REG - British Smaller Co's - 3rd Quarter Results

British Smaller Companies VCTAnnouncement

Yesterday 07:02

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260319:nRSS2203Xa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2203X  British Smaller Companies VCT PLC  19 March 2026

British Smaller Companies VCT plc

Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 31 December 2025

British Smaller Companies VCT plc (the "Company") presents its interim
management statement for the quarter ended 31 December 2025. The statement
also includes relevant financial information between the end of the quarter
and the date of this statement. A copy of this interim management statement
can be found at www.bscfunds.com (http://www.bscfunds.com) .

Overview

In the quarter to 31 December 2025 the Company's Total Return per share
increased by 0.65 pence, a 0.8 per cent increase on the opening NAV per
share.  At 31 December 2025 the NAV per ordinary share totalled 78.70 pence,
following payment of a 2.00 pence per share dividend in the quarter.

Investment Activity

During the quarter, the Company invested £2.7 million into new investment
TeamFeePay; and a further £4.1 million into existing portfolio companies
Plandek, Xapien, Ohalo and Sipsynergy.  Subsequent to the quarter end, the
Company invested £3.0 million into existing portfolio company Summize.  This
takes the total amount invested so far this year to £18.5 million.

In October 2025, the Company realised its investment in Elucidat, receiving
£5.5 million in initial proceeds, with additional deferred consideration of
£0.7 million anticipated to be received over the next 18 months.  To date,
the Elucidat investment has generated a 1.3x return on the original cost of
£4.3 million.  Including deferred consideration, proceeds have the potential
to rise to £6.2 million, and the return to 1.45x.

In December 2025, the Company realised its investment in SharpCloud, receiving
£8.7 million in initial proceeds, with additional deferred consideration of
£0.9 million anticipated to be received over the next two years.  To date,
the SharpCloud investment has generated a 2.0x return on the original cost of
£4.3 million.  Including deferred consideration, proceeds have the potential
to rise to £9.6 million, and the return to 2.2x.

In December 2025, portfolio company Teraview successfully completed an
oversubscribed listing on the Korean Stock Exchange.  The Company
subsequently realised 34 per cent of its holding prior to 31 December 2025,
receiving proceeds of £1.2 million.  The balance of the Company's holding
was realised post-year end, in January 2026, generating a further £1.8
million of proceeds.   Overall, the Teraview investment has generated an
8.1x return on the original cost of £0.4 million.

Post-year end, the Company realised its remaining holding in Vuealta,
receiving proceeds of £0.7 million, in line with the valuation at the year
end. Overall, the Vuealta investment has generated a 1.5x return on the
original cost of £3.6 million.

The Company also realised its investment in Sipsynergy post-year end, with
total expected proceeds of c. £0.9 million, in line with the valuation at the
year end.  This represents a 0.3x return on the original cost of £2.8
million.

 

Performance

The table below sets out movements in key metrics for the Company.

 

                                  30 September 2025  Net increase in Value  Shares issued  Dividends paid  Buyback of shares  Movement    31 December 2025

                                                                                                                              In Period
 Net Assets (£m)                  284.0              2.2                    1.1            (7.1)           (1.7)              (5.5)       278.5
 NAV per share (PPS)              80.05              0.65                   -              (2.00)          -                  (1.35)      78.70
 Cumulative dividends paid (PPS)  186.15             -                      -              2.00            -                  2.00        188.15
 Total Return (PPS)               266.20             0.65                   -              -               -                  0.65        266.85
 Shares in issue                  354,664,249        -                      1,498,811      -               (2,231,911)        (733,100)   353,931,149

Cumulative dividends paid at 31 December 2025 were 188.15 pence per ordinary
share (30 September 2025: 186.15 pence per ordinary share).

The movements in NAV and NAV per ordinary share are set out in the table
below:

                              £m            Pence per

                                            ordinary share
 NAV at 30 September 2025            284.0            80.05
 Increase in portfolio value  2.5           0.75
 Net operating costs          (0.3)         (0.10)
                              2.2           0.65
 Issue/buy-back of shares     (0.6)         -
 Total Return in the period          1.6              0.65
 NAV before dividends                285.6            80.70
 Dividends paid                      (7.1)            (2.00)
 NAV at 31 December 2025             278.5            78.70

 

Dividends and shares in issue

On 19 December 2025 the Company issued 1,498,811 shares under the Company's
Dividend Re-investment Scheme (DRIS).

Under its standing buyback authority, on 19 December 2025 the Company
purchased 2,231,911 shares at 74.65 pence per share at a cost of £1.7
million. These shares are held in treasury.

The first allotment of the Company's 2025/26 fundraise took place just after
the period end, with £15.6 million of proceeds allotted on 7 January 2026.
19,484,289 shares were allotted, taking the total number of ordinary shares to
373,415,438, with a further 39,260,029 shares held in treasury.

Net assets

Net assets at 31 December 2025 comprised the following:

                                     £000     % of net assets
 Unquoted investments at fair value  160,361  57.6
 Cash and money market funds         113,825  40.9
 Other net assets                    4,350    1.5
 Net assets                          278,536  100.0

Investments

The investment portfolio at 31 December 2025 comprised:

                    Valuation  Cumulative valuation as a % of net assets

                    £000
 Matillion          19,618     7.0%
 Unbiased           16,584     13.0%
 Xapien             14,255     18.1%
 Vypr               11,315     22.2%
 Summize            9,973      25.8%
 AutomatePro        9,760      29.3%
 DrDoctor           6,276      31.5%
 Workbuzz           5,961      33.7%
 Plandek            5,902      35.8%
 Force24            5,841      37.9%
                    105,485    37.9%
 Other investments  54,876     57.6%
 Total investments  160,361    57.6%

 

Portfolio performance

In the quarter to 31 December 2025, the aggregate portfolio valuation
increased by £2.5 million. Several portfolio companies are demonstrating
strong underlying growth of revenues, which has driven positive revaluation
uplifts across several assets.

Fundraising

The Company announced a new share offer on 25 September 2025, alongside
British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc, with the intention of raising up to £85
million, in aggregate, which included an over-allotment facility of £25
million, in aggregate. The offers closed to new Applications on 18 December
2025. Gross Applications of £85 million have been received, of which c.£53
million relate to the Company. The first allotment of £25 million (£15.6
million relating to the Company) took place on 7 January 2026; the second and
final allotment will take place between 1 and 2 April 2026.

Outlook

The portfolio continues to develop, with several holdings delivering strong
growth during the period. Our active portfolio management approach allows us
to stay close to investee companies and support them as they scale. Adding new
companies to the portfolio and providing follow-on capital to support their
growth remains central to our strategy.

The start of 2026 has seen further macroeconomic volatility, with the conflict
in the Middle East adding to a challenging environment. There has also been a
more cautious market view of software businesses, which has the potential to
weigh on the valuations of portfolio companies in the near term; nonetheless,
the portfolio continues to be positioned to benefit from an increasingly
AI-led world.  This, alongside the Company's strong liquidity position leaves
it well-placed to manage downside risks, as well as deploy funds from its
recent capital raise into promising new opportunities across the UK.

We are grateful to shareholders for their continued support.

18 March 2026

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU No. 596/2014). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory
Information Service this inside information is now considered to be in the
public domain.

For further information please contact:

Marcus Karia           YFM Equity Partners
 
        Tel:  0113 244 1000

Alex Collins              Panmure Liberum
 
Tel:  0207 886 2767

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  QRTEAEDPFEDKEAA



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved