Foresight 3 VCT PLC Foresight 3 Vct Plc : Annual -6-
25 Juillet 2014 - 2:17PM
UK Regulatory
to broadcasters, production companies and other businesses for over 20
years. Headquartered in Battersea, London, with additional facilities in
Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Procam is a preferred supplier to
BSkyB and an approved supplier to the BBC and ITV. Over the last four
years revenues have doubled, following the introduction of new camera
formats.
In September 2013, Hammerhead, a competitor with facilities in London,
Manchester and Edinburgh and Glasgow, was acquired in order to broaden
the customer base and national coverage and realise various synergistic
benefits. The Hammerhead acquisition is expected to improve profits
substantially.
Preliminary results for the year to 31 December 2013 show an EBITDA of
GBP2.0 million on sales of GBP6.4 million, well ahead of trading in
2012. Procam plans to open a further facility and launch a mobile
outdoor camera facility. Further significant growth in sales and profits
is forecast in the current year.
TFC Europe, a leading distributor of technical fasteners in the UK and
Germany, performed well during the year to 31 March 2014, again
achieving record profits and sales (cf. a record operating profit of
GBP2.45 million on sales of GBP18.1 million in 2013), supporting an
increase in valuation of GBP820,741 during the year. In September 2013,
a small Scottish distribution business was acquired, thereby improving
national coverage. Management's current focus is to generate greater
sales in Southern Germany. A new full service centre was opened in
Bochum near Dusseldorf in October 2013 and existing customers are
already discussing expanding their business with TFC. A strong physical
presence will greatly assist TFC in growing its sales and profits in
Europe's largest manufacturing market.
The Bunker Secure Hosting, which operates two ultra secure data centres,
continues to generate substantial profits at the EBITDA level. For the
year to 31 December 2013, a record EBITDA of GBP2.2 million was achieved
on sales of GBP9.25 million (cf. in 2012, an EBITDA of GBP1.77 million
on sales of GBP8.5 million). Sales growth slowed, however, reflecting
increased competition. Recurring annual revenues currently exceed GBP9
million. In the current year to date, trading continues ahead of budget,
with a much reduced attrition rate. To meet growing customer demand, a
number of new Cloud based services have recently been launched while the
sales and marketing strategy has been reassessed and sales efforts
strengthened. Investment continues in upgrading the existing
infrastructure. In April 2013, a small number of shares were purchased
from two minority shareholders for GBP104,161.
From its fully automated Luton factory, 2K Manufacturing produced high
quality Ecosheet boards made from recycled waste plastic. Despite orders
and a sales pipeline, limited production capacity constrained output and
losses continued to be incurred. To meet working capital requirements, a
further GBP500,000 was invested in loans during the year. Up to GBP10
million had been sought for some time to increase production capacity
but these efforts proved unsuccessful, as did protracted sale and merger
discussions. On 18 November 2013, these discussions ended, resulting in
an administrator then being appointed. A full provision of GBP2,002,057
has accordingly been made against the cost of this investment.
On 31 October 2013, the investment of GBP233,250 6% Unsecured
Convertible Redeemable Loan note in AiM listed Zoo Digital Group was
sold for GBP177,813 plus interest of GBP5,847.
David Hughes
Foresight Group
Chief Investment Officer
24 July 2014
The Disclosure and Transparency Rules ("DTR") of the UK Listing
Authority require certain disclosures in relation to the annual
financial report, as follows:
Principal risks, risk management and regulatory environment
The Board believes that the principal risks faced by the Company are:
-- Economic risk - events such as an economic recession and movement in
interest rates could affect smaller companies' performance and
valuations.
-- Loss of approval as a Venture Capital Trust - the Company must comply
with Section 274 of the Income Tax Act 2007 which allows it to be
exempted from corporation tax on investment gains. Any breach of these
rules may lead to: the Company losing its approval as a VCT; qualifying
shareholders who have not held their shares for the designated holding
period having to repay the income tax relief they obtained; and future
dividends paid by the Company becoming subject to tax in the hands of
investors. The Company would also lose its exemption from corporation tax
on capital gains.
-- Investment and strategic - inappropriate strategy, poor asset allocation
or consistently weak stock selection leading to under performance and
poor returns to shareholders.
-- Regulatory - the Company is required to comply with the Companies Acts
2006, the rules of the UK Listing Authority and United Kingdom Accounting
Standards. Breach of any of these might lead to suspension of the
Company's Stock Exchange listing, financial penalties or a qualified
audit report.
-- Reputational - inadequate or failed controls might result in breaches of
regulations or loss of shareholder trust.
-- Operational - failure of the Manager's or Company Secretary's accounting
systems or disruption to its business leading to an inability to provide
accurate reporting and monitoring.
-- Financial - inadequate controls might lead to misappropriation or loss of
assets. Inappropriate accounting policies might lead to misreporting or
breaches of regulations. Additional financial risks, including interest
rate, credit, market price and currency, are detailed later in this note.
-- Market risk - investment in AiM traded, ISDX Growth Market traded and
unquoted companies by its nature involves a higher degree of risk than
investment in companies traded on the main market. In particular, smaller
companies often have limited product lines, markets or financial
resources and may be dependent for their management on a small number of
key individuals. In addition, the market for stock in smaller companies
is often less liquid than that for stock in larger companies, bringing
with it potential difficulties in acquiring, valuing and disposing of
such stock.
-- Liquidity risk - the Company's investments, both unquoted and quoted, may
be difficult to realise. Furthermore, the fact that a share is traded on
AiM or ISDX Growth Markets does not guarantee that it can be realised.
The spread between the buying and selling price of such shares may not
reflect the price that any realisation is actually made.
The Board regularly reviews the principal risks and uncertainties facing
the Company which the Board and the Manager have identified and the
Board sets out delegated controls designed to manage those risks and
uncertainties. Key risks within investment strategy are managed by the
Board through a defined investment policy, with guidelines and
restrictions, and by the process of oversight at each Board meeting.
Operational disruption, accounting and legal risks are also covered at
least annually and regulatory compliance is reviewed at each Board
meeting. The Directors have adopted a robust framework of internal
controls which is designed to monitor the principal risks and
uncertainties facing the Company and provide a monitoring system to
enable the Directors to mitigate these risks as far as possible. Details
of the Company's internal controls are contained in the Corporate
Governance and Internal Control sections.
Statement of Directors' Responsibilities in respect of the Annual Report
and Financial Statements
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the
financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for
each financial year. Under that law the Directors have elected to
prepare the financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting
Standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting
Practice).
Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial
statements unless they are satisfied they give a true and fair view of
the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or loss of the
Company for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required to:
-- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
-- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
-- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed,
subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the
financial statements; and
-- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is
inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.
The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records
that are sufficient to show and explain the Company's transactions and
disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of
the Company and enable them to ensure that its financial statements
comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for
taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets
of the Company and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.
Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also responsible
for preparing a Directors' Report, Directors' Remuneration Report and
Corporate Governance Statement that comply with that law and those
regulations.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the
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