STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Aberforth Geared Capital & Income Trust plc (LSE:AFH):
The Net Asset Values ("NAVs") at the close of business on January 31, 2003 for the above company were:
Income Shares 57.11p (Excluding Current Year Revenue) Capital Shares 92.93p "Notional Package" 67.85p (Excluding Current Year Revenue) The "Notional Package" comprises 0.7 of an Income Share and 0.3 of a Capital Share.
As at January 31, 2003, AGCiT held 84 investments, the largest of which represented 2.5% of investable assets. The market value of investments was 57.2m pounds less bank debt and net current assets/liabilities of 33.4m pounds to leave Shareholders' Funds of 23.8m pounds. Details of the top 50 holdings, the portfolio's sectoral composition and other general information can be found within Aberforth Partners' Website at http://www.aberforth.co.uk.
AGCiT invests only in small U.K. quoted companies and does not invest in any unquoted securities, AiM listed securities or securities issued by investment trusts or investment companies. AGCiT employs a significant amount of bank debt to provide gearing in its capital structure.
The number of Income Shares of 1p currently in issue is 24,500,000. The number of Capital Shares of 1p currently in issue is 10,500,000. All net income will be attributed to Income Shares which have a capital entitlement of 57.11p each rising to 100p by the Planned Winding Up Date of December 31, 2011, which date will subsist unless an earlier reconstruction is approved. Capital Shares receive no dividends but all capital after repayment of bank debt and capital entitlement of Income Shares. Bank facility is 34.3m pounds (30.0m pounds of which is at a fixed interest rate of 6.57%). The fair value of the Company's interest rate swap agreement, based on the bid price as at January 31, 2003, was a negative 1,940,000 pounds and the book value was Nil pounds.
Dividends are paid as interims, semi-annually, to Income Shareholders with the first announced each July and paid in August and the second announced each January and paid in February.
At launch, on December 18, 2001, the Company had available to it 34.3m pounds of net proceeds from Shareholders plus 34.3m pounds of bank debt facilities, and the initial NAVs were: Income Share -- 50.00p, Capital Share -- 210.32p, and the "Notional Package" -- 98.10p.
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