Athelney Trust PLC

 

Legal Entity Identifier:

213800ON67TJC7F4DL05

The unaudited net asset value of Athelney Trust was 201.9p at 30 September 2023.

Fund Manager's comment for September 2023

While US GDP growth was steady at 2.1% for the second quarter of 2023, treasury yields climbed higher following recent hawkish comments from the FOMC, a renewed increase in oil prices and a steep decline in US crude stockpiles. The temporary ban by Russia of exports of petrol and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states raised further concerns about tight oil supplies. The suspension of Evergrande's trading in Hong Kong, added to fears of financial contagion throughout China's property sector and that this would flow into other markets and other sectors of the global economy.  These events overshadowed the expectation of an eventual lowering of interest rates, previously believed to be sufficient to maintain the positive momentum in the markets, with the net result that the NASDAQ was down by 5.8% with the S&P500 faring slightly better, declining by only 4.9%. This was also the case globally with the MSCI declining during the month by 4.5%. 

 

In the UK, prices rose less than expected in August with the annual rate of inflation falling to 6.7% even though petrol and diesel prices rose on the back of higher crude oil costs. Core inflation, excluding food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, was 6.2%, down sharply from 6.9% in the previous month. Gilt yields and Sterling declined after the data release and while the Bank of England (BoE) held their policy rate at 5.25%, they did leave the door open to a further tightening.

 

Recent strong GDP figures indicated that the UK economy grew by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2023 with the year-on-year data up by 0.6%. This improvement was reflected in the performance of the larger companies with the FTSE100 up by 2.3% while the remainder of the market and in particular, the mid-cap companies did not perform quite as well.  The FTSE 250 declined by 1.8%, dragged down by the mid-cap stocks with the AIM All-Share Index declining by 2.2%.  The Small Cap Index was up by 0.2% and the Fledgling Index performed slightly better, up by 0.4%. In spite of a substantial increase in the income received by way of dividends, the Athelney portfolio declined by 2.3% during the month and, after paying an interim dividend of 2.2p, the NAV reflected a decline of 3.3%.

There were no changes to the portfolio during the month and we utilised some of our cash on hand to pay the interim dividend to shareholders.  Our cash holding at month end comprised 3.2% 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 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

www.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

·    Barrack St Investments (ASX code: BST)

AUD37m www.barrackst.com

·    Global Masters Fund Limited (ASX code: GFL)

AUD33m www.globalmastersfund.com.au

·    Athelney Trust plc (LSE code: ATY)

GBP6m 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

Website

www.athelneytrust.co.uk