Chairman’s Statement
It is pleasing to report that following a very difficult period for the Market during February and March 2020, your fund regained nearly all of the declines in its net asset value (NAV) incurred during those months, and considerably outperformed its benchmark for the six months to 30 June 2019.
The NAV of your fund decreased by 2.5% to 48.3p (when measured using bid-prices), compared to the FTSE AIM Allshare index which declined by 7.8% over the same period.
It is also pleasing to note that the NAV reported for 31 July 2020 (based on mid-prices) is now higher than that reported for the 31 December 2019. We believe the difficult decision to use existing cash resources to invest in new opportunities rather than fund a dividend has proved to be the correct one as we have seen a strong recovery in the NAV from the lows experienced in the Stock Market sell off in March 2020 and we hope, subject to the possible volatility mentioned below, to be able to recommence paying a dividend next year.
We made seven further investments in the period, investing in Concepta PLC, Eden Research PLC, ECSC Group PLC, Fusion Antibodies PLC, Gfinity PLC, Intelligent Ultrasound Group PLC and Synairgen PLC. We are pleased to report each of these investments are currently priced higher than when we made our investment and we exited one at a 100% profit.
We made seven sales where we either exited or top-sliced a holding.
We have a wide spread of established companies across a variety of sectors within the fund and whilst we hope your fund will continue to outperform over the rest of the year, we are mindful that we could see further volatility this Autumn / Winter. The second half of the year has political events such as the US Presidential elections and the uncertainty over what type of BREXIT we will have as well as the possibility of a second wave of the virus.
Geoff Gamble
Chairman
28 August 2020
New Century AIM VCT 2 plc
For the six months to 30 June 2020
Unaudited Balance Sheet
| Interim Accounts | Final Accounts | Interim Accounts | |||||||
| as at 30 June 2020 | as at 31 December 2019* | as at 30 June 2019 | |||||||
| £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | ||||
| Fixed Assets | |||||||||
| Investments | 2,127 | 2,253 | 2,465 | ||||||
| Current Assets | |||||||||
| Uninvested cash | 104 | 104 | 45 | 45 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Current Liabilities | |||||||||
| Creditors: amounts due | |||||||||
| within one year | (6) | (16) | (6) | ||||||
| 2,225 | 2,282 | 2,463 | |||||||
| Capital and Reserves | |||||||||
| Share capital | 461 | 461 | 461 | ||||||
| Share premium | 57 | 57 | 57 | ||||||
| Capital redemption reserve | 171 | 171 | 171 | ||||||
| Capital reserve-distributable | 3,440 | 3,440 | 3,440 | ||||||
| Capital reserve – realised | (712) | (866) | (1,072) | ||||||
| Capital reserve – unrealised | (1,193) | (1,002) | (786) | ||||||
| Revenue reserve | 1 | 21 | 192 | ||||||
| 2,225 | 2,282 | 2,463 | |||||||
| Net Asset Value per share | 48.3p | 49.5p | 53.5p | ||||||
| *Audited | |||||||||
New Century AIM VCT 2 plc
For the six months to 30 June 2020
Unaudited Statement of Comprehensive Income
(incorporating the revenue account)
| 6 month period ended 30 June 2020 | Year to 31 December 2019* | 6 month period ended 30 June 2019 | |||||||||
| Revenue | Capital | Total | Revenue | Capital | Total | Revenue | Capital | Total | |||
| £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | |||
| Gains/(losses) on investments | |||||||||||
| Realised | – | 116 | 116 | – | 209 | 209 | – | 46 | 46 | ||
| Unrealised | – | (145) | (145) | – | 42 | 42 | – | 206 | 206 | ||
| Income | 7 | – | 7 | 35 | – | 35 | 15 | – | 15 | ||
| Investment management fees | (2) | (8) | (10) | (6) | (18) | (24) | (3) | (9) | (12) | ||
| Other expenses | (25) | – | (25) | (52) | – | (52) | (21) | – | (21) | ||
| Return on ordinary activities | (20) | (37) | (57) | (23) | 233 | 210 | (9) | 243 | 234 | ||
| Tax on ordinary activities | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Return on ordinary activities | |||||||||||
| after taxation | (20) | (37) | (57) | (23) | 233 | 210 | (9) | 243 | 234 | ||
| Return per ordinary share in pence | (0.44) | (0.80) | (1.24) | (0.51) | 5.06 | 4.55 | (0.20) | 5.28 | 5.08 | ||
| *Audited | |||||||||||
| All revenue and capital items in the above statement are from continuing operations in the current six month period. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the current period. Other than that shown above, the company had no recognised gains or losses. Accordingly, the above represents the total comprehensive income for the period. | |||||||||||
| The weighted average number of shares in issue during the period was 4,606,953. | |||||||||||
New Century AIM VCT 2 plc
For the six months to 30 June 2020
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
| Called-up share capital £’000 | Share Premium account £’000 | Capital Redemption reserve £’000 | Capital Reserve- distributable £’000 | Capital realised £’000 | Capital unrealised £’000 | Revenue reserve £’000 | Total£’000 | |||||||
| As at 1 January 2020 | 461 | 57 | 171 | 3,440 | (866) | (1,002) | 21 | 2,282 | ||||||
| Realised gains on disposals in period | – | – | – | – | 116 | – | – | 116 | ||||||
| Unrealised gain | – | – | – | – | – | (145) | – | (145) | ||||||
| Transfer of unrealised gain to realised on disposal of investment | – | – | – | – | 46 | (46) | – | – | ||||||
| Net revenue before tax | – | – | – | – | – | – | (20) | (20) | ||||||
| Investment management fee | – | – | – | – | (8) | – | – | (8) | ||||||
| ________ | ________ | _________ | _________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | |||||||
| At 30 June 2020 | 461 | 57 | 171 | 3,440 | (712) | (1,193) | 1 | 2,225 | ||||||
| As at 1 January 2019 | 461 | 57 | 171 | 3,440 | (1,185) | (916) | 201 | 2,229 | ||||||
| Realised gains on disposals | – | – | – | – | 46 | – | – | 46 | ||||||
| Unrealised gains | – | – | – | – | – | 206 | – | 206 | ||||||
| Transfer of unrealised loss to realised on disposal of investment | – | – | – | – | 76 | (76) | – | – | ||||||
| Net revenue before tax | – | – | – | – | – | – | (9) | (9) | ||||||
| Investment management fee | – | – | – | – | (9) | – | – | (9) | ||||||
| ________ | ________ | _________ | _________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | |||||||
| At 30 June 2019 | 461 | 57 | 171 | 3,440 | (1,072) | (786) | 192 | 2,463 | ||||||
New Century AIM VCT 2 plc
For the six months to 30 June 2020
Unaudited Cash Flow Statement
| Six month period ended 30 June 2020 | Year to 31 December 2019* | Six month period ended 30 June 2019 | |||||||||
| £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | £’000 | ||||||
| Net cash generated from operating activities | (45) | (76) | (43) | ||||||||
| Cash flow from investing activities | |||||||||||
| Interest received | – | – | – | ||||||||
| Investment income | 7 | 35 | 15 | ||||||||
| 7 | 35 | 15 | |||||||||
| Cash flows from financing activities | |||||||||||
| Sale of investments | 252 | 700 | 227 | ||||||||
| Purchase of investments | (155) | (488) | (226) | ||||||||
| Dividend paid | – | (157) | – | ||||||||
| 97 | 55 | 1 | |||||||||
| Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | 59 | 14 | (27) | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | 45 | 31 | 31 | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | 104 | 45 | 4 | ||||||||
| *Audited | |||||||||||
New Century AIM VCT 2 plc
For the six months to 30 June 2019
Investment Portfolio
| Security | Cost | Valuation | % | % | |
| 30 June 2020 | Cost | Valuation | |||
| Qualifying Investments | 2,891,826 | 2,028,516 | 88.54 | 90.93 | |
| Non-qualifying Investments | 270,018 | 98,070 | 8.27 | 4.40 | |
| Uninvested funds | 104,105 | 104,105 | 3.19 | 4.67 | |
| 3,265,949 | 2,230,691 | 100.00 | 100.00 | ||
| Qualifying Investments | |||||
| AIM Quoted | |||||
| Access Intelligence plc | 10,053 | 14,250 | 0.31 | 0.64 | |
| Anglo African Oil & Gas plc | 65,329 | 975 | 2.00 | 0.04 | |
| Audioboom Group plc | 148,252 | 108,000 | 4.54 | 4.84 | |
| Bigblu Broadband plc | 29,247 | 41,387 | 0.90 | 1.86 | |
| Bilby plc | 52,465 | 17,460 | 1.61 | 0.78 | |
| Blackbird plc | 41,460 | 170,363 | 1.27 | 7.64 | |
| Brighton Pier Group plc | 35,379 | 8,360 | 1.08 | 0.37 | |
| C4X Discovery Holdings plc | 35,179 | 33,600 | 1.08 | 1.51 | |
| Cloudbuy plc | 41,896 | 153 | 1.28 | 0.01 | |
| Cloudcall Group plc | 20,230 | 27,650 | 0.62 | 1.24 | |
| Concepta plc | 100,511 | 61,875 | 3.08 | 2.77 | |
| Coral Products plc | 25,104 | 9,435 | 0.77 | 0.42 | |
| Creo Medical Group plc | 20,504 | 56,368 | 0.63 | 2.53 | |
| CyanConnode Holdngs plc | 204,219 | 3,440 | 6.25 | 0.15 | |
| Diaceutics plc | 10,314 | 20,318 | 0.32 | 0.91 | |
| DP Poland plc | 25,631 | 12,155 | 0.78 | 0.54 | |
| ECSC Group plc | 20,104 | 23,455 | 0.62 | 1.05 | |
| Eden Research plc | 41,837 | 54,113 | 1.28 | 2.43 | |
| Entertainment AI plc | 50,257 | 27,778 | 1.54 | 1.25 | |
| Escape Hunt plc | 31,006 | 1,942 | 0.95 | 0.09 | |
| Falanx Group Ltd | 45,031 | 11,745 | 1.38 | 0.53 | |
| Feedback plc | 20,104 | 16,667 | 0.62 | 0.75 | |
| Fusion Antibodies plc | 12,064 | 13,466 | 0.37 | 0.60 | |
| Gfinity plc | 60,311 | 56,189 | 1.85 | 2.52 | |
| HML Holdings plc | 58,340 | 53,750 | 1.79 | 2.41 | |
| Hunters Property plc | 50,253 | 52,000 | 1.54 | 2.33 | |
| Immotion Group plc | 95,486 | 26,481 | 2.92 | 1.19 | |
| I-Nexus Global plc | 30,153 | 1,519 | 0.92 | 0.07 | |
| Inspired Energy plc | 33,641 | 182,700 | 1.03 | 8.19 | |
| Integumen plc | 75,383 | 92,976 | 2.31 | 4.17 | |
| Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc | 95,482 | 86,639 | 2.92 | 3.88 | |
| Keywords Studios plc | 2,473 | 36,220 | 0.08 | 1.62 | |
| Lightwaverf plc | 30,158 | 2,118 | 0.92 | 0.09 | |
| Location Sciences Group plc | 72,643 | 11,636 | 2.22 | 0.52 |
| Security | Cost | Valuation | % | % | |
| 30 June 2020 | Cost | Valuation | |||
| Loopup Group plc | 15,078 | 20,325 | 0.46 | 0.91 | |
| M.Winkworth plc | 56,280 | 84,000 | 1.72 | 3.77 | |
| Marechale Capital plc | 75,752 | 6,375 | 2.32 | 0.29 | |
| Microsaic Systems plc | 142,261 | 20,534 | 4.36 | 0.92 | |
| Modern Water plc | 75,385 | 5,629 | 2.31 | 0.25 | |
| N4 Pharma plc | 40,204 | 18,760 | 1.23 | 0.84 | |
| Open Orphan plc | 155,184 | 71,079 | 4.75 | 3.19 | |
| Pelatro plc | 25,128 | 26,920 | 0.77 | 1.21 | |
| PHSC plc | 50,256 | 15,900 | 1.54 | 0.71 | |
| Polarean Imaging plc | 20,104 | 36,533 | 0.62 | 1.64 | |
| Property Franchise Group plc | 35,177 | 60,900 | 1.08 | 2.73 | |
| Quixant plc | 8,091 | 19,775 | 0.25 | 0.89 | |
| Rosslyn Data Technologies plc | 23,219 | 3,710 | 0.71 | 0.17 | |
| Scancell Holdings plc | 45,233 | 17,323 | 1.38 | 0.78 | |
| Scholium Group plc | 40,203 | 11,520 | 1.23 | 0.52 | |
| Solid State plc | 35,248 | 80,860 | 1.08 | 3.62 | |
| SRT Marine Systems plc | 18,093 | 32,150 | 0.55 | 1.44 | |
| Sysgroup plc | 45,232 | 26,475 | 1.38 | 1.19 | |
| TP Group plc | 160,062 | 51,085 | 4.90 | 2.29 | |
| Tristel plc | 1,651 | 16,800 | 0.05 | 0.75 | |
| ULS Technology plc | 18,091 | 22,410 | 0.55 | 1.00 | |
| Yourgene Health plc | 40,204 | 32,900 | 1.23 | 1.47 | |
| Yu Group plc | 20,504 | 9,372 | 0.63 | 0.42 | |
| 2,837,137 | 2,028,516 | 86.87 | 90.93 | ||
| Qualifying Investments | |||||
| Unlisted Investments | |||||
| Outsourcery plc | 28,143 | 0 | 0.86 | 0.00 | |
| Syqic plc | 26,546 | 0 | 0.81 | 0.00 | |
| 54,689 | 0 | 1.67 | 0.00 | ||
| Total qualifying investments | 2,891,826 | 2,028,516 | 88.54 | 90.93 | |
| Non Qualifying Investments | |||||
| AIM Quoted | |||||
| Audioboom Group plc | 1,163 | 180 | 0.04 | 0.01 | |
| Be Heard Group plc | 10,040 | 1,060 | 0.31 | 0.05 | |
| Rotala plc | 27,683 | 19,670 | 0.85 | 0.88 | |
| Tristel plc | 60 | 420 | 0.00 | 0.02 | |
| 38,946 | 21,330 | 1.19 | 0.96 | ||
| Security | Cost | Valuation | % | % | |
| 30 June 2020 | Cost | Valuation | |||
| Non qualifying investmentsUK listedInvestec plc | 169,415 | 68,160 | 5.19 | 3.06 | |
| Twentyfour Income Fund Ltd | 9,852 | 8,580 | 0.30 | 0.38 | |
| 179,267 | 76,740 | 5.49 | 3.44 | ||
| Non qualifying investmentsUnlisted Investments | |||||
| China Food Co plc | 31547 | 0 | 0.97 | 0.00 | |
| Sorbic International plc | 10,205 | 0 | 0.31 | 0.00 | |
| Mar City plc | 10,053 | 0 | 0.31 | 0.00 | |
| 51,805 | 0 | 1.59 | 0.00 | ||
| Total non-qualifying investments | 270,018 | 98,070 | 8.27 | 4.40 |
New Century AIM VCT 2 plc
Notes to the Accounts
For the six months to 30 June 2020
This interim financial information and the unaudited interim accounts for the six months to 30 June 2020 from which it has been extracted, are the responsibility of the directors and were approved by them on 28 August 2020, do not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006 and have not been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
The Company is an investment company as defined in Section 833 of the Companies Act 2006. The unaudited interim accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) Financial Reporting Standard 104 Interim Financial Reporting (March 2018) and with the Statement of Recommended Practice for Investment Companies re-issued by the Association of Investment Companies in November 2014 and updated in February 2018.
The unaudited interim accounts have been prepared using accounting policies that the Company applied in the accounts for the year ending 31 December 2019, incorporating FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The Company considers these accounting policies will be used in the accounts for the year ending 31 December 2020.
Listed, AIM or NEX Markets-traded investments are stated at market value, which is based upon market bid prices in an active market at the balance sheet date. These would all meet tier 1 of the fair value hierarchy.
4,606,953 Ordinary Shares of 10 pence each were in issue throughout the period under review.
Net Asset Value per share at 30 June 2020 was 48.3p (at 31 December 2019: 49.5p; 30 June 2019: 53.5p).
No dividend was paid in the period.
There have not been any significant events since the balance sheet date.
New Century AIM VCT 2 plc is managed by M D Barnard & Co. Limited (‘MDB’). Under the terms of the management agreement MDB are entitled to a fee (exclusive of VAT) equal to 1% per annum of the net assets of the Company. During the period the management fee was £10k (the year ended 31 December 2019: £24k, the period ended 30 June 2018 £12k).
Bearing in mind that the assets of the Company consist mainly of marketable securities, the directors are of the opinion that at the time of approving this interim financial information, the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing this interim financial information.
Copies of the Interim Report to Shareholders have been sent to shareholders and are available at the Company’s Registered Office: Tricor Secretaries Ltd, 4th Floor, 50 Mark Lane, London EC3R 7QR.
New Century AIM VCT 2 plc
Directors, Investment Managers and Advisors
| Directors | Geoffrey Charles Gamble (Chairman) |
| Michael David Barnard | |
| Peter William Riley | |
| Ian Cameron-MowatSimon Like | |
| Secretary | Tricor Secretaries Ltd |
| and registered office | 4th Floor, 50 Mark Lane |
| London EC3R 7QR | |
| Registrar | Neville Registrars LimitedNeville HouseSteelpark RoadHalesowenWest Midlands B62 8HD |
| Solicitors | Dundas & Wilson5th Floor, Northwest WingBush HouseAldwychLondon WC2B 4EZ |
| Investment Manager and Broker | MD Barnard & Company Limited |
| 1st Floor12 Hornsby SquareSouthfields Business Park | |
| BasildonEssex SS15 5AD | |
| Auditor | UHY Hacker Young LLP |
| Quadrant House | |
| 4 Thomas More Square | |
| London E1W 1YW | |