CRWN Albion Crown Vct Plc

diseases; and GBP231,000 in Relayware Limited, a company providing 
software systems to multinational companies allowing them to manage 
their indirect sales channels. 
 
   Overall, the value of the Company's unquoted investment portfolio 
increased by GBP1,837,000 during the year, while that of the small AIM 
portfolio fell by GBP55,000. 
 
   Amongst the unquoted investments, good progress was made by Radnor House 
School, which has recently launched its Sixth Form enabling it to expand 
its student numbers further. Oakland Care Centre Limited and Taunton 
Hospital Limited are experiencing increasing demand for their services 
with consequent growth in profits.  The renewable energy investments 
have also appreciated in value.  In the growth portfolio, Masters 
Pharmaceuticals and Hilson Moran are growing profitably, while many of 
the technology investments are making good progress in expanding their 
businesses.  Against this, Helveta has struggled to gain sufficient 
commercial traction within the constraints of its available funding and 
has been placed into administration, leading to a further reduction in 
its value to GBP22,000.  The three hotel investments in the portfolio 
are also seeing improved trading over recent months, and the Manager is 
cautiously optimistic about their future performance. 
 
   Risks and uncertainties 
 
   The UK economic climate is improving and so is investment sentiment, 
though a number of risks remain.  The Company's investment portfolio is 
well diversified and many of the sectors in which its portfolio 
companies operate are resilient.  Approximately two-thirds of the 
unquoted portfolio is invested in companies with tangible assets, which 
support their valuation.  It remains the Company's general policy that 
portfolio companies should have no external bank borrowings, which 
reduces financial risk. In addition, we believe the new portfolio 
companies are positioned to grow despite the broader economic 
uncertainties. Therefore, as the investment portfolio continues to 
mature, the prospects on the whole look positive.  A detailed review of 
risk management is set out in the Strategic report. 
 
   Albion VCTs Top Up Offers 2013/2014 
 
   The Albion VCTs Top Up Offers 2013/2014 launched on 6 November 2013. 
Following higher than anticipated demand for the offer, Albion Ventures 
took the decision to launch the Albion VCTs Prospectus Top Up Offers 
2013/2014 on 19 March 2014, working within a very short timescale in 
order to capitalise on the opportunity. An encouraging level of 
subscriptions have been received across both Offers, raising GBP3.2m for 
Crown Place VCT PLC. Following full subscription, the Albion Prospectus 
Top Up Offers 2013/2014 closed for the Company on 24 September 2014. The 
proceeds of the Offers have been used to provide further resources to 
the Company at a time when a number of attractive new investment 
opportunities are being seen. 
 
   Further Top Up Offers are planned for later this year and details are 
expected to be sent to shareholders in November 2014. 
 
   Dividend re-investment scheme 
 
   During the year the Company raised GBP166,000 from the dividend 
re-investment scheme. Through the scheme, shareholders may elect to 
reinvest the whole of the dividend received by subscribing for new 
shares in the Company. Under current tax rules, individual shareholders 
re-investing their dividends will be eligible for the income and capital 
gains tax advantages available to investors subscribing to new shares in 
venture capital trusts and will be able to increase their shareholding 
in the Company simply and without incurring dealing costs or stamp duty. 
Full details of the scheme and the application form are available on the 
Manager's website at: www.albion-ventures.co.uk/ourfunds/CRWN. 
 
   Board composition 
 
   Having served on the Board for over 8 years, I have decided to retire at 
the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. I would like to thank my fellow 
Directors, the Manager and particularly the Shareholders for their 
support. Richard Huntingford, who has been on the Board since May 2012, 
will succeed me as Chairman and I wish him and the Company well for the 
future. The Board will seek to appoint a new independent director in due 
course. 
 
   Outlook and prospects 
 
   While we are seeing continuing improvement in the economic environment 
in the UK and increased demand for growth funding by smaller companies, 
access to traditional funding channels remain difficult. Your Company 
has capitalised on this opportunity to make 11 new investments during 
the financial year, more than doubling its investment rate from the 
previous year, and the investment pipeline remains strong. The Manager 
has strong proprietary deal flow, enabling it to achieve reasonable 
entry valuations and attractive investment structures. 
 
   The Company's portfolio is well diversified. It includes a number of 
investments in more resilient sectors, such as healthcare, education and 
renewable energy, as well as companies with good growth prospects. In 
addition, the great majority of investments are structured to be cash 
generative in order to provide further support for your Company's 
dividend.  We look forward to the current financial year with 
confidence. 
 
   Patrick Crosthwaite 
 
   Chairman 
 
   2 October 2014 
 
   Strategic report 
 
   Investment objective and policy 
 
   The Company's investment objective is to provide investors with a 
regular and predictable source of income, combined with the prospect of 
longer term capital growth. The Company's investment portfolio is thus 
structured to provide a balance between income and capital growth for 
the longer term through a diversified, balanced approach to investment. 
The asset-based portfolio, which currently accounts for about two-thirds 
of unquoted investments by value, is designed to provide stability and 
income whilst maintaining the potential for capital growth. The growth 
portfolio is intended to provide diversified exposure through its 
portfolio of investments predominately in unquoted UK companies. In 
neither category do portfolio companies normally have any external 
borrowing with a charge ranking ahead of the Company. 
 
   Business model 
 
   The Company operates as a Venture Capital Trust. This means that the 
Company has no employees other than its Directors and has outsourced the 
management of all its operations to Albion Ventures LLP, including 
secretarial and administrative services. Further details of the 
Management agreement can be found below. 
 
   Current portfolio sector allocation 
 
   The pie chart at the end of this announcement shows the split of the 
portfolio valuation by industrial or commercial sector as at 30 June 
2014. The portfolio remains well diversified and as at the year end 
comprised 56 investments. There were 26 unquoted asset-based investments 
accounting for 60 per cent. of the net asset value of the Company, 27 
unquoted growth investments accounting for 32 per cent. of the net asset 
value of the Company and 3 AIM quoted investments, accounting for 3 per 
cent. of the net asset value of the Company. 
 
   Direction of portfolio 
 
   During the year, the Company continued to increase its exposure to the 
less cyclical healthcare and renewable energy sectors which, in addition 
to the education sector, now account for approximately 45 per cent. of 
the portfolio value. 
 
   Looking ahead, the healthcare sector will continue to be a core area of 
investment, both in asset-based businesses such as psychiatric hospitals 
and care homes, and in medical technology. Additional renewable energy 
investments in the current pipeline will allow the Company to reach its 
target of 15 per cent. of the portfolio - their main role being to 
provide more stable, long term, inflation protected income flows to the 
Company. The IT sector of the portfolio has grown during the year as we 
have made a number of investments to back new technology developments, 
such as e-mail encryption and contextual analysis for on-line 
advertising. The education investment, in the form of Radnor House 
School, is expected to grow in time as we aim to fund further premises 
for growth in student numbers, subject to availability of a suitable 
site. 
 
   Results and dividend policy 
 
 
 
 
                                                       GBP'000 
Consolidated revenue return for the year ended 30 
 June 2014                                                 525 
Consolidated capital return for the year ended 30 
 June 2014                                               1,451 
Dividend of 1.25p per share paid on 29 November 2013   (1,053) 
Dividend of 1.25p per share paid on 31 March 2014      (1,079) 
Transferred from reserves                                (156) 
 
Net assets as at 30 June 2014                           29,050 
 
Net asset value per share as at 30 June 2014 (pence)    32.04p 
 
 
 
   As described in the Chairman's statement, the Board has declared a first 
dividend for the year ending 30 June 2015 of 1.25 pence per share. This 
dividend will be paid on 28 November 2014 to shareholders on the 
register as at 7 November 2014. 
 
   As shown in the Group's statement of comprehensive income, investment 
income has decreased slightly to GBP925,000 (2013: GBP967,000). This is 
as a result of the disposal of high yielding loan stock investments in 
the previous year, resulting in a decrease of revenue return to 
GBP525,000 (2013: GBP590,000). The capital return for the year was a 
profit of GBP1,451,000 (2013: GBP1,136,000), as a result of unrealised 
gains on investments, in particular Radnor House School, Tower Bridge 
Health Club and Oakland Care Centre, offset by management fees charged 
to capital. The total return for the year was 2.28 pence per share 
(2013: 2.14 pence per share). 
 
 
 
   The Consolidated balance sheet shows that the net asset value has 
decreased slightly over the year to 32.04 pence per share (2013: 32.26 
pence per share), due to the payment of the dividend of 2.50 pence per 

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