Albion Technology & General VCT PLC : Interim Management Statement


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:

DateNumber of shares issuedIssue price per share (including costs of issue)Net proceeds
£’000
25 February 202213,924,59881.90p - 82.80p11,241
31 March 202214,154,98982.80p11,428
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£’000Activity
PerchPeek Limited546Digital relocation platform
Regulatory Genome Development Limited107Provider of machine readable structured regulatory content
Total new investments653 


Further investments£’000Activity
Black Swan Data Limited953Predictive analytics for consumer brands
TransFICC Limited878A provider of a connectivity solution, connecting financial institutions with trading venues via a single API
Cantab Research Limited (T/A Speechmatics)849Provider of low footprint automated speech recognition which can be deployed in the cloud, on premise or on device across over 31 languages
Seldon Technologies Limited411Software company that enables enterprises to deploy Machine Learning models in production
Locum's Nest Limited138Provides a technology solution for the management of locum doctors for the NHS
NuvoAir Holdings Inc121Digital therapeutics and decentralised clinical trials for respiratory conditions
Koru Kids Limited85Online marketplace connecting parents and nannies
Total further investments3,435 

The following disposals were made during the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022:

Portfolio CompanyProceeds
£’000
 
Credit Kudos Limited5,065Disposal of investment on a cost of £1.0 million realising a gain of £4.1 million on cost
Phrasee Limited2,195Disposal of investment on a cost of £0.7 million realising a gain of £1.5 million on cost
MyMeds&Me Limited1,476Disposal of investment on a cost of £0.4 million realising a gain of £1.0 million on cost
Total proceeds8,736 

Top ten holdings as at 31 March 2022:

InvestmentCarrying value
£’000
% of net asset valueActivity
Quantexa Limited16,93312.8Network analytics platform to detect financial crime
Oviva AG5,5484.2A technology enabled service business in medical nutritional therapy (MNT)
Radnor House School (TopCo) Limited5,3544.1Independent school for children aged 2-18
Proveca Limited4,7273.6Reformulation of medicines for children
Chonais River Hydro Limited4,1473.1Owner and operator of a 2 MW hydro-power scheme in the Scottish Highlands
Black Swan Data Limited3,8452.9Predictive analytics for consumer brands
Cantab Research Limited (T/A Speechmatics)3,6682.8Provider 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 Limited3,0872.3Operator and developer of women’s health centres focusing on fertility
Egress Software Technologies Limited3,0242.3Encrypted email & file transfer service provider
Oxsensis Limited2,9822.3A 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:

DateNumber of shares issuedIssue price per share (including costs of issue)Net proceeds
£’000
11 April 2022922,38681.90p - 82.80p745

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