20th May 2014 15:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Octopus Eclipse VCT PLC Tuesday reported an increase in its total return over the first-half, after a number of profitable disposals.
In a statement, the VCT said its total return increased to 113.8 pence, from 106.1 pence over the six months ended March 31.
Chairman Alex Hambro said the increase was due to successful disposals, pointing to Hydrobolt in particular. The full disposal of Hydrobolt resulted in a GBP5.6 million profit, representing an uplift in net asset value of 5.7 pence a share. This was a return of four times the original investment cost in Hydrobolt. Hambro said the disposal will allow Hydrobolt to diversify its portfolio by making new investments.
"The last six months have seen a range of economic indicators improve, suggesting that there is a generally brighter outlook for businesses. There is still an element of uncertainty about the strength of the recovery and its timing as there are still signs of excess capacity and worries about structural imbalances. However, we believe that there are attractive investment opportunities to be found in higher growth companies with the operational agility to ride the wave of growing optimism," Hambro said.
Since the period end, a new investment of GBP150,000 was made into Certivox Ltd, as well as a GBP134,000 follow-on investment into Reading Room Ltd. Meanwhile, Plastics Capital was part disposed realising a profit of GBP205,000 on a cost of GBP45,000.
The company invests primarily in unquoted and AIM-quoted companies and aims to deliver absolute returns on its investments. Its objective is to invest in a diversified portfolio of UK smaller companies in order to generate income and capital growth over the long-term. Eclipse was established in April 2004 and has raised over GBP33.5 million since launch. Eclipse merged with Octopus Eclipse 2, 3 and 4 PLC on October 31 2012. The investment manager is Octopus Investments Ltd.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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