24th Oct 2013 11:10
LONDON (Alliance News) - Amati VCT PLC Thursday said it outperformed its index over the first-half, after returns were buoyed by "excellent gains" made across several of the fund's holdings.
Amati, which invests almost exclusively in AIM-traded companies, said its net asset value total return was 6.6%, with dividends re-invested, for the six months to August 31, a stronger performance than that of its chosen benchmark, the FTSE AIM All-Share Total Return Index, which delivered a total return of 2.0%.
"After a positive first-half we believe that many of the 59 companies in our portfolio have promising prospects and should be able to benefit from the increasing level of interest in the AIM market. The removal of 1% stamp duty on share transactions on AIM from next April combined with the IHT exemption for many AIM traded companies is likely to encourage further demand for shares in this market next year," Peter Lawrence, Chairman, said in a statement.
Despite the fund managers' description of "excellent gains" being made on a many of the fund's holdings, they also drew attention to weaker performance from some of the fund's larger positions, namely Deltex Medical, Hardide and IDOX.
"Whilst Deltex and Hardide have made operational progress, the shares have trodden water. We expect this situation to be addressed as operational progress turns into revenue growth and profits. In the meantime, we have the benefit of holding the majority of both positions as convertible loans, which provide a coupon of around 8%," Paul Jourdan, Douglas Lawson and David Stevenson, Amati Global Investors, the fund's fund manager, said in a statement.
Giving an example of one of the fund's success stories for the first-half, the fund managers pointed to a more than doubling in the share price of AIM-listed MyCelx Technologies, which followed the water filtration technology company's strong maiden results after its 2012 IPO.
Amati's net asset value per share on August 31 was 71.0 pence, up from the 67.7 pence reported at the end of the corresponding period last year.
Over twelve months the NAV Total Return has been 12.7%, which compares to a rise of 11.4% for the FTSE AIM All-Share Total Return Index.
Amati shares were Thursday quoted at 70.25 pence, untraded.
The fund maintained its 2.0 pence dividend.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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