Albion Development VCT PLC Interim Management Statement
Introduction
I am pleased to present Albion Development VCT PLC (the "Company")'s interim management statement for the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017.
Performance and dividends
The Company's unaudited net asset value (NAV) as at 31 March 2017 was £50.1 million or 74.0 pence per share (excluding treasury shares), an increase of 3.3 pence per share (4.7 per cent.) since 31 December 2016.
After accounting for the dividend of 2.0 pence per share to be paid on 31 May 2017 to shareholders on the register on 5 May 2017, the NAV is 72.0 pence per share.
Share issues
During the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017, the Company issued new Ordinary shares under the Albion VCTs Prospectus Top Up Offers 2016/2017:
| Date | Number of shares issued | Issue price per share (including costs of issue) | Net proceeds £'000 |
| 31 January 2017 | 5,374,871 | 70.4p to 71.1p | 3,707 |
Share buybacks
During the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017, the Company purchased 84,000 Ordinary shares for £56,000 at an average price of 66.7p pence per Ordinary share. All of the shares are to be held in treasury.
It is the Board's intention for such buy-backs to be at around a 5 per cent. discount to net asset value, so far as market conditions and liquidity permit.
Portfolio
The following investments have been made during the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017:
| New investments | £000s | Activity |
| Quantexa Limited | 315 | Predictive analytics platform to protect and detect complex financial crime |
| Beddlestead Farm Limited | 10 | Seed investment to develop and operate dedicated wedding venues in the UK |
| Total new investments | 325 |
| Further investments | £000s | Activity |
| Black Swan Data Limited | 155 | Data analysis that supports corporate decision making |
| Dysis Medical Limited | 147 | Medical devices for the detection of cervical cancer |
| Total further investments | 302 |
Disposals
The following disposals and loan stock repayments were made during the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017:
| Portfolio company | £000s | |
| Masters Pharmaceuticals Limited | 524 | Disposal of investment |
| AMS Sciences Limited | 169 | Disposal of investment |
| Radnor House School (Holdings) Limited | 88 | Loan stock repayment |
| Alto Prodotto Wind Limited | 12 | Loan stock and redemption premium repayment |
| Total proceeds | 793 |
Top ten holdings as at 31 March 2017:
| Investment | Value £000s | % of net asset value | Activity |
| Radnor House School (Holdings) Limited | 5,348 | 10.7% | Independent schools for children aged 5-18 |
| Egress Software Technologies Limited | 2,737 | 5.5% | Encrypted email & file transfer service provider |
| Proveca Limited | 2,323 | 4.6% | Repositioning of paediatric medicines |
| Chonais River Hydro Limited | 2,099 | 4.2% | Hydropower project in Scotland |
| The Street by Street Solar Programme Limited | 1,972 | 3.9% | Owns and operates photovoltaic systems on domestic properties in the UK |
| Regenerco Renewable Energy Limited | 1,683 | 3.4% | Generator of renewable energy from roof top solar installations |
| Grapeshot Limited | 1,553 | 3.1% | Provider of digital marketing software |
| Alto Prodotto Wind Limited | 1,286 | 2.6% | Owns and operates community scale wind energy projects on brownfield sites in the UK |
| Earnside Energy Limited | 1,284 | 2.6% | An anaerobic digestion plant |
| Mirada Medical Limited | 1,264 | 2.5% | Developer of medical imaging software |
A full breakdown of the Company's portfolio can be found on the Fund's webpage on the Manager's website at www.albion-ventures.co.uk/funds/AADV, by following the 'Portfolio of Investments' link under the 'Funds reports' section.
Material events and transactions after the period end
Share issues
After the period end, the Company issued the following new Ordinary shares under the Albion VCTs Prospectus Top Up Offers 2016/2017:
| Date | Number of shares issued | Issue price per share (including costs of issue) | Net proceeds £'000 |
| 7 April 2017 | 247,632 | 72.2p to 72.9p | 175 |
The Board announced on 30 January 2017 that the Company had reached its £4 million limit under its offer pursuant to the Prospectus dated 29 November 2016, and so was closed. The proceeds of the Offer are being used to provide further resources to the Company at a time when a number of attractive new investment opportunities are being seen.
Portfolio
After the period end, the Company had the following material investment transactions:
- Disposal of Blackbay Limited for £1,154k of which £52k is deferred and held in escrow;
- Investment of £1,000k in a new company, MPP Global Solutions Limited, which offers a cloud billing platform for enterprise subscription businesses in the media, sport and retail sectors;
- Investment of £138k in an existing investee company, Panaseer Limited, which provides a cyber security service;
- Investment of £130k in an existing investee company, Grapeshot Limited, which develops digital marketing software;
- Investment of £53k in an existing investee company, Mirada Medical Limited, which develops medical imaging software.
Further information
The Company continues to offer a Dividend Reinvestment Scheme to existing shareholders. Details of this Scheme can be found on the Fund's webpage on the Manager's website at www.albion-ventures.co.uk/funds/AADV.
Further information regarding historic and current financial performance and other useful shareholder information can be found on the Fund's webpage on the Manager's website under www.albion-ventures.co.uk/funds/AADV.
Geoffrey Vero, Chairman
25 May 2017
For further information please contact:
Patrick Reeve, Albion Ventures LLP - Tel: 020 7601 1850
LEI Code 213800FDDMBD9QLHLB38