Albion Crown VCT PLC
Interim Management Statement
LEI Code: 213800SYIQPA3L3T1Q68
Introduction
I present Albion Crown VCT PLC (the “Company”)’s interim management statement for the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024.
Performance and dividends
The Company’s unaudited net asset value (NAV) as at 30 September 2024 was £94.3 million or 31.47 pence per share (excluding treasury shares), a decrease of 0.73 pence per share (2.27%) since 30 June 2024.
After accounting for the first dividend of 0.81 pence per share which will be paid on 29 November 2024 to shareholders on the register on 8 November 2024, the NAV is 30.66 pence per share.
Albion VCTs Mergers
On 12 November 2024, the Company issued a circular, jointly with the other Albion managed VCTs, proposing, amongst other things, the merger of the Company with Albion Venture Capital Trust PLC and an offer for subscription (which is not conditional on the Merger being implemented).
The key benefits to the shareholders of the proposed mergers are the costs savings, simplified fee structure across the Albion VCTs, reduced administration and streamlined fundraising offers.
The circular includes a Notice of the General Meeting to be held at 2p.m. on 11 December 2024. The Company encourages all shareholders to vote on the resolutions to be proposed at the General Meeting in connection with the recommended proposals.
The circular can be viewed at www.albion.capital/mergers.
Fundraising
On 12 November 2024 the Company published a prospectus Top Up Offer of new Ordinary shares seeking to raise up to £20 million (before issue costs), with an overallotment facility of up to an additional £10 million. The Offers will open for applications on 6 January 2025. Further details can be found at www.albion.capital/offers.
Portfolio
The following investments have been made during the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024:
Further investments£’000ActivityInfact Systems (T/A Infact)228Technology for credit assessmentMondra Global225Food supply chain emissions modellingKennek Solutions167Vertical software for lendersOpenDialog AI148AI powered chatbots and virtual assistantsDiffBlue134AI for code testing/writing platformPeakData94Provides insights and analytics to pharmaceutical companies about therapeutic areasTotal further investments996 Top ten holdings as at 30 September 2024:
InvestmentCarrying value
£’000% of net asset valueActivityQuantexa19,69920.9%Network analytics platform to detect financial crimeProveca5,6015.9%Reformulation of medicines for childrenOviva AG3,6093.8%A technology enabled service business in medical nutritional therapy (MNT)Radnor House School (TopCo)2,9073.1%Independent school for children aged 2-18Gravitee Topco (T/A Gravitee.io)2,7833.0%API management platformRuna Network2,7402.9%Cloud platform and infrastructure that enables corporates to issue digital incentives and payoutsThe Evewell Group2,6102.8%Operator and developer of women’s health centres focusing on fertilityChonais River Hydro2,1672.3%Owner and operator of a 2 MW hydro-power scheme in the Scottish HighlandsHealios2,1352.3%Provider of an online platform delivering family centric psychological care primarily to children and adolescentsCantab Research (T/A Speechmatics)1,6371.7%Provider of low footprint automated speech recognition which can be deployed in the cloud, on premise or on device A full breakdown of the Company’s portfolio can be found on the Company’s webpage on the Manager’s website at www.albion.capital/vct-funds/CRWN.
Share buy-backs
During the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024, the Company purchased 1,660,110 shares for £484,000 (including stamp duty) at a price of 29.01 pence per share. All of the shares were cancelled.
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
Other than the circular and prospectus issued on 12 November 2024 as detailed above, 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/vct-funds/CRWN.
James Agnew, Chairman
26 November 2024
For further information please contact:
Vikash Hansrani
Operations Partner
Albion Capital Group LLP – Tel: 020 7601 1850
