Hargreave Hale AIM VCT PLC - Blackpool-based venture capital trust - For the half-year that ended March 31, net asset value per share falls 19% to 77.13 pence from 95.71p a year ago and 23% from 100.39p on September 30 last year. The dividends-reinvested NAV total return is negative 18% versus negative 16% for its benchmark, the FTSE AIM All-Share Index Total Return index.

Among the strongest contributors within the portfolio is Bidstack Group PLC, which during the period secured a $30 million advertising spend due to a 2-year partnership with digital media platform Azerion. The weakest performer is Blackbird PLC, a cloud video editing and publishing platform, despite reporting a 37% increase in annual revenue to £2.1 million for 2021.

Hargreave Hale AIM VCT proposes half-year dividend of 5.65p versus 2.65p a year ago.

‘Inflation has accelerated, interest rates have increased and taxes have gone up. The outlook has deteriorated with the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Bank of England and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development all downgrading their forecasts for economic output this year and next. With the exception of the FTSE 100, global equity markets have fallen sharply,’ Hargreave Hale says.

‘That having been said, we enter these more difficult times from a position of relative strength: employment and job vacancies remain positive, household wealth is high, albeit not evenly distributed, and wage growth and fiscal measures will soften some of the impact of the pressure on household budgets,’ firm says. Adds that technology and healthcare companies ‘should be well insulated from the lower level of economic activity’.

Looking ahead, plans to raise up to £20 million, alongside an over-allotment facility to raise up to a further £20 million, by October 22.

Current stock price: 65.60 pence

Year-to-date change: down 32%

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