Alpha Strategic Regulatory News Announcement
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Alpha Strategic PLC - Interim Results
RNS Number:1047K
Alpha Strategic PLC
18 December 2007
Alpha Strategic PLC
('Alpha Strategic' or the 'Company')
Interim Results for the period ended 30th September 2007
Highlights
* Alpha moves from loss to profit before tax of £65,000.
* Global Futures Fund receives regulatory approval and widens marketing
territory
* Global Futures Fund FUM increases to $46m
* Healthy cash balance maintained
Enquiries
Alpha Strategic plc (020) 7222 3005
Kit Malthouse/Colin Barrow
Strand Partners Limited (020) 7409 3494
Rory Murphy
Maitland (020) 7379 5151
Georgina Pepys
Chairman's Statement
I am pleased to present our interim statements for the six months ended 30th
September 2007, which have been prepared for the first time under IFRS.
We have had an encouraging first half, which has seen Alpha Strategic move into
profitability through strict cost controls and a period of strong performance by
the Global Futures Fund (GFF) which is managed by Winton Capital Management, the
$10 billion trend following futures manager. During the period to September, all
GFF share classes performed well, with net asset values rising by between 12%
and 14%.
Winton's performance since 30th September 2007 continues to be excellent,
although I must of course offer the usual warning that past performance is not
necessarily an indicator of future results. However, we look forward to a
growing income stream from this source, which should, in time, prove sufficient
on its own to continue to make the company significantly profitable.
There are some promising new developments expected over the coming months.
Earlier this year we announced that the Global Futures Fund had received
approval under proviso from the Swiss financial regulator and the agreed
amendments to the marketing documentation are shortly due for completion. The
marketing territory of the Global Futures Fund is also set to expand to include
Germany and Austria. We expect such developments to increase the funds under
management in the GFF significantly in 2008 from their current level of $46m.
We continue to work towards our second acquisition and during the half have seen
a significant rise in the number of opportunities. We are currently engaged in
further active negotiations and remain optimistic about the prospect of further
transactions.
Given this rise in activity it is likely that there will be significant
professional charges payable in the second half, and that this may obviously
impact profitability for the full year, however we continue to maintain a
healthy cash balance.
Our activities over the last two years have provided a large number of ongoing
relationships with managers, investment banks and professional advisers which
has put us in a good position to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
We continue to hold patiently to our key objective of finding high quality
acquisitions and we very much hope that we will be able to do so in the near
future.
Colin Barrow
Chairman
17th December 2007
Consolidated income statement for the 6 months ended 30 September 2007
Note Six Months Six Months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2007 2006 2007
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)
£'000 £'000 £'000
Revenue 249 46 191
Administrative expenses (243) (213) (445)
---------- ---------- ----------
Operating profit/(loss) 6 (167) (254)
Finance income 59 54 110
---------- ---------- ----------
Profit/(loss) before income tax 65 (113) (144)
Income tax expense (14) - -
---------- ---------- ----------
Profit/(loss) attributable to
equity holders of the Company 4 51 (113) (144)
========== ========== ==========
Basic earnings/(loss) per share 3 1.512 p (3.5)p (4.4)p
Diluted earnings/(loss) per share 3 1.49 p (3.5)p (4.4)p
Consolidated balance sheet as at 30 September 2007
As at As at As at
30 September 30 September 31 March
2007 2006 2007
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)
Note £'000 £'000 £'000
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Intangible assets 415 415 415
Property, plant and equipment 2 - -
---------- ---------- ---------
TOTAL NON CURRENT ASSETS 417 415 415
---------- ---------- ---------
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 158 54 39
Other financial assets 1,990 2,229 2,134
Cash and cash equivalents 283 172 167
---------- ---------- ---------
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 2,431 2,455 2,340
---------- ---------- ---------
TOTAL ASSETS 2,848 2,870 2,755
========== ========== =========
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables (95) (136) (53)
---------- ---------- ---------
TOTAL LIABILITIES (95) (136) (53)
========== ========== =========
TOTAL NET ASSETS 4 2,753 2,734 2,702
========== ========== =========
EQUITY
Capital & reserves
attributable to the company's
equity holders
Share capital 83 83 83
Share premium reserve 2,649 2,973 2,649
Merger reserve 323 - 323
Retained losses (302) (322) (353)
---------- ---------- ---------
TOTAL EQUITY 2,753 2,734 2,702
========== ========== =========
Consolidated cash flow statement for the 6 months ended 30 September 2007
Six Months Six Months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2007 2006 2007
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)
£'000 £'000 £'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit/(loss) after income tax 51 (113) (144)
Finance income (59) (54) (110)
Income tax expense 14 - -
---------- ---------- ---------
Operating profit/(loss) before
changes in working capital 6 (167) (254)
Increase in operating receivables (119) (45) (31)
Increase in operating payables 28 99 16
---------- ---------- ---------
Cash absorbed by operations (85) (113) (269)
---------- ---------- ---------
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of tangible assets (2) - -
Purchase of subsidiary undertaking - (89) (89)
---------- ---------- ---------
(2) (89) (89)
---------- ---------- ---------
Cash flows from financing activities
Interest received 59 54 110
---------- ---------- ---------
Cash generated by financing
activities 59 54 110
---------- ---------- ---------
Net decrease in cash and cash
equivalents (28) (148) (248)
Cash and cash equivalents at
beginning of period 2,301 2,549 2,549
---------- ---------- ---------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of
period 2,273 2,401 2,301
========== ========== =========
Cash and cash equivalents above comprises
Other financial assets 1,990 2,229 2,134
Cash and cash equivalents 283 172 167
---------- ---------- ---------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 2,273 2,401 2,301
========== ========== =========
Consolidated statement of changes in shareholders' equity for the 6 months ended
30 September 2007
Attributable to equity holders of the company
Share Share Merger Retained Total
Capital Premium Reserve Losses Equity
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)
At 1 April
2007 83 2,649 323 (353) 2,702
Profit for the
period - - - 51 51
--------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
At 30
September 2007 83 2,649 323 (302) 2,753
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
Notes to the interim results for the 6 months ended 30 September 2007
1 Basis of preparation
With effect from 1 January 2007, it became mandatory for the group to comply
with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
The financial results of the group for the six months ended 30 September 2007
have been prepared on a basis which is consistent with IFRS as adopted by the
European Union and which the group will apply in the annual accounts to be
presented at 31 March 2008. This is the first time the group has prepared
financial information in accordance with IFRS, having previously prepared its
financial statements in accordance with UK GAAP. Details of the transition are
given in note 4.
The financial information shown in this document is unaudited, and does not
constitute statutory accounts as defined in s.240 of The Companies Act 1985. The
comparative figures for the financial year ended 31 March 2007 have been
abridged from the group's statutory accounts for that financial year, translated
from United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (UK GAAP) to IFRS.
Those accounts, prepared under UK GAAP, have been reported upon by the group's
auditors, and have been delivered to The Registrar of Companies. The auditors'
report on those accounts was unqualified, did not include any references to any
matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without
qualifying their report and did not contain any statement under s.237(2) or (3)
of The Companies Act 1985.
2 Dividends
No dividend is proposed for the six months ended 30 September 2007.
3 Earnings/(loss) per share
Basic earnings/(loss) per share has been calculated by dividing the profit for
the period of £51,000 (six months to 30 September 2006: loss of £113,000; year
to 31 March 2007: loss of £144,000) by the weighted average number of ordinary
shares, 3,308,500 (six months to 30 September 2006: 3,221,444; year to 31 March
2007: 3,263,704) in issue during the period.
Diluted earnings per share has been calculated by dividing the profit for the
period of £51,000 by the weighted average number of ordinary shares, 3,356,585
to account for the warrants in issue during the period. All warrants in issue
have been used in the diluted earnings per share. The warrants in issue during
the six months to 30 September 2006 and the year ended 31 March 2007 were
antidilutive and have therefore been excluded from the calculation of diluted
earnings/(loss) per share.
4 Transition to IFRS
The consolidated financial information for the six months ended 30 September
2006 and the year ended 31 March 2007 have been prepared in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the first time.
The Group's transition date to IFRS is 1 April 2006. The rules for first-time
adoption of IFRS are set out in IFRS 1 'First time adoption of International
Financial Reporting Standards'. In preparing the IFRS financial information,
these transition rules have been applied to the amounts reported previously
under generally accepted accounting principles in the United Kingdom ('UK
GAAP'). IFRS 1 generally requires full retrospective application of the
Standards and Interpretations in force at the first reporting date. However,
IFRS 1 allows certain exemptions in the application of particular Standards to
prior periods in order to assist companies with the transition process.
Explanations of differences between UK GAAP and IFRS giving rise to adjustments
in the reconciliations:
In accordance with IAS 38: 'Intangible Assets', previous amortisation of
goodwill has been written back to the income statement.
Adjustments to the cash flow statement
The transition from UK GAAP to IFRS has no effect upon the figures reported in
the cash flows generated by the Group. The IFRS cash flow statement is presented
in a different format from that required under UK GAAP with cash flows split
into three categories of activities - operating activities, investing activities
and financing activities.
Reconciliation between UK GAAP and IFRS
Period ended Year ended
30 September 31 March
2006 2007
(Unaudited) (Unaudited)
£'000 £'000
Profit/(loss) for the period/year under UK GAAP (125) (173)
Goodwill amortisation written back 12 29
---------- ----------
Profit/(loss) for the period/year under IFRS (113) (144)
========== ==========
Total Net Assets/Shareholders' Funds under UK GAAP 2,722 2,673
Goodwill amortisation written back 12 29
---------- ----------
Total Net Assets/Shareholders' Funds under IFRS 2,734 2,702
========== ==========
5 A copy of Alpha Strategic's Interim Report and Accounts is available on the
Company's website, www.alphastrategic.co.uk.
INDEPENDENT REVIEW REPORT TO ALPHA STRATEGIC PLC
Introduction
We have been engaged by the company to review the condensed set of financial
statements in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30
September 2007 which comprises the consolidated income statement, consolidated
balance sheet, consolidated cash flow statement, consolidated statement of
changes in shareholders' equity, and related notes.
We have read the other information contained in the half-yearly financial report
and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or material
inconsistencies with the information in the condensed set of financial
statements.
Directors' responsibilities
The interim report, including the financial information contained therein, is
the responsibility of and has been approved by the directors. The directors are
responsible for preparing the interim report in accordance with the rules of the
London Stock Exchange for companies trading securities on the Alternative
Investment Market which require that the half-yearly report be presented and
prepared in a form consistent with that which will be adopted in the company's
annual accounts having regard to the accounting standards applicable to such
annual accounts.
Our responsibility
Our responsibility is to express to the company a conclusion on the condensed
set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report based on our
review.
Our report has been prepared in accordance with the terms of our engagement to
assist the company in meeting the requirements of the rules of the London Stock
Exchange for companies trading securities on the Alternative Investment Market
and for no other purpose. No person is entitled to rely on this report unless
such a person is a person entitled to rely upon this report by virtue of and for
the purpose of our terms of engagement or has been expressly authorised to do so
by our prior written consent. Save as above, we do not accept responsibility for
this report to any other person or for any other purpose and we hereby expressly
disclaim any and all such liability
Scope of review
We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review
Engagements (UK and Ireland) 2410, ''Review of Interim Financial Information
Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity'', issued by the Auditing
Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom. A review of interim financial
information consists of making enquiries, primarily of persons responsible for
financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review
procedures. A review is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in
accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) and
consequently does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware
of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly, we
do not express an audit opinion.
Conclusion
Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe
that the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial
report for the six months ended 30 September 2007 is not prepared, in all
material respects, in accordance with the rules of the London Stock Exchange for
companies trading securities on the Alternative Investment Market.
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
17th December 2007
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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