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

Athelney TrustAnnouncement

05/03/2024 14:15

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RNS Number : 6796F  Athelney Trust PLC  05 March 2024

Athelney Trust PLC

 

Legal Entity Identifier:

213800ON67TJC7F4DL05

The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 192.7p at 29 February
2024.

Fund Manager's comment for February 2024

Recent UK data indicated that the February composite PMI rose further to 53.3,
reflecting a modest expansion in an environment where costs have continued to
increase due in part to higher labour costs as well as rising freight costs
linked to the Red Sea crisis. In Europe, the ECB has made significant progress
in reducing the February inflation rate to 2.6% after it peaked in October
2022 at 10.7% with lower natural gas prices contributing to the decline.
However, with unemployment at record lows, policymakers are wary of moving too
aggressively in lowering interest rates, and have indicated an increasingly
clear preference to see how wages trend before making a decision to adjust
interest rates. This was made clear by the US Federal Reserve member,
Christopher Waller, when he said on Thursday that policymakers should delay
interest rate cuts for at least another couple of months to see if the recent
uptick in inflation signals a stalling of progress towards price stability, or
whether it is just a bump in the road.

These cautious comments appeared to be ignored by the stock markets as the
NASDAQ continued to power along, up by 6.12% for the month.  The S&P500
also benefited from the positive sentiment in the equity markets, reporting an
5.17% improvement over the month as did the MSCI which was up by 4.11%.  The
UK markets remained in the doldrums, with the FTSE down by 0.01%, the FTSE 250
down by 1.57%, the Small Cap Index down by 0.62% and the AIM All-Share index
down by 2.42%.  The Athelney portfolio declined by 5.6%, during the month and
after allowing for expenses, including additional audit and related fees, the
NAV reflected a decline of 5.86%.

The under-performance in February for the most part was due to a material
decline in the value of our holding in Close Brothers (CBG) following an
announcement by the FCA of a review of historical motor finance commission
arrangements. The financial impact of this on the group is difficult to
determine and when the CBG board decided to not pay any dividends on its
ordinary shares for the current financial year and indicated that the
reinstatement of dividends will only be reviewed once the FCA has concluded
its review, we sold our entire holding.  We also sold our holding in Target
Healthcare and top sliced our holding in 4Imprint and the NWF Group, adding to
our position in XP power, London Metric Property and introducing WISE to the
portfolio.

Wise is a high-growth, high-margin, founder-led tech business focused on
reducing the cost of cross-border money movement in an extremely inefficient
legacy banking network. The intermediary-heavy nature of this network creates
pressure to keep fees high, as does banks' short-term profit motive to
continue earning the highly profitable income stream from the cross-border
transactions.

Our cash holding at month end increased to 6.2% 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 a "Dividend Hero" being one of only a few
investment companies that have increased their dividend every year for 20
years or more. 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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