15th Oct 2026 14:01
(Alliance News) - Proven VCT PLC and Proven Growth & Income VCT PLC on Thursday both reported a decline in net asset value during the first half, though they said their portfolio value had grown, when taking dividend payments into account.
The two venture capital trusts are owned by London-based Beringea LLP, and are considering a merger, they said last month.
As of August 31, Proven VCT's NAV per share had declined by 4% to 60.0 pence from 62.6p a year earlier, and by 0.8% from 60.5p at the end of February.
It kept its interim dividend flat at 1.5p per share.
The company cited previous dividend payments for the decline in NAV over the first half, and said that, when adjusting for dividend payments, NAV had grown by 1.1p or 1.8% of the opening NAV, which Proven VCT attributed to a rise in unrealised valuations.
Healthcare communications firm Cogora was the strongest-performing investee for the first half, "with both revenue and [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] ahead of budget", Proven VCT noted.
The steepest drops in value were seen at investees Iceberg Data Lab and Plum Guide.
Meanwhile, Proven Growth & Income's NAV per share stood at 46.7p at the end of August, down 5.1% from 49.2p on-year and down 1.7% from 47.5p at February 28.
It declared an interim dividend of 1.2p, which is down 4% from the 1.25p per share payout it had declared a year earlier.
Proven shares dropped 2.6% to 55.50 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London, while Proven Growth & Income shares rose 3.0% to 45.40 pence each.
The rationale of a potential merger, which requires shareholder approval from both VCTs, would be "simplicity, cost savings, administrative efficiency and scale", they said.
If it does go through, assets and liabilities of ProVen Growth & Income would be transferred to Proven and its shareholders would receive new shares in Proven, which said it would then pursue a fresh fundraise.
By Holly Munks, Alliance News reporter
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