Seneca Growth Capital VCT PLC on Friday reported mixed results from its ordinary and secondary share pools in 2023.

Seneca is a Merseyside, England-based venture capital trust which invests in both private and AIM-listed companies. It operates through both an ordinary and secondary, ‘B’ share pool. Shares in Seneca were flat at 17.00 pence each in London on Friday morning.

Net assets in the company’s ordinary and B share pools totalled £1.5 million and £15.4 million, respectively. The former was more than halved from £3.0 million in 2022, while the latter increased from £15.1 million.

NAV per share in the ordinary pool was down 50% to 18.5 pence from 37.1p. The same figure in the B share pool was down 12% to 70.7p from 80.7p.

Total returns for the year, comprising NAV and dividends paid, were 91.8p for Seneca’s ordinary shares, down 15% from 108.4p in 2022. B share total returns were down 7.6% to 85.7p from 92.7p.

Losses per share in the ordinary and B pools were 16.6p and 6.6p, the former down from a gain of 0.2p and the widened slightly from a loss of 16.5p in 2022.

Seneca says the decline in its ordinary share pool was driven by a 56% decrease in the share price of Scancell Holdings PLC. Scancell is an Oxford-based biotechnology company in which Seneca holds an investment worth £1.1 million at December 31, down from GB2.4 million a year prior.

However, Seneca said it was ‘pleased with the progress being made across the B share portfolio’.

Dividends were 73.3p and 15.0p per share for the two groups, both of which increased from 71.3p and 12.0p, respectively.

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