 March 2010                5.00 
                                         31 March 2011                5.00 
                                         31 March 2012                5.00 
                                         31 March 2013                5.00 
                                         31 March 2014                5.00 
                                         31 March 2015                5.00 
                   Dividends paid in the six months to 
                                     30 September 2015                2.50 
 
Total dividends paid since launch to 
 30 September 2015                                                  137.30 
 
Net asset value as at 30 September 2015                              72.65 
 
Total shareholder return since launch to 
 30 September 2015 per 100 pence invested                           209.95 
 
 
 
   The financial summary above is for the Company, Albion Venture Capital 
Trust PLC Ordinary shares only.  Details of the financial performance of 
the C shares and Albion Prime VCT PLC, which have been merged into the 
Company, can be found at the end of this announcement. 
 
   In addition to the dividends summarised above, the Directors have 
declared a second dividend for the year to 31 March 2016 of 2.50 pence 
per share, to be paid on 31 December 2015 to shareholders on the 
register as at 11 December 2015. 
 
   Notes 
 
 
   -- Dividends paid before 5 April 1999 were paid to qualifying shareholders 
      inclusive of the associated tax credit. The dividends for the year to 31 
      March 1999 were maximised in order to take advantage of this tax credit. 
 
   -- All dividends paid by the Company are free of income tax. It is an H.M. 
      Revenue & Customs requirement that dividend vouchers indicate the tax 
      element should dividends have been subject to income tax. Investors 
      should ignore this figure on their dividend voucher and need not disclose 
      any income they receive from a VCT on their tax return. 
 
   -- The net asset value of the Company is not its share price as quoted on 
      the official list of the London Stock Exchange. The share price of the 
      Company can be found in the Investment Companies - VCTs section of the 
      Financial Times on a daily basis. Investors are reminded that it is 
      common for shares in VCTs to trade at a discount to their net asset 
      value. 
 
 
   Interim management report 
 
   Introduction 
 
   The results for Albion Venture Capital Trust PLC (the "Company") for the 
six months to 30 September 2015 showed a total return of 3.7 pence per 
share, up from 1.1 pence per share for the same period last year. This 
positive return was a result of uplifts in the third party professional 
valuations of our hydroelectric schemes and of Radnor House School, as 
well as an offer received for Kensington Health Clubs Limited. The net 
asset value for the half year was 72.7 pence per share compared to 71.6 
pence per share at 31 March 2015. 
 
   Investment performance, progress and prospects 
 
   During the period, just under GBP2 million was invested in qualifying 
investments including GBP1.3m in two of the three new care homes that we 
are currently building and GBP460,000 into Radnor House to help purchase 
Combe Bank School in Sevenoaks, Kent. Further sums were invested after 
the half year to fund the further construction of the care homes. 
GBP550,000 was received back from our investee companies in the form of 
loan stock repayments during the period. 
 
   Looking forwards, the main focus of our investment activity will be the 
further construction costs of our three care home projects in Oxford, 
Reading and Hillingdon (West London), all of which are proceeding 
according to plan. They are due to open between March and June of next 
year and we are currently optimistic for their prospects. 
 
   In terms of trading progress, the sentiment across the portfolio is 
generally positive. The Stansted Holiday Inn Express is currently 
trading at strong levels, while our renewable energy portfolio has been 
boosted by the two new hydroelectric schemes in Scotland which are 
trading above budget. Meanwhile, Radnor House, which recorded good GCSE 
results, saw a continued increase in the number of pupils to 390, while 
Combe Bank is trading in line with expectations. 
 
   Split of portfolio by valuation as at 30 September 2015 
 
   Set out at the bottom of this announcement is the sector diversification 
of the investment portfolio as at 30 September 2015. At that date 
healthcare and renewable energy investments accounted for approximately 
14 per cent. and 21 per cent. of the Company's portfolio including cash. 
 
   Changes in VCT legislation 
 
   The July budget introduced a number of changes to VCT legislation, 
including restrictions over the age of investments, a prohibition on 
management buyouts or the purchase of existing businesses and an overall 
lifetime investment cap of GBP12m from tax-advantaged funds into any 
portfolio company. While these changes are significant, the Company has 
been advised that had they been in place previously they would have 
affected only a relatively small minority of the investments that we 

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