REG - Athelney Trust plc - Net Asset Value(s)

Athelney TrustAnnouncement

04/07/2023 09:00

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RNS Number : 8992E  Athelney Trust PLC  04 July 2023

Athelney Trust PLC

 

Legal Entity Identifier:

213800ON67TJC7F4DL05

The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 208.8p at 30 June 2023.

Fund Manager's comment for June 2023

China has been the mainstay for world economic growth for many years but is
likely to be less so.  The June decline in the Chinese manufacturing PMI to
53.2, pointed to a further loss in momentum which is in stark contrast to
recent U.S. recent economic data which was strong: durable goods orders rose
by 1.7% in May compared to consensus expectations for a decline of 0.9% and
real GDP growth in Q1 was revised higher from 1.4% to 2.0%. Inflation-adjusted
personal consumption grew at a 4.2% annualised rate in the first quarter, the
fastest pace since Q2-2021 when consumers were still emerging from their
COVID-induced hibernation. The all important, US Consumer Confidence Index
increased to 109.7 in June, up from 102.3.

 

On the inflation front, while recent Eurozone CPI data pointed to an ongoing
improvement in inflation with the index declining to 5.5% year-on-year, UK
inflation remained elevated at 8.7%.  This prompted the Bank of England to
increase rates by a further 50bps resulting in a cumulative increase of 490bps
since December 2021.

 

The rise of artificial learning capabilities and its applications has excited
the markets in recent weeks and at the last quarterly earnings calls of
America's big tech companies, AI was certainly the centre of attention.  At
the Alphabet (Googles parent company) meeting AI was mentioned 64 times,
Microsoft made 50 mentions and Meta (Facebook's parent company) made 47
references to the emerging technology. Novel uses of AI systems are growing,
with many people impressed by first draft capabilities in search, coding, copy
writing, support centres, artistic creation and other uses.  An exciting
prospect is that the use of AI could be the efficiency booster needed to help
productivity the same way that personal computers did in the 1980's.  This
technology is on a hockey stick trajectory of adoption and improvement, so
what it looks like in 12 months' time is likely to be very different from
today.

 

The net result of all of the AI media hype was that the MSCI increased by 5.9%
driven in large part by the technology stocks in the US.  The NASDAQ had
another excellent month, up by 6.6% with the S&P500 up by a similar 6.5%.
In the UK, which does not have the same exposure to this emerging technology,
other than the FTSE 100 which was up by 1.2%, most of the indices were down.
The broader FTSE 250 Index was down by 1.6% while smaller company valuations
fared poorly.  The Small Cap Index was down by only 0.4%, the AIM All-Share
Index was down by 3.7%, while the Fledgling Index fared the worst and was down
by 8.7%. The Athelney portfolio also declined with the NAV down by 2.6%.

During the month we continued to reduce our exposure to the property sector,
selling down some of our holding in LondonMetric and top slicing our holding
in Games Workshop.  Cash was used to increase our exposure to Impax Asset
Management and Cake Box with our cash holding at month end comprised 3.8% of
the portfolio.

 

 

Fact Sheet

An accompanying fact sheet which includes the information above as well as
wider details on the portfolio can be found on the Fund's website
www.athelneytrust.co.uk (http://www.athelneytrust.co.uk) under "About" then
select "Latest Monthly Fact Sheet".

Background Information

Dr. Emmanuel (Manny) Pohl AM

Manny is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of E C Pohl & Co ("ECP"),
an investment management company and has been a major shareholder in Athelney
trust for many years.

E C Pohl & co is licensed by the Australian Financial services (license
no.421704).

www.ecpohl.com (http://www.ecpohl.com)

www.ecpam.com (http://ecpam.com/)

Manny Pohl and the ECP group has AUD2.7bn (£1.5 billion) under its management
including four listed investment companies, three listed in Australia and one
in the UK:

·    Flagship Investments (ASX code:FSI)

AUD95m https://flagshipinvestments.com.au (https://flagshipinvestments.com.au)

·    Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST)

AUD37m www.barrackst.com (https://www.barrackst.com/)

·    Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL)

AUD33m www.globalmastersfund.com.au (http://www.globalmastersfund.com.au)

·    Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY)

GBP6m www.athelneytrust.co.uk (http://www.athelneytrust.co.uk)
 

Athelney Trust plc Investment Policy

 The investment objective of the Trust is to provide shareholders with
prospects of long-term capital growth with the risks inherent in small cap
investment minimised through a spread of holdings in quality small cap
companies that operate in various industries and sectors. The Fund Manager
also considers that it is important to maintain a progressive dividend record.

The assets of the Trust are allocated predominantly to companies with either a
full listing on the London Stock Exchange or a trading facility on AIM or
ISDX. The assets of the Trust have been allocated in two main ways: first, to
the shares of those companies which have grown steadily over the years in
terms of profits and dividends but, despite this progress, the market rating
is favourable when compared to future earnings and dividends; second, to those
companies whose shares are standing at a favourable level compared with the
value of land, buildings or cash in the balance sheet.

Athelney Trust was founded in 1994. In 1996 it was one of the ten pioneer
members of the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). In 2008 the shares
became fully listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Athelney
Trust has a successful progressive dividend growth record and the dividend has
grown every year since 2004. According to the Association of Investment
Companies (AIC) Athelney Trust is one of only "22 investment companies that
have increased their dividend every year between 10 and 20 years - the next
generation of dividend heroes" (as at 20/03/2018). See link

https://www.theaic.co.uk/income-finder/dividend-heroes
(https://www.theaic.co.uk/income-finder/dividend-heroes)

Website

www.athelneytrust.co.uk (http://www.athelneytrust.co.uk)
 

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