Albion Technology & General VCT PLC
Interim Management Statement
LEI code: 213800TKJUY376H3KN16
Introduction
I present Albion Technology & General VCT PLC’s (the “Company”)’s interim management statement for the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022.
Performance and dividends
The Company’s unaudited net asset value (NAV) as at 31 March 2022 was £131.89 million or 82.05 pence per share (excluding treasury shares), an increase of 1.40 pence per share or 1.74 per cent. since 31 December 2021.
Fundraising and share issuances
During the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022, the Company issued the following new Ordinary shares of nominal value 1 penny per share under the Albion VCTs Prospectus Top Up Offers 2021/22:
Date | Number of shares issued | Issue price per share (including costs of issue) | Net proceeds £’000 |
25 February 2022 | 13,924,598 | 81.90p - 82.80p | 11,241 |
31 March 2022 | 14,154,989 | 82.80p | 11,428 |
Total | 28,079,587 | 22,669 |
On 29 March 2022, the Company announced that applications under the Prospectus offer had reached its £24 million gross limit and was therefore fully subscribed and closed to further applications.
Portfolio
The following investments have been made during the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022:
New investments | £’000 | Activity |
PerchPeek Limited | 546 | Digital relocation platform |
Regulatory Genome Development Limited | 107 | Provider of machine readable structured regulatory content |
Total new investments | 653 |
Further investments | £’000 | Activity |
Black Swan Data Limited | 953 | Predictive analytics for consumer brands |
TransFICC Limited | 878 | A provider of a connectivity solution, connecting financial institutions with trading venues via a single API |
Cantab Research Limited (T/A Speechmatics) | 849 | Provider of low footprint automated speech recognition which can be deployed in the cloud, on premise or on device across over 31 languages |
Seldon Technologies Limited | 411 | Software company that enables enterprises to deploy Machine Learning models in production |
Locum's Nest Limited | 138 | Provides a technology solution for the management of locum doctors for the NHS |
NuvoAir Holdings Inc | 121 | Digital therapeutics and decentralised clinical trials for respiratory conditions |
Koru Kids Limited | 85 | Online marketplace connecting parents and nannies |
Total further investments | 3,435 |
The following disposals were made during the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022:
Portfolio Company | Proceeds £’000 | |
Credit Kudos Limited | 5,065 | Disposal of investment on a cost of £1.0 million realising a gain of £4.1 million on cost |
Phrasee Limited | 2,195 | Disposal of investment on a cost of £0.7 million realising a gain of £1.5 million on cost |
MyMeds&Me Limited | 1,476 | Disposal of investment on a cost of £0.4 million realising a gain of £1.0 million on cost |
Total proceeds | 8,736 |
Top ten holdings as at 31 March 2022:
Investment | Carrying value £’000 | % of net asset value | Activity |
Quantexa Limited | 16,933 | 12.8 | Network analytics platform to detect financial crime |
Oviva AG | 5,548 | 4.2 | A technology enabled service business in medical nutritional therapy (MNT) |
Radnor House School (TopCo) Limited | 5,354 | 4.1 | Independent school for children aged 2-18 |
Proveca Limited | 4,727 | 3.6 | Reformulation of medicines for children |
Chonais River Hydro Limited | 4,147 | 3.1 | Owner and operator of a 2 MW hydro-power scheme in the Scottish Highlands |
Black Swan Data Limited | 3,845 | 2.9 | Predictive analytics for consumer brands |
Cantab Research Limited (T/A Speechmatics) | 3,668 | 2.8 | Provider of low footprint automated speech recognition which can be deployed in the cloud, on premise or on device across over 31 languages |
The Evewell Group Limited | 3,087 | 2.3 | Operator and developer of women’s health centres focusing on fertility |
Egress Software Technologies Limited | 3,024 | 2.3 | Encrypted email & file transfer service provider |
Oxsensis Limited | 2,982 | 2.3 | A developer and producer of industrial sensors for use in ultra-high temperature environments |
Share buy-backs
During the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022, the Company did not buy back any shares.
It remains the Board’s policy to buy back shares in the market, subject to the overall constraint that such purchases are in the Company’s interest, including the maintenance of sufficient resources for investment in existing and new portfolio companies and the continued payment of dividends to shareholders.
It is the Board’s intention for such buy-backs to be at around a 5% discount to net asset value, so far as market conditions and liquidity permit.
Material events and transactions after the period end
After the period end, the Company had the following material investment transaction:
- Investment of £566,000 in an existing portfolio company, Cantab Research Limited (T/A Speechmatics), (business activity as described above); and
- Investment of £492,000 in a new portfolio company which uses machine learning to create a new standard for how organisations manage customer debt - ethically and technologically.
The following new Ordinary shares of nominal value 1 penny each were allotted under the Albion VCTs Prospectus Top Up Offers 2021/22 to shareholders who elected for the 2022/23 tax year:
Date | Number of shares issued | Issue price per share (including costs of issue) | Net proceeds £’000 |
11 April 2022 | 922,386 | 81.90p - 82.80p | 745 |
There have been no other material events or transactions after the period end to the date of this announcement.
Further information
Further information regarding historic and current financial performance and other useful shareholder information can be found on the Company’s webpage on the Manager’s website at www.albion.capital/funds/AATG.
Robin Archibald, Chairman
26 May 2022
For further information please contact:
Vikash Hansrani
Operations Partner
Albion Capital Group LLP
Telephone: 020 7601 1850