RNS Number:7577N
Personal Assets Trust PLC
11 February 2008
Personal Assets Trust plc
Interim Management Statement
For the Three Month Period from 1 November 2007 to 31 January 2008
Investment Objective
Personal Assets is an investment trust run expressly for private investors. Its
capital structure is the simplest possible for an investment trust, consisting
only of ordinary shares. Its investment policy is to protect and increase (in
that order) the value of shareholders' funds over the long term and to earn as
high a total return as is compatible with a lower level of volatility than the
FTSE All-Share Index. Since Personal Assets invests for the long term, the Board
assesses performance not annually at the end of each accounting year but over
rolling three-year periods.
We aim to pay as high, secure and sustainable a dividend as is compatible with
maintaining our investment flexibility. We intend the present dividend rate to
grow in real terms and it is our policy never to cut the dividend rate, so
shareholders know that each half-yearly payment will at least equal the previous
one.
The Board's policy is to ensure that the shares of Personal Assets always trade
at close to NAV.
Performance Summary
As at As at
31 January 31 October
2008 2007 Movement
Market capitalisation £183.6m £187.4m (2.0%)
Shareholders' funds £185.1m £187.2m (1.1%)
Effective liquidity 70.0% 100.0% -
Share price £255.50 £259.00 (1.4%)
Net asset value per share £257.61 £258.70 (0.4%)
(Discount)/premium to NAV (0.8%) 0.1% -
FTSE All-Share index 3,000.10 3,454.12 (13.1%)
As at As at
31 January 30 April
2008 2007 Movement
Market capitalisation £183.6m £193.4m (5.1%)
Shareholders' funds £185.1m £192.4m (3.8%)
Effective liquidity 70.0% 50.7% -
Share price £255.50 £266.00 (3.9%)
Net asset value per share £257.61 £264.70 (2.7%)
(Discount)/premium to NAV (0.8%) 0.5% -
FTSE All-Share index 3,000.10 3,355.60 (10.6%)
Period Review and Material Events
A review of the six months ended 31 October 2007 and of material events that
took place during that period will be found in Personal Assets Trust plc's
Interim Report. This also contains a review of the principal risks and
uncertainties for the remaining six months of our financial year to 30 April
2008.
Since the publication of the Interim Report we have continued to be bearish of
the UK and US equity markets. At 31 October 2007 we were 100% liquid. As the UK
and US equity markets fell during January 2008, however, we decided to lock in
some of our resulting outperformance by reducing our liquidity in stages. On 15
January we purchased 365 FTSE 100 March 2008 contracts, reducing the liquidity
of the trust to 90%. On 16 January we purchased a further 318 contracts,
reducing our liquidity to 80%, and on 21 January an additional 256 contracts,
reducing our liquidity to 70%. Since 31 January 2008, the markets having
recovered to some extent from their January lows, we have sold 380 FTSE 100
contracts to increase our liquidity from 70% to 82%.
On 11 January 2008 we sold our holding of 650,000 City Natural Resources at a
price of 203.5p, approximately twice what we had originally paid for it. We had
held the shares as a way of gaining some exposure to mining and natural
resources through the medium of a listed investment trust. On 21 January we
decided that Royal Bank of Scotland looked unreasonably cheap and so we
purchased 1,485,000 shares at an average price of 362p. By 1 February the price
had, in our view, corrected itself for the time being and so we sold 1,505,000
Royal Bank of Scotland shares at a price of 393p.
During the three months ended 31 January 2008 the Company purchased 4,994
Ordinary Shares to be held in treasury for a total consideration of £1.3
million, representing 0.7% of the Ordinary Shares in issue at the beginning of
the period.
Top Ten Holdings as at 31 January 2008
Percentage of shareholders' funds Percentage of UK
equity exposure
Company
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' 7.4 24.4
BP 6.9 23.0
RBS Group 6.2 20.6
GlaxoSmithKline 4.2 13.8
HBOS 4.1 13.7
BT Group 3.6 12.1
Scottish & Newcastle 3.5 11.6
Alliance Trust 2.4 7.9
Barclays 2.0 6.7
Alltria Group 0.8 2.7
Other equities (12) 5.4 18.3
FTSE 100 Futures (16.5) (54.8)
Total 30.0
Geographical Analysis as at 31 January 2008
Percentage of
shareholders' funds
Country
UK equity exposure (including futures) 27.7
US equities 2.3
Liquidity 70.0
Total 100.0
Sector Distribution as at 31 January 2008
Sector Percentage of total assets Percentage of
FTSE All-Share
Oil & Gas 11.5 16.6
Basic Materials (1.7) 10.5
Industrials 1.1 7.0
Consumer Goods 2.9 10.0
Health Care 3.3 6.8
Consumer Services (1.8) 10.7
Telecom 2.4 7.3
Utilities (0.7) 4.5
Financials 9.3 23.0
Investment Trusts 3.9 2.7
Technology (0.2) 0.9
Liquidity 70.0 -
Total 100.0 100.0
Materiality Statement
Since the 31st January 2008, the Company has sold a further 380 FTSE 100
contracts to increase its liquidity from 70% to 82%.
Additional Information
Further information regarding the Company, including Quarterly Reports and
Investment Plan documents can be obtained from:
Steven Budge
Personal Assets Trust plc
10 St. Colme Street
Edinburgh EH3 6AA
Telephone: 0131 225 9995
Email: steven@personalassetstrust.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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