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Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC

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FY2017 Annual Report · Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC
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7

ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Temple Bar Investment Trust’s investment objective is to 
provide growth in income and capital to achieve a long term 
total return greater than the benchmark FTSE All-Share 
Index, through investment primarily in UK Listed securities. 
The Company’s policy is to invest in a broad spread of 
securities with typically the majority of the portfolio selected 
from the constituents of the FTSE 350 Index.

CONTENTS

STRATEGIC REPORT

GOVERNANCE REPORT

FINANCIAL REPORT

1   Summary of results

17   Directors

36   Statement of 

SHAREHOLDER 
INFORMATION

2  Chairman’s statement

18   Report of Directors

3   Ten year record

21   Report on directors’ 

5   Manager’s review

9   Attribution analysis

10   Overview of strategy

15   Portfolio of investments

remuneration

23   Corporate governance

26   Report of the audit 

committee

28   Statement of directors’ 

responsibilities

29   Independent auditor’s 

report

Comprehensive Income

51   Notice of meeting

37   Statement of Changes 

in Equity

55   Useful information  
for shareholders

38   Statement of Financial 

56   Corporate Information

57  Glossary of terms

Position

39   Statement of  
Cash Flows

40   Notes to the Financial 

Statements

50  Other information

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Assets as at 31 December

Net assets

Ordinary Shares

Net asset value per share with debt at book value

Net asset value per share with debt at market value

Market price

Discount with debt at book value

Discount with debt at market value

Revenue for the year ended 31 December

Revenue return attributable to ordinary shareholders

Revenue return per ordinary share

Dividends per ordinary share – interim and proposed fi nal

Capital for the year ended 31 December

Capital return attributable to ordinary shareholders

Capital return attributable per ordinary share

(Net cash)/gearing*

Ongoing charges**

Total Returns for the year to 31 December 2017

Return on share price***

Return on net assets***

Return on gross assets

Return on FTSE All-Share Index

Change in Retail Prices Index over year

Dividend Yields (Net) as at 31 December 2017

Yield on ordinary share price (1,314 p)****

Yield on FTSE All-Share Index

2017
£000

2016
£000

%
change

936,366 

879,940

1,400.22 p

1,386.92 p

1,314.00 p

 6.2 % 

 5.3 % 

28,958 

43.30 p

42 .47   p

54,989 

82.23 p

(3 .0) %

0.49 %

1,315.84p

1,298.01p

1,223.00p

7.1%

5.8%

29,253

43.74p

40.45p

121,751

182.06p

2.4%

0.51%

6.4 %

6.4 %

6.8 %

7.4 %

5 .0 %

11.0% 

9.7% 

9.5% 

13.1% 

4.1% 

3.1% 

3.6% 

* 
 Defi ned as total assets less current liabilities and cash or cash equivalents (including gilt holdings) divided by shareholders‘ funds expressed as a percentage.
**  Defi ned as the total of the investment management fee and administrative expenses divided by the average cum income net asset value throughout the year. 
***   See glossary of terms on page 57 for more information and for Alternative Performance Measures.
****  Based on the three interim dividends paid during the year together with the  fi nal dividend for  2016.

BENCHMARK
Performance is measured 
against the FTSE All-Share Index.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

Ordinary Shares  

5.5% Debenture Stock 2021  

66,872,765

£38,000,000

4.05% Private Placement Loan 2028  

£50,000,000

2.99% Private Placement Loan 2047 

£25,000,000

VOTING STRUCTURE

Ordinary shares 100%

TOTAL ASSETS LESS 

CURRENT LIABILITIES

£1,050,285 ,000

TOTAL EQUITY*

£936,366 ,000

MARKET CAPITALISATION

£878,708 ,000

* With debenture and loan stocks at book value

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

1

 
 
 
 
CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

 T he 34th consecutive year in which the Company has raised its annual dividend 
payment.  

PERFORMANCE

 I have commented for a long time about the protracted 
timescale in which the Value investing style has been out of 
favour relative to other styles. There have been brief periods 
during which the tide appeared to be turning in favour of 
Value but these rallies have thus far proved to be fairly short 
lived and, consequently, the underperformance of Value 
continued into 2017. As our portfolio manager is a disciplined 
adherent of the Value investing style this has had a negative 
impact on the short to near term performance of Temple Bar 
compared with its nominated benchmark, the FTSE All Share 
 Index. During the year the total return on the net assets of 
Temple Bar was 9.7%, underperforming the total return of the 
FTSE All Share Index of 13.1%. We attach greater signifi cance 
to the longer term performance and in this context I am 
pleased to report that Temple Bar continues to outperform 
its benchmark over both fi ve and ten year periods on the 
same basis.

The Manager’s Review on pages 5  to 8  sets out some of 
the main themes driving both portfolio construction and 
performance during the year, including comments on some of 
the positive and negative contributors to performance at an 
individual stock level.

DIVIDEND

There have been three interim dividend payments during 
the year each of 8.33p per share and the directors are now 
recommending a fi nal dividend payment for the year ended 
31 December 2017 of 17.48p per share, to be paid on 29 March 
2018 to those shareholders on the register as at 9 March 
2018. The ex-dividend date for this payment is 8 March 2018. 
If approved this would give an increase in the total dividend 
payment for the year as a whole of 5.0%. The dividend has 
been increased in light of the signifi cant accretion to revenue 
reserves in recent years and the availability of income in the 
current year. This would be the 34th consecutive year in which 
the Company has raised its annual dividend payment. The 
Board is proud of the Company’s record of generating long 
term dividend growth, such consistency being refl ected in 
Temple Bar’s status as one of The Association of Investment 
Companies’ ‘Dividend Heroes’.

GEARING

In recent years the Company’s fi xed long term borrowings 
have largely been offset by a fairly high cash or near 
cash position on the portfolio pending the emergence of 
attractively priced investment opportunities. The position 
was unchanged throughout 2017 such that at the year end, 
net gearing (calculated net of cash and related liquid assets, 
including our investment in a UK short dated gilt) was -3.0%        .

From a long term gearing perspective, however, I am pleased 
to be able to report that the Company’s expensive £25m 
9.875% debenture matured on 31 December 2017 and was 
duly repaid in full on that date. In advance of its repayment 
the Board took the decision in October to replace it with 
an additional private placement loan in the same amount 
but with a much more attractive coupon of 2.99%. The loan, 
which covers a fi xed 30 year period extending to 2047, was 
provided by the Prudential Insurance Company of America, 
who also provided funding for the existing 4.05% private 
placement loan undertaken in 2013. It may seem somewhat 
anomalous that the Company has taken out a new borrowing 
facility at the same time that the Manager has highlighted 
a lack of attractive investment opportunities in the market.  
I should, therefore, emphasise that an important factor in 
taking out this additional loan was to secure attractive fi xed 
rate funding for the purposes of pursuing the Company’s 
investment objectives over a very long period, mindful of the 
likelihood of future interest rate increases and the potential 
for future investment opportunities.

2

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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 A project to re-design the Temple Bar website was undertaken and the 
new site will go live early in 2018. 

SHARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Temple Bar’s shares traded at a modest discount 
throughout most of the year and at the year end the 
discount stood at 5.3  %. The Board is prepared to undertake 
share buy backs if the discount widens both in absolute 
terms and relative to the Company’s peer group. While no 
share repurchases took place during the year, the Board 
nonetheless recommends that the existing authorities to 
issue new ordinary shares and to repurchase shares in the 
market for cancellation or to hold in Treasury be continued. 
Accordingly it is seeking approval from shareholders to 
renew the share issue and repurchase authorities at the 
forthcoming annual general meeting.

THE BOARD

In November of last year Richard Wyatt was appointed 
as an additional director of the Company. Richard brings 
a wealth of broad based business experience to the role 
including valuable insight gleaned from the technology 
sector. I am confi dent that he will add a great deal to the 
Board’s discussions in the coming years. The Board is 
proposing to make a further appointment , for which an 
independent recruitment process is already underway. 
Shareholders might reasonably enquire about the rationale 
for this expansion in the size of the Board. I can confi rm 
that these additional appointments are being made in 
anticipation of three or four existing Board members 
retiring over the next two years and are designed to ensure 
an orderly transition and the refreshment of the Board. The 
fi rst such retirement has already taken place, with David 
Webster stepping down as a director on 31 December 
2017. David made an outstanding contribution to the Board 
over the nine years that he served as a director and we 
wish him the very best in his future life. Furthermore, I will 

be standing down as Chairman this summer. It has been 
a privilege to serve on the Board as both a director since 
1992 and as Chairman for nearly 15 years. A decision on my 
successor as Chairman will be made in the coming months 
and notifi ed to shareholders in due course. Temple Bar 
has historically benefi ted from a strong Board and I am 
confi dent that this will continue into the future.

Every year the Board undertakes a thorough evaluation of 
each director, including myself as Chairman. In line with 
best practice in this regard, all directors are subject to 
annual re-election by shareholders. 

PACKAGED RETAIL AND INSURANCE-BASED 
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS (PRIIPS)

New EU originated regulations require investment entities 
such as Temple Bar to prepare Key Information Documents 
(KIDs) that are available to be perused prior to making an 
investment decision. The intention is that investors are 
able to make comparisons between different products 
based on highly prescribed information, as set out in the 
regulations. Accordingly, Temple Bar has prepared its own 
KID, which is available on its website and has also been 
disseminated to various platform providers and investment 
allocators. However, the Board believes that there are 
aspects to the way that some of the information is required 
to be calculated and presented which cast signifi cant 
doubts over the validity of comparisons, particularly with 
non-investment trust products. As but one example, the 
KID rules require investment trusts to include as part of 
an ongoing cost calculation the cost of their borrowings. 
These borrowings are designed to enhance shareholder 
returns over the longer term; however, the costs of such 
borrowings are required to be included within total costs 

TEN YEAR RECORD

Total assets less 
current liabilities (£000)

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

422,408

553,392

603,444

585,480

664,648

905,775

913,198

869,535

968,790 1,050,285 

Net assets (£000)

359,020

489,988

540,022

522,040

601,191

792,070

799,444

755,755

879,940

936,366 

Net assets per 
ordinary share (pence)

Revenue return to ordinary 
shareholders (£000)

Revenue return 
per share (pence)

Dividends per share* (pence)

612.76

831.03

915.89

874.42

992.86 1,250.84 1,195.47 1,130.14 1,315.84

1,400.22 

20,614

20,017

18,915

22,552

24,873

22,274

25,782

26,663

29,253

28,958 

35.33

32.84

33.98

33.50

32.08

34.20

38.08

35.23

41.39

36.65

36.17

37.75

39.82

38.88

39.87

39.66

43.74

40.45

43.30 

41.66 

* Interim(s) and proposed fi nal for the year

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

3

 
 
 
 
  CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT CONTINUED

 Our preference is to focus on individual compan ies’ fi nancial strength and 
performance rather than seek to predict the direction of markets.

OUTLOOK

It may be something of a statement of the obvious to 
recognise that we face a number of political and economic 
risks over the short to medium term, such as the ramifi cations 
of Brexit negotiations, the consequences of attempts by 
certain central bankers to reverse ‘experimental’ policies 
relating to ultra-low interest rates and the accumulation on 
balance sheet of vast quantities of fi xed interest securities, 
and the possible impact of developments in US domestic and 
foreign policy under President Trump. However, over the long 
90 year existence of Temple Bar there have been numerous 
even more perilous events that it has successfully negotiated 
to provide good long term returns to its shareholders, not 
least by exploiting value opportunities arising from such 
dislocations.

In these circumstances our preference is to focus on 
individual compan ies’ fi nancial strength and performance 
rather than seek to predict the direction of markets. Through 
maintaining our approach of investing in a diversifi ed 
portfolio of mainly UK domiciled companies and with strict 
adherence to a Value based approach we believe that 
Temple Bar can continue to thrive notwithstanding future 
uncertainties. Furthermore, Temple Bar is well positioned to 
maintain its policy of paying a high and growing dividend for 
the foreseeable future.

John Reeve
Chairman

20  February 2018 

shown on the KID, without corresponding recognition of 
the potential benefi ts of such gearing, while ungeared 
investment vehicles have no such costs, thus distorting cost 
comparisons. Furthermore, investment trusts are required 
to show portfolio transaction costs while UCITS vehicles can 
currently exclude them, rendering comparisons meaningless. 
  The Board also has signifi cant reservations about the 
prescribed methodology for the calculation of performance 
projections in the KID, which, it believes, does not provide 
a reliable guide to investors and should not, therefore, be 
taken as an indicator of future performance expectations. 
As a result of these and other concerns the Board believes 
that more helpful and comparable information about Temple 
Bar’s costs and performance can be obtained both from the 
monthly factsheet published on the Temple Bar website and 
from information contained in the Annual Report.

WEBSITE

As the permanent representation of the Temple Bar brand 
and investment philosophy and the primary source for up-
to-date  relevant information, the effi cacy of the website for 
shareholders and other key users is paramount. A review 
of competitor websites revealed that the majority of 
‘independent’ investment company websites felt somewhat 
dated from both a design and technology perspective, 
and adopted a very similar ‘corporate’ online experience. 
As such, we believe there is an opportunity to make our 
website more modern looking, technologically advanced 
and easier to navigate, with the ultimate aim of improving 
the online experience for users. Consequently, a project to 
re-design the Temple Bar website was undertaken and the 
new site will go live early in 2018.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The AGM this year will be held once again at 2 Gresham 
Street, London EC2V 7QP on Monday 26 March 2018 at 
11am. In addition to the formal business of the meeting 
the portfolio manager will, as usual, make a presentation 
reviewing the past year and commenting on the outlook. 
He will also be available to answer questions alongside 
the directors. Shareholders who are unable to attend are 
encouraged to use their proxy votes.

4

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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MANAGER’S REVIEW

 After strong performance in 2016, relative returns were 
weaker in 2017. We were far from fully invested for the whole 
year, which did us no favours, but mainly it was poor stock 
selection in a diffi cult environment that held us back. 

A decade after the onset of the Global Financial Crisis, 
monetary policy remains on an emergency setting with short-
term interest rates still at historically low levels and long-term 
rates refl ecting the extraordinary amount of bond purchases 
that Central Banks have made. With economic growth across 
developed economies healthier than it has been for many 
years, policymakers are probably claiming victory. However, 
until monetary policy has been reversed we believe it would 
be premature for Central Bankers to conduct a victory lap. 

There is some offi cial acknowledgement of the unknown 
consequences of Quantitative Easing – the printing of money 
and subsequent purchase of fi nancial assets, normally bonds 
– together with other articulated concerns such as the lack 
of justifi cation for a continued emergency setting and the 
need for these policies to be available when next required. 
This suggests that the reversal of QE is at the forefront of the 
minds of central bankers. 

If Central Banks reduce signifi cantly the amount of bonds 
they own, bond markets will probably react to the absence of 
the massive buyer of the last decade. We believe that 

falling bond yields  have caused some peculiar outcomes: 
i) investors keen to maintain a certain amount of income 
have gravitated towards riskier assets; ii) a signifi cant amount 
of new bond issuance has been made at  negative yields 
(thus guaranteeing the buyers a loss if held to maturity); 
and iii) countries with less than stellar fi nancial histories (and 
probably futures) have been welcomed back to the sovereign 
bond market with so much enthusiasm that coupons on 
their bonds were reduced from initial expectations despite 
borrowing periods of up to 100 years.

As bond yields are used as a valuation tool for many other 
assets one must wonder how vulnerable fi nancial markets are 
in general to an increase in bond yields. 

Our concern is that markets are pricing in a perfect scenario: 
one in which economic growth is buoyant, infl ation remains 
subdued and monetary policy is carefully normalised with 
minimal volatility. However, one slip either way – for example 
through infl ation surprising on the upside or higher bond 
yields choking off economic growth – could very quickly 
affect investor sentiment. At a time when bonds and many 
equities stand at high valuations, markets could react very 
badly to any disappointment. 

With markets assuming that Central Banks have their 
backs, asset volatility has plummeted. Many investors 
have embraced the lower volatility by taking on more risk, 
effectively assuming high volatility is a relic of the past. 
A reversal in volatility could, therefore, very quickly force 
investors to liquidate positions, thus adding signifi cant 
momentum to any sell-off. 

Obviously, when markets are complacent about downside 
risk it becomes much harder for investors to stand to one 
side. However, we are convinced that patience is a vital 
part of our investment process and that we must not let the 
market bully us out of our concerns.

ALASTAIR MUNDY 

Alastair is head of the Value Team at Investec Asset 
Management having joined in 2000 from Morley 
Fund Management. 

In addition to Temple Bar Investment Trust, Alastair 
manages a number of funds including the Investec 
Cautious Managed Fund and the Investec UK Special 
Situations Fund. 

Alastair graduated from City University in 1988 with a 
Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

5

 
 
 
 
 
MANAGER’S REVIEW CONTINUED

  Infl ation may well have been written off too easily.

Heightened bond and equity valuations are often justifi ed 
by the claim that we are in a new environment of low 
infl ation and low interest rates. The narrative around low 
infl ation (the reduction in the bargaining power of labour, 
globalisation, technology) is indeed persuasive, but may 
tell us more about where we are rather than where we are 
going. If these drivers were so obvious, it is curious that 
long-term infl ation forecasts made say 10 years ago proved 
so inaccurate. One should therefore at least question 
today’s conventional wisdom. For example, while there is 
much written about robots taking human jobs this could 
be a very long-term trend, while in the short term skilled 
labour shortages could prove more important. The rise 
of populism worldwide could, as it has done historically, 
herald a rise in protectionism, a reversal of globalisation 
and higher prices. Infl ation may well have been written off 
too easily. 

THE UK EQUITY MARKET

In the UK equity market we have found this backdrop of 
‘low yields forever’ diffi cult. This has been compounded by 
concerns surrounding Brexit.  The market has bifurcated, 
with a group of growth stocks trading at very high 
valuations contrasting with a basket of mainly domestically 
orientated stocks trading at low valuations. This bifurcation 
is a direct consequence of the growth companies’ expected 
future profi ts being discounted at ever lower interest rates 
(as bond yields have fallen) whilst profi t downgrades in the 
domestic stocks have encouraged investors to extrapolate 
any bad news.

History tells us that extrapolation of good and bad news at 
ever more extreme valuations is rarely a sensible long-term 
investment strategy. Those companies priced to do well 
often disappoint and those priced for failure often surprise 
positively. The valuations of the cheap stocks currently 
discount a reasonable amount of negativity and our sense is 

that investors are already expecting a challenging outcome 
to Brexit.

Before we are too easily attracted to these lower 
valuations, however, we must accept there are genuine 
risks to consider. We are, in general, not simply analysing 
companies whose profi ts are purely cyclical; many are 
facing structural impediments too. For example, retailers 
are dealing with a signifi cant percentage of sales moving 
on-line and banks are facing an increasing amount of new 
competition and more onerous regulation. A number of 
the cheapest companies fi nd their actions constrained by 
high levels of debt (such as many pub companies) or face 
concerns over political involvement (the utilities) or low cost 
competition (the food retailers). It is easy to see why many 
investors would claim these stocks are cheap for a reason. 

We would not be surprised if a switch of investment style 
preferences from growth to value could prove quite violent. 
As usual there is unlikely to be a catalyst for any change 
in style and, even if there is, most investors will fi nd it 
impossible to re-align their portfolios at the prices they 
hoped.

PORTFOLIO POSITIONING

The overall shape of the Temple Bar portfolio is little 
different from a year ago. We have no exposure to highly 
rated stocks and consequently a clear skew to cheap stocks 
– a majority of which are dependent on the UK economy for 
their turnover. However, we still believe the UK domestic 
focused stocks could become cheaper (on the back of, for 
example, a nasty recession) so we retain a signifi cant cash 
position.

We continue to hold exposure to gold and silver as 
insurance against a number of uncertainties. The issues 
are manifold, but the central premise is that policymakers 

PORTFOLIO DISTRIBUTION %

Temple Bar

portfolio 

FTSE 

All-Share Index 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

Financials

Consumer Services

Industrials

Oil & Gas

Health Care

Basic Materials

 Utilities

 Physical Gold and Silver

 Consumer Goods

Telecommunications

Technology

Total Equities

Fixed Interest

Cash

%

26.60 

11.08 

10.79 

12.89 

 8.00

7.59 

 2.6 5

– 

15.61 

3.61 

 1.18

100.00

%

 25.38

15.41 

15.12 

11.03 

5.27 

3.87 

 2.73

2.72 

 1.77

 1.37

1.09 

85.76 

 13.08

1.16 

100.00

13

12

11

10

9
8

7

6

5

4

3

1

2

6

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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 We would not be surprised if a switch of investment style preferences 
from growth to value could prove quite violent. 

will be reluctant to raise interest rates too quickly (believing 
that infl ation is not a long-term threat) and will be content to 
print more money if they believe it necessary. Precious metals 
therefore act as insurance against Central Bankers either 
reacting to events with slothfulness or excessive enthusiasm.

PORTFOLIO ACTIVITY

Over the year we slightly reduced our banking exposure by 
lightening the holdings in HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group, 
 although we added to Barclays . 

We also increased exposure to the UK residential 
construction market through a purchase of brick maker 
Forterra and added to our holdings in builder’s merchant 
Travis Perkins and DIY retailer Kingfi sher (albeit we reduced 
our two largest holdings, SIG and Grafton). Increasingly, there 
is acceptance from both main political parties that there is a 
shortage of housing in the UK. Although we have been here 
many times this has now clearly become a signifi cant political 
issue and, therefore, we would expect to see some action. 
New housebuilding must surely increase from the current 
depressed levels (to the benefi t of Forterra) whilst capacity 
can also be increased by working on the current housing 
stock (extensions, conversions etc) thus supporting our 
exposure to the building related stocks.

We have only a small exposure to housebuilders – through 
Bovis Homes – believing it is safer to position the portfolio 
for greater housing activity in preference to continued house 
price infl ation. So far this strategy has proved to be wrong.

We switched some of our gold bullion and holding in gold 
miners into silver bullion and silver miners believing the 
supply and demand characteristics were superior for silver. 
Silver supply grows very slowly as not much of it is recycled 
and at current prices there is little incentive for silver 
miners to start new projects. Around two thirds of silver 
supply comes as a consequence of miners removing other 
commodities from the ground so any decrease in supply of 
these commodities (driven by, say a reduction in demand 
from China) could tighten the market signifi cantly. Demand 
for silver comes from a reasonably stable industrial sector  
plus its status as a precious metal.

The holdings in BAT and Imperial Brands were sold – the last 
remaining ‘bond proxies’ (the shares being highly correlated 
to the movement in bond prices). We believed this market 
theme had reached extreme levels and left these companies 
standing at valuations so high that they were vulnerable to 
any earnings disappointment or rise in bond yields.

Following a signifi cant de-rating of its shares, we purchased 
Next. The UK clothing market has been weak for some time 
and many commentators see no obvious signs of a reversal. 
There have been worries that Next’s margins,  and profi ts , 
are unsustainably high and that as the clothing market moves 

increasingly online and new competition wins market share 
these margins will come under pressure. The company had 
also suspended its share buy-back programme, thus giving 
investors the impression its shares were no longer cheap. 
We believed these arguments were over-cooked. Weak 
clothing sales are probably a cyclical issue rather than a 
structural issue and could be corrected with a new fashion 
cycle. Next is handling the changes in buying behaviour 
very well, as evidenced by a fairly stable market share and a 
proactive approach to changing its store profi le. Although 
management was probably unwise to suspend its buy-back 
programme, Next’s cashfl ow seems suffi cient for it to 
continue paying its dividends or to reinstate buy-backs.

EasyJ et was a victim of the Brexit referendum as investors 
worried about its customers’ ability to handle higher prices 
post a fall in the value of the pound and the effects of Brexit 
on EU airline regulation. This came at a time when both 
EasyJet and the industry were adding to capacity in the 
European short-haul market with concerns over whether this 
would affect pricing. We believed the market was missing the 
signifi cant competitive advantage EasyJet holds by virtue of 
its strong market share in the low-cost market, an advantage 
which should grow over the medium term as less effi cient 
competitors struggle to generate acceptable returns for their 
shareholders.

WHAT WORKED?

Grafton and SIG contributed most to our performance over 
the year. Whilst Grafton’s UK business continues to perform 
well, particularly Selco, its fi xed–price (non-negotiable) 
builder’s merchant, it has also benefi ted from an excellent 
recovery in its Irish business (both DIY and builder’s 
merchants) and its Benelux business. The shares moved 
to a premium rating to its competitors and we therefore 
lightened our holding whilst retaining signifi cant exposure 
to the company. SIG, primarily a distributor of insulation 
materials, appointed a new chief executive and operational 
performance improved very quickly. The share price rose 
signifi cantly refl ecting confi dence in the new management 
and once again we reduced our holding. 

As a retailer specialising in fantasy games, Games Workshop 
has a dedicated  and loyal customer base. The company 
has responded well to the challenge of meeting its 
customers’ aspirations for interesting games and characters; 
consequently sales and profi tability consistently surprised the 
market in 2017. EasyJ et performed well as the fears voiced 
by investors (see above) subsided and Computacenter, an IT 
services company, continued to deliver better than expected 
profi tability.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK?

Following a good run in the second half of 2016, Barclays 
underperformed the market. Investors were particularly 
frustrated at the lack of progress in turning around the 

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

7

 
 
 
 
MANAGER’S REVIEW CONTINUED

  We remain very defensively positioned and recognise that this has proved an 
expensive stance. 

PORTFOLIO POSITIONING

The exposure to the bank sector remains the largest on the 
portfolio. Whilst one could be dissuaded from investment 
by  regulatory fears, we believe this overlooks a number of 
positive factors. Underlying profi tability remains strong in 
the sector and it appears the regulators are now 
comfortable with the amount of capital the sector holds. 
We expect dividend payments to increase markedly in the 
next few years and believe that any increases in bad debts 
could, to some extent, be mitigated by margin expansion. 
Low interest rates and a fl at yield curve have created a very 
diffi cult backdrop for banks and any change here would be 
positive. 

OUTLOOK

We remain very defensively positioned and recognise that 
this has proved an expensive stance. However, we believe 
that central bank policy has taken many assets well beyond 
fair value and, therefore, believe that reversal of this policy 
could have the opposite effect. In contrast, if central banks 
fi nd it diffi cult to reverse policy, they may suspend such 
actions leading investors to conclude that we are stuck in a 
world of perpetual QE.

Alastair Mundy
For Investec Fund Managers Limited

20 February 2018

investment bank (and an increase in capital allocated to it). 
We still feel the company’s recovery is on the right track 
and that it has opportunities to cut operational costs and 
reduce its fi nancing costs. It would also be a signifi cant 
benefi ciary of higher interest rates. 

We have owned GlaxoSmithKline for the diversifi ed stream 
of earnings it provides the portfolio. We had also hoped 
that as a diverse healthcare conglomerate its earnings 
stream would prove fairly stable. After some years of 
decline, the company’s fortunes have indeed improved 
since the beginning of 2016. However, the new chief 
executive announced plans to increase costs (with the 
intention of more fully backing new drug launches) and 
also alluded to plans for an acquisition in its Consumer 
Healthcare division. Investors took the combination of 
higher costs and a potentially weaker balance sheet badly. 
We believe it is right to support the new management 
particularly as the shares stand on a very low rating and 
thus are sensitive to any unexpected good news.

Signet Jewelers has a leading position in the US jewellery 
market and we hoped this would enable it to drive profi ts 
higher. However, very weak customer traffi c in US shopping 
malls along with some signifi cant operational mistakes 
combined to produce a very poor trading performance.  
Once again, and this has been a recurring theme in the 
market in 2017, the profi t disappointment was so harshly dealt 
with that the shares have been left at  depressed levels. 

We had hoped that Centrica would also provide a durable 
and defensive profi t stream. However, it has faced a 
number of diffi culties such as loss of UK customers to 
cheaper competitors at a higher rate than expected plus 
operational disappointment in its US business. Reasonably 
new management has not endeared itself to investors with a 
surprise share placing, some acquisitions (suggesting a lack 
of confi dence in its core business) and a lack of clarity as to 
the cashfl ow investors can expect the company to generate. 
The fall in oil, gas and power prices of the last few years  has 
not helped. Once again, we believe the shares discount a lot 
of bad news so we have held on to them. 

As a supplier of electricity from coal-fi red stations many 
investors view Drax with great scepticism particularly as 
coal-fi red plants in the UK are expected to close by 2025. 
Drax has partially re-structured its activities by increasing 
its exposure to the business market, but it seems that 
Centrica’s woes have, unfairly we think, affected sentiment 
around Drax’s business. A large percentage of its profi ts 
now come from using biomass as a fuel and the company 
also holds meaningful exposure to the business energy 
supply market. The company believes it could convert its 
remaining coal–fi red plants to gas fi red at an economic 
cost. The market also has very low expectations for the 
amount of profi ts that could be generated from coal over 
the next eight, or even more, years. 

8

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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ATTRIBUTION ANALYSIS

By stocks held in the portfolio
Source: Factset

TOP TEN CONTRIBUTORS

BOTTOM TEN CONTRIBUTORS

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The bar charts above show the top and bottom contributors to total performance during the year from those stocks 
held in the portfolio.

Relative to the benchmark index
Source: Factset

TOP TEN CONTRIBUTORS

BOTTOM TEN CONTRIBUTORS

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The bar charts above show the top and bottom contributors relative to the performance of the FTSE All-Share Index during the 
year and include the impact of stocks not held in the portfolio. Both positive and negative relative performance can be derived 
from stocks that are not owned by Temple Bar.

* Not held in portfolio

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

9

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OVERVIEW OF STRATEGY

The directors present the strategic report for the Company 
for the year ended 31 December 2017.

The strategic report is designed to help shareholders assess 
how the directors have performed their duty to promote the 
success of the Company during the year under review.

From time to time fi xed interest holdings or non 
equity interests may be held for yield enhancement 
and other purposes. Derivative instruments are used in 
certain circumstances, and with the prior approval of the 
Board, for hedging purposes or to take advantage of 
specifi c investment opportunities.

BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY

Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC was incorporated 
in England and Wales in 1926 with the registered 
number 214601.

The Company carries on business as an investment company 
under Section 833 of the Companies Act 2006 and has been 
approved by HM Revenue & Customs as an investment trust in 
accordance with Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.

The Company’s principal business activity of investment 
management is sub-contracted to Investec Fund Managers 
Limited (‘IFM’), the Alternative Investment Fund Manager 
of the Company. IFM delegates the management of the 
Company’s portfolio to Investec Asset Management 
Limited (‘IAM’).

A review of the business is given in the Chairman’s Statement 
and the Manager’s Review. The results of the Company are 
shown on page 36 .

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND POLICY

The Company’s investment objective is to provide growth 
in income and capital to achieve a long term total return 
greater than the benchmark FTSE All-Share Index, through 
investment primarily in UK Listed securities. The Company’s 
policy is to invest in a broad spread of securities with typically 
the majority of the portfolio selected from the constituents of 
the FTSE 350 Index.

The UK equity element of the portfolio will be mostly 
invested in the FTSE All-Share Index; however, exceptional 
positions may be sanctioned by the Board and up to 20% of 
the portfolio may be held in listed international equities in 
developed economies. The Company may continue to hold 
securities that cease to be quoted or listed if the Manager 
considers this to be appropriate. There is an absolute 
limit of 10% of the portfolio in any individual stock with a 
maximum exposure to a specifi c industrial or commercial 
sector of 25%, in each case irrespective of their weightings 
in the benchmark index.

It is the Company’s policy to invest no more than 15% of its 
gross assets in other listed investment companies (including 
listed investment trusts).

The Company maintains a diversifi ed portfolio of investments, 
typically comprising 70-80 holdings, but without restricting 
the Company from holding a more or less concentrated 
portfolio from time to time as circumstances require.

The Company’s long term investment strategy emphasises:

•  Achieving a portfolio yield of between 120-140% 

of that of the FTSE All-Share Index.

•  Stocks of companies that are out of favour and whose 

share prices do not match the Manager’s assessment of 
their longer term value.

Liquidity and borrowings are managed with the aim of 
increasing returns to shareholders. The Company’s net 
gearing range may fl uctuate between 0% and 30%, based 
on the current balance sheet structure, with an absolute limit 
of 50%.

As a general rule it is the Board’s intention that the portfolio 
should be reasonably fully invested. An investment level of 
90% of shareholder funds is regarded as a guideline minimum 
investment level dependent on market conditions.

Risk is managed through diversifi cation of holdings, 
investment limits set by the Board and appropriate fi nancial 
and other controls relating to the administration of assets.

INVESTMENT APPROACH

The investment approach of the Manager is premised on 
a contrarian view on the timing of buy and sell decisions, 
buying the shares of companies when sentiment towards 
them is thought to be near its worst and selling them as 
fundamental profi t improvement and/or re-evaluation of 
their long term prospects takes place.

The belief is that repeated investor behaviour in driving 
down the prices of ‘out of favour’ companies to below their 
fair value will offer investment opportunities. This will allow 
the Company to purchase shares at signifi cant discounts to 
their fair value and to sell them as they become more fully 
valued, principally as a result of predictable patterns in 
human psychology.

The Manager’s process is designed to produce ‘best ideas’ 
to drive active fund management within a rigorous control 
framework. The framework begins through narrowing down 
the universe of stocks by passing those companies with a 
market capitalisation above £200 million through a screening 
process which highlights the weakest performing stocks. 
This isolates opportunities with the most negative sentiment 
characteristics which are then in turn scrutinised in greater 
detail to identify investment opportunities.

The process is very much bottom up and can result in large 
sector positions being taken if enough stocks of suffi cient 
interest are found within a single sector. However, top down 
risk analysis is undertaken to identify potential concentration 
of risk and to factor this awareness into portfolio construction. 
The portfolio comprises stocks which have been purchased 
for different reasons and at different times. In general, 
because of the bottom up approach to stockpicking, each of 
these reasons is independent of the other and the portfolio, 
therefore, is not excessively vulnerable to longer term macro 
trends. Cash is a residual of the process and normally will not 
exceed 15% of the portfolio value.

10

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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I

S
T
R
A
T
E
G
C
R
E
P
O
R
T

G
O
V
E
R
N
A
N
C
E
R
E
P
O
R
T

I

I

F
N
A
N
C
A
L
R
E
P
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T

S
H
A
R
E
H
O
L
D
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I

N
F
O
R
M
A
T
I
O
N

The approach to stock selection and portfolio construction is 
driven by four core beliefs:

1. 

 Markets overreact to news on the upside and the 
downside. The Manager aims to be sceptical of the crowd 
and aware of investor psychology, which often causes 
overvaluation of those stocks that are deemed to have 
good prospects and an undervaluation of those which are 
out of favour.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

The  key performance indicators (‘KPIs’) used to determine the 
progress and performance of the Company over time, and 
which are comparable to those reported by other investment 
trusts, are:

•  Net asset value total return relative to the FTSE 

All-Share Index and to competitors within the UK Equity 
Income sector of investment trust companies;

2.   There are few companies which sustain below normal 

profi ts over the longer term. Weaker companies tend to 
leave an industry, thus improving the balance of supply 
and demand, are bid for or management is changed. 
Similarly, there are few companies which can sustain 
supernormal profi ts over the longer term. Such profi ts 
tend to be competed or regulated away.

3.   Fundamental valuation is the key determinant of share 
price performance over the long term. In other words 
‘cheap’ stocks will outperform ‘expensive’ stocks.

4.   Diversifi cation is an important control. Particular 
companies or sectors can be out of favour for a 
considerable time.

PERFORMANCE

In the year to 31 December 2017 the net asset value total 
return of the Company was 9.7 % compared with a total return 
of the Company’s benchmark index of 13.1  %. The effect of 
removing gearing from the performance calculation is shown 
in the following graph of investment performance over a fi ve 
year period compared with the FTSE All-Share Index. The 
Chairman’s Statement on pages 2 to 4      and the Manager’s 
Review on pages 5  to 8  include a review of developments 
during the year together with information on investment 
activity within the Company’s portfolio and an assessment of 
future developments.

Ungeared 5 year performance

•  Discount/premium on net asset value;

•  Earnings and dividends per share; and

•  Ongoing charges.

While some elements of performance against KPIs are 
beyond management control they provide measures of 
the Company’s absolute and relative performance and are, 
therefore, monitored by the Board on a regular basis.

Net asset value (‘NAV’) total return
In reviewing the performance of the assets of the Company’s 
portfolio the Board monitors the NAV in relation to the FTSE 
All-Share Index. This is the most important KPI by which 
performance is judged. During the year the net asset value 
total return of the Company was 9.7 % compared with a total 
return of 13.1  % by the FTSE All-Share Index. The fi ve year net 
asset value total return performance is shown below.

Net asset value total return

180

160

140

120

100

80

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream

Temple Bar share price – total return
 Temple Bar NAV – total return
FTSE All-Share Index – total return

The Board also monitors Temple Bar’s performance relative 
to its peer group over various time periods and believes that 
this is satisfactory.

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Temple Bar – gross assets, excluding effects of gearing and associated costs
FTSE All-Share Index - total return

Sources: Thomson Reuters Datastream and IAM

180

160

140

120

100

80

2012

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

11

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
OVERVIEW OF STRATEGY CONTINUED

Discount on net asset value
The Board monitors the premium/discount at which the 
Company’s shares trade in relation to the net assets. During 
the year the shares traded at an average discount to NAV 
of 4.7 %. This compares with an average discount of 7.3% in 
the previous year. The Board and Manager closely monitor 
both movements in the Company’s share price and signifi cant 
dealings in the shares. In order to avoid substantial overhangs 
or shortages of shares in the market the Board asks 
shareholders to approve resolutions which allow for both the 
buy back of shares and their issuance which can assist in the 
management of the discount or premium.

(Discount)/premium to net asset value 
(excluding current year revenue)

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0%

-1%

-2%

-3%

-4%

-5%

-6%

-7%

-8%

-9%

-10%

-11%

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Cum income NAV, debt at market value

Source: Morningstar

Earnings and dividend per share
It remains the directors’ intention to distribute, over time, 
by way of dividends substantially all of the Company’s 
net revenue income after expenses and taxation, subject 
to preserving a prudent balance in revenue reserves to 
facilitate a smooth dividend progression. The Manager aims 
to maximise total returns from the portfolio and attaches 
great importance to dividends in achieving total return.

The portfolio will typically provide a yield premium to the 
market. The fi nal dividend recommended for the year is 
17.48 p per ordinary share which brings the total for the year 
to 42.47 p per ordinary share, an increase of 5.0 %  from the 
prior year. This will be the 34th consecutive year in which 
the Company has increased the overall level of its dividend 
payment.

140

130

120

110

100

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Temple Bar

Retail Prices Index

Source: Bloomberg

10 Year Comparative Dividend Growth
Ongoing charges
Ongoing charges is an expression of the Company’s 
management fees and other operating expenses as a 
percentage of average daily net assets over the year. The 
ongoing charges for the year ended 31 December 2017 were 
0.49 % (2016: 0.51%). The Board compares the Company’s 
ongoing charges with those of its peers on a regular basis. 
At the present time the Company has one of the lowest 
ongoing charges in the UK Equity Income sector of 
investment trust companies.

12

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

With the assistance of the Manager the Board has drawn up 
a risk matrix which identifi es the key risks to the Company. 
The Board has carried out a robust assessment of these risks 
which includes those that would threaten the Company’s 
business model, future performance, solvency or liquidity. 
The Board reviews and agrees policies, which have remained 
unchanged since the beginning of the accounting period, for 
managing these risks, as summarised below.

Investment strategy risk
An inappropriate investment strategy on matters such 
as asset allocation or the level of gearing may lead to 
underperformance against the Company’s benchmark 
index or peer companies, resulting in the Company’s shares 
trading on a wider discount. The Board manages such risks 
by diversifi cation of investments through its investment 
restrictions and guidelines, which are monitored and 
reported on by the Manager. The Manager provides the 
directors with regular management information including 
absolute and relative performance data, attribution analysis, 
revenue estimates, liquidity reports, risk profi le and 
shareholder analysis. The Board monitors the implementation 
and results of the investment process with the portfolio 
manager, who attends Board meetings. Periodically the 
Board holds a separate meeting devoted to strategy, the 
most recent being in January 2016.

Income risk – dividends
Generating the necessary level of income from portfolio 
investments to meet the Company’s expenses and to 
provide adequate reserves from which to base a sustainable 
programme of increasing dividend payments to shareholders 
is subject to the risk that income generation from investments 
fails to meet the level required. The Board monitors this risk 
through the receipt of detailed income reports and forecasts 
which are considered at each meeting. As at 31 December 
2017 the Company had distributable revenue reserves of 
£33.4  million before declaration of the fi nal dividend 
for 2017 of £11.7   million.

Share price risk
The Company’s share price and premium or discount to 
NAV are monitored by the Manager and considered by the 
Board on a regular basis. The directors attach considerable 
importance to any premium or discount to NAV at which 
the shares trade, both in absolute terms and relative to the 
average rating at which the UK Equity Income sector of 
investment trusts as a whole is trading. Premiums judged 
to be excessive will be addressed by repeated share 
issues, either new or from Treasury. Discounts judged to be 
excessive will be addressed by repeated share buybacks, 
for Treasury or cancellation. The directors are prepared to 
be proactive in premium/discount management to minimise 
potential disadvantages to shareholders. However, market 
sentiment is beyond the absolute control of the Manager and 
the Board.

Accounting, legal & regulatory
In order to qualify as an investment trust the Company must 
comply with Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010. 
Were the Company to breach Section 1158 it might lose 
investment trust status and, as a consequence, gains within 
the Company’s portfolio would be subject to capital gains 
tax. The Section 1158 qualifi cation criteria are, therefore, 
monitored by the Board at each meeting.

 The Company must also comply with the provisions of the 
Companies Act and, since its shares are listed on the London 
Stock Exchange, the UKLA Listing Rules. A breach of the 
Companies Act could result in the Company being fi ned or 
subject to criminal proceedings. Breach of the UKLA Listing 
Rules could result in the Company’s shares being suspended 
from Listing which in turn would breach Section 1158. The 
Board relies on the services of its Company Secretary, IAM, 
and its professional advisers to ensure compliance with the 
Companies Act and the UKLA Listing Rules and is satisfi ed that 
they are able to provide an appropriate service in this regard.

       Control systems risk

Disruption to, or failure of, IFM’s accounting, dealing or 
payments systems or the custodian’s records could prevent 
accurate reporting and monitoring of the Company’s fi nancial 
position or adversely impact the ability to trade. Details of 
how the Board monitors the services provided by IFM and 
its associates and the key elements designed to provide 
effective internal control are included within the internal 
control section of the corporate governance report on 
page 23 .

Other risks
Other risks to which the Company is exposed and which 
form part of the market risks referred to above are included 
in note 22 to the fi nancial statements together with 
summaries of the policies for managing these risks. These 
comprise; market price risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, 
credit risk and currency risk.

VIABILITY STATEMENT

The Board makes an assessment of the longer term prospects 
of the Company beyond the timeframe envisaged under 
the going concern basis of accounting having regard to the 
Company’s current position and the principal risks it faces. 
The Company is a long term investment vehicle and the 
directors, therefore, believe that it is appropriate to assess 
its viability over a long term horizon. For the purposes of 
assessing the Company’s prospects in accordance with Code 
Provision C.2.2 of the UK Corporate Governance Code, the 
Board considers that assessing the Company’s prospects 
over a period of fi ve years is appropriate given the nature 
of the Company and the inherent uncertainties of looking 
beyond   a longer time period. The directors believe that a fi ve 
year period appropriately refl ects the long term strategy of 
the Company and over which, in the absence of any adverse 
change to the regulatory environment and the favourable 
tax treatment afforded to UK investment trusts, they do 
not expect there to be any signifi cant change to the current 
principal risks and to the adequacy of the mitigating controls 
in place.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

13

 
 
 
 
OVERVIEW OF STRATEGY CONTINUED

In assessing the viability of the Company the directors have 
conducted a thorough assessment of each of the Company’s 
principal risks and uncertainties as set out on page 13 . 
Particular scrutiny was given to the impact of a signifi cant 
fall in global equity markets on the value of the Company’s 
investment portfolio. The directors have also considered the 
Company’s leverage and liquidity in the context of its long 
dated fi xed rate borrowings,  its income and expenditure 
projections and the fact the Company’s investments comprise 
mainly readily realisable quoted securities which can be sold 
to meet funding requirements if necessary. 

All the key operations required by the Company are 
outsourced to third party providers and alternative providers 
could be secured at relatively short notice if necessary.

Having taken into account the Company’s current 
position and the potential impact of its principal risks and 
uncertainties, the directors have a reasonable expectation 
that the Company will be able to continue in operation and 
meet its liabilities as they fall due for a period of fi ve years 
from the date of this Report. 

MODERN SLAVERY ACT

Due to the nature of the Company’s business, being 
a company that does not offer goods and services to 
customers, the Board considers that it is not within the 
scope of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 because it has no 
turnover. The Company is therefore not required to make 
a slavery and human traffi cking statement. In any event, 
the Board considers the Company’s supply chains, dealing 
predominantly with professional advisers and service 
providers in the fi nancial services industry, to be low risk in 
relation to this matter.

GENDER DIVERSITY

At the year end there were fi ve male directors and two 
female directors on the Board. The Company has no 
employees and therefore there is nothing further to report 
in respect of gender representation within the Company.

The Company’s policy on diversity is detailed in the 
corporate governance report on page 23 .

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

All the Company’s activities are outsourced to third parties. 
The Company therefore has no greenhouse gas emissions to 
report from its operations.

BRIBERY ACT

The Company has a zero tolerance policy towards bribery 
and is committed to carrying out business fairly, honestly and 
openly. The Managers also adopt a zero tolerance approach 
and have policies and procedures in place to prevent bribery.

CRIMINAL FINANCES ACT 2017

The Company has a commitment to zero tolerance towards 
the criminal facilitation of tax evasion.

EMPLOYEE, SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, ETHICAL 
AND HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY

The Company is managed by IFM, has no employees and 
all its directors are non-executive. There are, therefore, no 
disclosures to be made in respect of employees. The Board 
notes the Manager’s policy statement in respect of Social, 
Environmental and Governance issues, as outlined below.

STEWARDSHIP/ENGAGEMENT

The Manager recognises its wider stewardship 
responsibilities to its clients as a major asset owner. To this 
end, it supports the FRC Stewardship Code, which sets out 
the responsibilities of institutional shareholders in respect of 
investee companies. Under the Code, managers should:

•  publicly disclose their policy on how they will discharge 

their stewardship responsibilities to their clients;

•  disclose their policy on managing confl icts of interest;

•  monitor their investee companies;

•  establish clear guidelines on how they escalate engagement;

•  be willing to act collectively with other investors 

where appropriate;

•  have a clear policy on proxy voting and disclose their 

voting record; and

• 

report to clients.

The Manager endorses the Stewardship Code for its UK 
investments and supports the principles as best practice 
elsewhere. The Manager believes that regular contact with 
the companies in which it invests is central to its investment 
process and it also recognises the importance of being an 
‘active’ owner on behalf of its clients.

The Manager believes that companies should act in a 
socially responsible manner. Although its priority at all times 
is the best economic interests of its clients, it recognises 
that, increasingly, non-fi nancial issues such as social and 
environmental factors have the potential to impact the share 
price, as well as the reputation of companies. Specialists 
within the Manager’s Environmental, Social and Governance 
(ESG) team work with the investment teams to appropriately 
integrate material ESG factors into the investment process.

The Manager’s Voting Policy and Corporate Governance 
Guidelines are available on request from the Company 
Secretary or can be downloaded from its website.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

The future development of the Company is dependent on 
the success of its investment strategy in the light of economic 
and equity market developments. The outlook is discussed 
in the Chairman’s Statement on page 2 and the Manager’s 
Review on page 5 .

By order of the Board of Directors

John Reeve
Chairman
20 February 2018

14

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS

INDUSTRY

PLACE OF 
PRIMARY LISTING

VALUATION OF 
HOLDING £ 000

% OF PORTFOLIO

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

 UK TREASURY 1.25% 2018
Held in the portfolio in lieu of cash.

 HSBC HOLDINGS
 HSBC Holdings is one of the world’s largest banks. It 
operates four global businesses; retail banking and wealth 
management, commercial banking, global banking and 
markets and private banking. The company has been 
reducing exposure to peripheral areas and refocussing on 
under-managed core assets. Approximately 2/3 of pre-tax 
profi ts are from Asia .

 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL 
Royal Dutch Shell is a global oil and gas company. It is one 
of the six oil and gas “supermajors”. It is vertically-integrated 
and is active in oil and gas exploration and production, 
refi ning, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, 
power generation and trading. The fall in the oil price has 
focussed management attention on cost effi ciencies. The 
BG acquisition increased debt and has necessitated some 
disposals.

 GLAXOSMITHKLINE
 GlaxoSmithKline is a global health care company focussing 
on pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare. After 
a number of years of earnings disappointment  a new chief 
executive has been appointed.

BP
BP is a global oil and gas company and is one of the 
six oil and gas “supermajors”. It is vertically-integrated 
and is active in oil and gas exploration and production, 
refi ning, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, 
power generation and trading. Like Shell, the Company is 
concentrated on operating effi ciencies.

 BARCLAYS 
 Barclays has signifi cant consumer, corporate and investment 
banking positions, particularly focussed on the UK and the 
US. M     anagement has  reduced the non-core part of the 
business and re-buil t capital strength. Signifi cant efforts are 
being made to improve the    profi tability of the investment 
banking division.

 GRAFTON GROUP
 Grafton is a distributor of building products that operates 
across the UK and Ireland and also has a small Benelux 
business. The group operates from about 500 sites in the UK, 
and this is by far its most important market, accounting for 
approximately 75% of sales. UK profi tability has been held 
back by disappointing spend on improvement of the UK 
housing stock but this spending should bounce back.

 SIG
SIG is a specialist distributor of building products in Europe. 
Its three core product areas are insulation and energy 
management, exteriors and interiors. New management has 
the opportunity to improve disappointing earnings history.

 ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND 
 RBS operates across a wide range of banking activities 
including personal and corporate lending, capital markets, 
leasing, personal fi nancial services and private banking. 
The majority of the bank’ s assets are located in the UK. 
The company’s balance sheet is strong and we hope to see 
dividend payments resume soon.

10

 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP
Lloyds Banking Group operates across a wide range of UK 
centric banking activities including retail and commercial 
banking and insurance.  We believe the UK banking sector 
is through the worst on regulation and that consequently 
investors should expect attractive dividend payments.

UK

 128,815 

 12.4 %

UK

  76,013 

 7.3 %

UK

  62,990 

 6.1  %

UK

  55,261 

 5.3 %

UK

  52,541 

 5.1  %

UK

  46,619 

 4.5 %

UK

  42,354 

 4.1  %

UK

  37,162 

 3.6  %

UK

  34,239 

 3.3 %

UK

  34,091 

 3.3  %

Fixed 
Interest

Financials

Oil & Gas

Healthcare

Oil & Gas

Financials

Industrials

Industrials

Financials

Financials

Top Ten Investments

£570,085  

 55.0 %

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

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PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS CONTINUED

PLACE OF 
PRIMARY LISTING

VALUATION OF 
HOLDING £ 000

% OF 
PORTFOLIO

COMPANY
Travis Perkins  

Tesco 

CitiGroup 

11

12

13

14 WM Morrison Supermarkets 

15 Marks & Spencer  

16

17

18

19

20

ETFS Physical Silver 

Yara International 

Direct Line Insurance 

Centrica 

CRH  

Top Twenty Investments

21

22

Signet Jewel ers 

Easyjet 

23 Global X Silver Miners ETF 

24

25

BT Group 

Land Securities REIT 

26 Next 

27 Games Workshop 

28

Ladbrokes Coral 

29 Green REIT 

30

Forterra 

Top Thirty Investments

31

32

33

Computacenter 

Kingfi sher 

Drax 

34 Go Ahead 

35

Aggreko 

INDUSTRY

Industrials 

Consumer Services 

Financials 

Consumer Services 

Consumer Services 

UK

UK

USA 

 UK

UK

Physical Gold and Silver  UK

Basic Materials 

Norway 

Financials 

Utilities 

Industrials 

Consumer Services 

Consumer Services 

Basic Materials 

Telecommunications 

Financials

Consumer Services

Consumer Goods

Consumer Services

UK

 UK

UK

USA 

 UK

USA 

UK

 UK

UK

UK

UK

Financials 

Industrials 

Ireland 

UK

Technology 

Consumer Services 

Utilities 

Consumer Services 

Industrials 

UK

 UK

 UK

UK

UK

36 Gold Bullion Securities ETF 

Physical Gold and Silver  UK

37

38

39

40

International Personal Finance 5% 2021 

Fixed Interest 

Brown (N) Group 

Consumer Services 

Royal Mail 

Chemring 

Industrials 

Industrials 

Top Forty Investments

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

VanEck Vectors Gold Miners 

Bovis Homes 

Avon Products 

British Land REIT 

Countrywide 

Dixons Carphone 

Basic Materials 

Consumer Goods 

Consumer Goods 

Financials 

Financials 

Consumer Services 

Lloyds Banking Group – preference 
shares 

Financials 

Aviva 2020 5.9021% FRN Perpetual 

Fixed Interest

Hochschild Mining 

St Ives 

Basic Materials 

Industrials 

Top Fifty Investments

UK

UK

 UK

UK

USA 

UK

USA 

UK

UK

UK

UK

UK

UK

UK

51

Johnston Press 

Consumer Services 

UK

Total Valuation of Portfolio

27,448  

26,710   

26,540   

26,014   

20,873   

19,666  

18,938   

17,809   

17,455   

16,998   

2.7  % 

2.6  % 

2. 6% 

2.5 % 

2.0 % 

1.9 % 

1.8 % 

1.7 % 

1.7  % 

1.6 % 

788,536  

76.1 % 

15,844  

15,717  

15,618  

14,328  

13,631  

13,592  

12,769  

12,671  

11,845  

11,761  

1.5 % 

1.5 % 

1.5 % 

1.4  % 

1.3 % 

1.3 % 

1.2 % 

1.2 % 

1.1 % 

1.1 % 

926,312   

89.4 % 

11,390  

11,243  

11,200  

10,178  

9,513  

8,875  

7,201  

6,777  

6,388  

6,306  

1.1 % 

1.1  % 

1.1  % 

1.0   % 

0.9 % 

0.9  % 

0.7 % 

0.7  % 

0.6 % 

0.6 % 

1,015,383  

98.1  % 

5,052  

3,549  

2,264  

2,053  

2,007  

1,802  

1,062  

1,031  

950  

511  

0.5  % 

0.3 % 

0.2 % 

0.2 % 

0. 2   %

0.2  % 

0.1 % 

0.1 % 

0.1  % 

0.1  % 

1,035,664   

100.0 % 

6  

 1,035,670   

0.0 % 

100.0 % 

16

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

JOHN REEVE

RICHARD JEWSON*

ARTHUR COPPLE

John Reeve, Chairman, was appointed 
a director in 1992. He was formerly 
executive chairman of the Willis Group, 
group managing director of Sun Life 
Assurance Society and a member of 
the boards of the Association of British 
Insurers and the International Insurance 
Society. He is a director of a number of 
other companies.

Richard Jewson, senior independent 
director, was appointed a director in 
2001. He fi rst worked in the timber 
and building material supply industry, 
becoming managing director of 
Jewson, the builders’ merchants, for 
twelve years from 1974, and then 
managing director and chairman of its 
parent company Meyer International 
PLC from which he retired in 1993. He 
is currently chairman of Raven Russia 
Limited and Tritax Big Box REIT PLC 
and a non-executive director of other 
private companies.

Arthur Copple was appointed a 
director in 2011. He has specialised 
in the investment company sector for 
over 30 years. He was a partner at 
Kitcat & Aitken, an executive director of 
Smith New Court PLC and a managing 
director of Merrill Lynch. He is currently 
a director of Montanaro UK Smaller 
Companies Investment Trust PLC and 
The University of Brighton Academies 
Trust.

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JUNE DE MOLLER

June de Moller was appointed a 
director in 2005. She is a former 
managing director of Carlton 
Communications PLC and was 
previously a non-executive director of J 
Sainsbury PLC, Cookson Group PLC, BT 
PLC and Derwent London PLC.

RICHARD WYATT

Richard Wyatt was appointed a director 
in 2017. He is a former Group Managing 
Director at Schroders, Lazard and a 
Vice Chairman at Rothschild. He was 
Chairman of the media agency Engine 
Group and served on the Regulatory 
Decisions Committee of the FSA. He 
is currently Chairman of Loudwater 
Partners Limited and    Jack Wills Limited 
and a director of a number of other 
companies.

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NICHOLAS LYONS

LESLEY SHERRATT

Nicholas Lyons was appointed 
a director in 2017. He worked in 
investment banking for 21 years, 
retiring in 2003 from Lehman Brothers 
as a Managing Director where he 
specialsied in advising fi nancial 
institutions on mergers and acquisitions 
and capital raising. He is currently 
Senior Independent Director at  
Pension Insurance Corporation and of 
Clipstone Logistics REIT plc. He was 
previously Chairman of Miller Insurance 
Services LLP and Price Forbes Holdings 
Limited and a non-executive director 
of Catlin Group Limited, Friends LIfe 
Group Limited and of other private 
companies.

Lesley Sherratt was appointed a 
director in 2015. She was formerly 
Investment Director for the Save & 
Prosper and Fleming Flagship range 
of funds, and CEO & CIO of Ark Asset 
Management Ltd. She has over twenty 
years experience investing in the 
fi nancial sector, including investment 
trusts, and served as a director 
and Chair of US Small Companies 
Investment Trust. She is currently 
a director of a private foundation, 
lectures in global business ethics at 
King‘s College London and is the 
author of ‘Can Microfi nance Work? 
How to Improve its Ethical Balance and 
Effectiveness‘.

All the directors are independent and 
members of the audit and nomination 
committees.
* Chairman of the audit committee and 
Senior Independent Director.

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

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REPORT OF DIRECTORS

The directors present their report and accounts for the
year ended 31 December 201 7.

THE ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT FUND MANAGERS 
DIRECTIVE (‘AIFMD’)

Investec Fund Managers Limited (‘IFM’), an affi liate of 
Investec Asset Management Limited (‘IAM’), is the Company’s 
A lternative  Investment  Fund  Manager (‘AIFM’ or ‘Manager’). 
For the purposes of the AIFMD the Company is an A lternative 
I nvestment F und (‘AIF’). IFM has delegated responsibility for 
the day to day management of the Company’s portfolio to 
IAM.

IFM is required to ensure that a depositary is appointed and 
accordingly IFM and the Company have appointed HSBC as 
the depositary and custodian. HSBC is responsible for the 
custody of the Company’s assets and for monitoring its 
cash fl ows.

The AIFMD requires certain information to be made available 
to investors in AIFs before they invest and requires that 
material changes to this information be disclosed in the 
annual report of each AIF. An Investor Information Document, 
which sets out information on the Company’s investment 
strategy and policies, leverage, risk, liquidity, administration, 
management, fees, confl icts of interest and other shareholder 
information is available on the Company’s website at 
www.templebarinvestments.co.uk.

There have been no material changes to this information 
requiring disclosure. Any information requiring immediate 
disclosure pursuant to the AIFMD will be disclosed to the 
London Stock Exchange through a primary information 
provider. As an authorised AIFM, IFM will make the requisite 
disclosures on remuneration levels and policies to the 
Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) at the appropriate time.

MANAGEMENT FEES

The Company has a management agreement with Investec 
Fund Managers Limited (‘IFM’) for the provision of investment 
management services. The agreement is subject to one year’s 
notice of termination by either party.

IFM receives an investment management fee of 0.35% 
per annum, payable quarterly, based on the value of the 
investments (including cash) of the Company together with 
an additional fee of £125,000 pa, plus or minus 0.005% of 
the value of the investments (including cash) of the Company 
above or below £750 million, calculated and payable 
quarterly. Investments in funds managed by IFM are wholly 
excluded from this charge.

There is also a fee payable to Investec Asset Management 
Limited of £45,450  pa in respect of the provision of 
secretarial and administrative services, adjusted annually 
in line with the Retail Price Index.

 The contract terms are reviewed at least annually. This 
covers, inter alia, the performance of the Manager, its 
management processes, investment style, resources 
and risk controls. The Board endorses the investment 
approach adopted by the Manager, recognising that while 
the contrarian style can sometimes lead to periods of 
underperformance it usually delivers superior investment 
returns over the longer term. In addition, the portfolio 
has produced high and growing dividend income to 
shareholders. In the opinion of the directors the continued 
appointment of the Manager on the terms set out above is, 
therefore, in the best interests of shareholders.

GOING CONCERN

The directors have reviewed the going concern basis of 
accounting for the Company. The Company’s assets consist 
substantially of equity shares in listed companies and in most 
circumstances are realisable within a short timescale. The 
use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate 
because there are no material uncertainties related to events 
or conditions that may cast signifi cant doubt about the ability 
of the Company to continue as a going concern. After making 
enquiries, the directors have a reasonable expectation 
that the Company has adequate resources to continue in 
operational existence for the foreseeable future, including 
recourse to a £7.5 million overdraft facility with HSBC Bank. 
Accordingly, the directors continue to adopt the going 
concern basis in preparing the accounts.

ORDINARY DIVIDENDS

Interim dividends of 8.33p per ordinary share were paid on 
30 June 201 7, 29 September 2017 and 29 December 
2017 (2016: 8.09p in each case) and the directors are 
recommending a fi nal dividend of 17.48      p per ordinary share 
(2016: 16.18p), a total for the year of 42.47      p (2016: 40.45p). 
Subject to shareholders’ approval, the fi nal dividend will be 
paid on 29 March 2018 to shareholders on the register on 
9  March 2018.

ISAs

The Company has conducted its investment policy so as to 
remain a qualifying investment trust under the Individual 
Savings Account (ISA) regulations. It is the intention of the 
Board to continue to satisfy these regulations.

18

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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SHARE CAPITAL

No new ordinary shares were issued during the year.

SECTION 992 OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2006

The following information is disclosed in accordance with 
Section 992 of the Companies Act 2006.

Capital structure
The Company’s capital structure is summarised on page  46.

Voting Rights in the Company’s Shares 
The voting rights at 31 December 2017 were:

Share class

Ordinary shares 
of 25p each

Number of 
shares issued

Voting rights 
per share

Total 
voting rights

66,872,765

1

66,872,765

As at 20 February 2018 , the share capital of the Company and 
total voting rights were  66,872,765. There are no restrictions 
on the transfer of securities in the Company and there are 
no special rights attached to any of the shares. Deadlines for 
the exercise of voting rights and details of arrangements by 
which someone other than the registered shareholder can 
exercise voting rights are provided in the Notes to the Notice 
of Meeting on page 53 . The Company’s ordinary shares have 
a Premium listing on the London Stock Exchange.

To the extent that they exist, the revenue profi ts and capital 
of the Company (including accumulated revenue and realised 
capital reserves) are available for distribution by way of 
dividends to the holders of the ordinary shares. Upon a 
winding-up, after meeting the liabilities of the Company, the 
surplus assets would be distributed to the shareholders pro 
rata to their holding of ordinary shares.

Change of control
There are no agreements that may be altered or terminated 
on change of control of the Company.

DIRECTORS

The directors of the Company who held offi ce at the end 
of the year are detailed on page 17 . David Webster retired 
as a director on 31 December 2017. No other person was 
a director during any part of the year. Details of directors’ 
benefi cial shareholdings may be found in the Report on 
Directors‘ Remuneration on page 21 .

All the directors will be retiring in compliance with the 
provisions of the AIC Code and, each being eligible, the 
Board recommends their re-election. In making these 
recommendations the Board has carefully reviewed the 
composition of the Board as a whole and borne in mind the 
need for a proper balance of skills and experience. The Board 
does not believe that length of service of itself detracts from 
the independence of a director, particularly in relation to an 
investment trust, and on that basis considers that all directors 
standing for re-election are independent. It is confi rmed that, 
following formal evaluation, the performance of each director 
continues to be effective and each continues to demonstrate 
commitment to the role.

There were no contracts subsisting during or at the end 
of the year in which a director of the Company is or was 
interested and which are or were signifi cant in relation to the 
Company’s business. No director has a service contract with 
the Company.

The Company maintains insurance cover for its directors 
under a Directors’ & Offi cers’ Liability policy, as permitted by 
the Companies Act 2006. Directors are also covered by the 
indemnity provisions in the Company‘s Articles of Association.

SUBSTANTIAL SHAREHOLDERS

As at 31 December 2017 and 20 February 2018 the following 
were registered or had indicated an interest in 3% or more of 
the issued ordinary shares of the Company.

Brewin Dolphin Ltd

Alliance Trust Savings Ltd

 Investec Wealth & Investment Ltd

Speirs & Jeffrey Ltd  

Equiniti Financial Services

AXA SA

%

 10.5

 7.8

 7.1

 5.0

 4.0

3.1

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO AUDITOR

The directors are not aware of any relevant information of which 
the auditor is unaware and have taken all the steps that they 
ought to have taken as directors in order to make themselves 
aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that 
the Company’s auditor is aware of that information.

AUDITOR

A resolution to re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP as auditor 
to the Company will be proposed at the Annual General 
Meeting on 26 March 2018.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Company 
to be held on 26 March 2018 is on page 51 . In addition to 
the ordinary business the following matters are proposed 
as special business.

Authority to allot shares and disapplication 
of pre-emption rights
It is proposed that the directors be authorised to allot up to 
£1,671,819 of relevant securities in the Company (equivalent 
to 6,687,276 ordinary shares of 25p each, representing 10.0% 
of its ordinary shares in issue as at 20 February 2018).

When shares are to be allotted for cash, the Companies 
Act 2006 requires such new shares to be offered fi rst to 
existing shareholders in proportion to their existing holdings 
of ordinary shares. However, in certain circumstances, it is 
benefi cial to allot shares for cash otherwise than pro rata to 
existing shareholders and the ordinary shareholders can by 
special resolution waive their pre-emption rights. Therefore, 
a special resolution will be proposed at the AGM which, if 
passed, will give the directors the power to allot for cash 
equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount of 
£1,671,819 (equivalent to 6,687,276 ordinary shares of 25p 
each or 10.0% of the Company’s existing issued ordinary 
share capital).

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

19

 
 
 
 
REPORT OF DIRECTORS CONTINUED

The directors intend to use this authority to issue new shares 
to prospective purchasers whenever they believe it may be 
advantageous to shareholders to do so. Any such issues 
would only be made at prices greater than net asset value 
per share, as adjusted for the market value of the Company’s 
debt, and would, therefore, increase the assets underlying 
each share. The issue proceeds would be available for 
investment in line with the Company’s investment policy.

No issues of shares will be made which would alter the 
control of the Company without the prior approval of 
shareholders in general meeting.

Directors’ authority to purchase the Company’s 
own shares
The directors consider it desirable to give the Company the 
opportunity to buy back shares in circumstances where the 
shares may be bought for a price which is below the net asset 
value per share of the Company. The purchase of ordinary 
shares is intended to reduce the discount at which ordinary 
shares trade in the market through the Company becoming 
a new source of demand for such shares. The rules of the 
UK Listing Authority provide that the maximum price which 
can be paid by the Company is 5% above the average of the 
market value of the ordinary shares for the fi ve business days 
before the purchase is made.

Recommendation
The Board considers the resolutions to be proposed at the 
AGM to be in the best interests of the Company and its 
members as a whole. Accordingly, the directors unanimously 
recommend that shareholders should vote in favour of the 
resolutions to be proposed at the AGM, as they intend to do 
so in respect of their own benefi cial holdings, amounting to 
 135,714 ordinary shares.

By order of the Board of Directors

John Reeve 
Chairman
20 February 2018

20

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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REPORT ON DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION

The Board presents the report on directors’ remuneration for 
the year ended 31 December 2017 which has been prepared 
in accordance with Section 421 of the Companies Act 2006. 
The report comprises a policy report, which is subject to a 
triennial binding shareholder vote, or sooner if an alteration 
to the policy is proposed, and a remuneration policy 
implementation report, which is subject to an annual advisory 
vote. The remuneration policy is set out in the Future Policy 
Table on this page.

The law requires the Company’s auditor to audit certain parts 
of the disclosures provided. Where disclosures have been 
audited, they are indicated as such. The auditor’s opinion is 
included in their report on page 29 .

The principles remain the same as for previous years. There 
have been no changes to remuneration policy during the 
period of this Report nor are there any proposals for change
in the foreseeable future.

DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION POLICY REPORT

The Company does not have any executive directors and, 
as permitted under the Listing Rules, has not, therefore, 
established a remuneration committee. Remuneration of 
non-executive directors is viewed as a decision of the Board, 
subject to any shareholder approvals which may 
be necessary.

The level of directors’ fees is determined with reference to 
a range of factors including the remuneration paid to the 
directors of other investment trusts, comparable in terms 
of both size and investment characteristics, and the rate 
of infl ation. The Manager of the Company compiles such 
analysis as part of the management and secretarial services 
provided to the Company. To support such analysis the Board 
commissioned Trust Associates to carry out an independent 
assessment of the remuneration paid to Temple Bar’s 
 Board relative to its peer group. The Company has no other 
relationship with Trust Associates. These data, together with 
consideration of any alteration in non-executive directors’ 
responsibilities, are used to review whether any change in 
remuneration is necessary. Based on these inputs it has been 
agreed that the Chairman's fee for the year commencing 
1 January 2018 will be £36,750  pa. The chairman of the audit 
committee will receive a fee of £29,400 pa  and the directors 
will receive a fee of £24,500 pa .

It is the Company’s policy that no director shall be entitled to 
any performance related remuneration, benefi ts in kind, long 
term incentive schemes, share options, pensions or other 
retirement benefi ts or compensation for loss of offi ce. None 
of the Directors has a service contract with the Company.

The Company has no employees and consequently no 
consideration is required to be given to employment 
conditions elsewhere in setting directors’ pay.

Consideration of Shareholders’ Views
An ordinary resolution to approve the remuneration report 
is put to shareholders at each AGM, and shareholders 
have the opportunity to express their views and raise any 
queries in respect of remuneration policy at this meeting. 
To date, no shareholders have commented in respect of 
remuneration policy.

 FUTURE POLICY TABLE

Purpose and link to strategy

Fees payable to directors should be suffi cient to attract and 
retain individuals of high calibre with suitable knowledge and 
experience. Those chairing the Board and key committees 
should be paid higher fees than other directors in recognition of 
their more demanding roles. Fees should refl ect the time spent 
by directors on the Company’s affairs and the responsibilities 
borne by the directors.

Maximum and minimum levels

Remuneration consists of a fi xed fee each year, set in accordance 
with the stated policies, and any increase granted must be in line 
with the stated policies.

The Company’s Articles of Association set a limit of £250,000 in 
respect of the total remuneration that may be paid to directors 
in any fi nancial year.

The Board reviews the quantum of directors’ pay each year to 
ensure this is in line with the level of remuneration for other 
investment trusts of a similar size.

When making recommendations for any changes in pay, the 
Board will consider wider factors such as the average rate of 
infl ation over the period since the previous review, and the level 
and any change in complexity of the directors’ responsibilities 
(including additional time commitments as a result of increased 
regulatory or corporate governance requirements).

There is no compensation for loss of offi ce.

REMUNERATION IMPLEMENTATION REPORT 
(AUDITED)

A single fi gure for the total remuneration of each 
director is set out in the table below for the year ended 
31 December 2017. These fees exclude employers’ national 
insurance contributions and VAT where applicable:

John Reeve

Arthur Copple

June de Moller

Richard Jewson

Nicholas Lyons2

Lesley Sherratt

David Webster

Richard Wyatt 3

Total

Total amount 
of fees1

2017

33,400

22,600

22,600

25,500

21,325 

22,600

22,600

2,231 

2016

33,400

22,600

22,600

25,500

–

22,600

22,600

–

172,856 

149,300

1  Other columns have been omitted as no payments of any other type were made.
2  Appointed 23 January 2017.
 3  Appointed 27 November 2017.

 The amounts paid by the Company to the directors were for 
services as non-executive directors.

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

21

 
 
 
 
REPORT ON DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION CONTINUED

Expenditure by the Company on remuneration 
and distributions to shareholders
As the Company has no employees, the directors cannot 
show a table comparing remuneration paid to employees 
with distributions to shareholders.

Performance graph
The directors consider that the most appropriate measure 
of the Company’s performance is its share price total return 
compared with the total return on the FTSE All-Share Index. 
A graph illustrating this relative performance over  a nine year 
period is shown below.

Directors’ shareholdings (audited)
The directors’ shareholdings are detailed below:

Share price total return

31 December 2017

1 January 2017

63,833 

32,643 

10,474 

10,660 

–

7,500 

N/A

10,000 

60,959

32,643

10,231

10,275

N/A

7,500

4,279

N/A  

John Reeve

Arthur Copple

June de Moller

Richard Jewson

Nicholas Lyons1

Lesley Sherratt

David Webster3

 Richard Wyatt2

1  Appointed 23 January 2017.
2  Appointed 27 November 2017.
 3  Retired  31 December 2017. 

All the above interests are benefi cial. None of the directors 
had at any date any interest in either of the Company’s 
debenture stocks.

On 3  January 2018 Mr Reeve acquired an additional 
394  ordinary shares in the Company as a result of a dividend 
reinvestment. On  10  January 2018 and 12  February 2018 
Mr Reeve acquired a further 74  and 78  ordinary shares 
respectively  through his regular monthly saving in an ISA. 
On 2  January 2018, Mr Jewson acquired a further 58  ordinary 
shares  through a dividend reinvestment. No other changes in 
the interests shown above occurred between 31 December 
2017 and 20 February 2018.

The portfolio manager also holds 59,942  ordinary shares in 
the Company.

Statement of Voting at General Meeting
At the Company‘s last AGM held on 27 March 2017 
shareholders approved the Directors‘ Remuneration Report 
in respect of the year ended 31 December 2016. 99.8% of 
proxy votes were in favour of the resolution, 0.2% were 
against and 16,064 votes were withheld.

At the AGM held on 27 March 2017, a resolution for the 
approval of the Remuneration Policy, as set out in the future 
policy table above, was approved by 99.8% of proxy votes, 
0.2% were against and 12,540  votes were withheld.

300

280

260

240

220

200

180

160

140

120

100

80
2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Temple Bar share price (total return)

FTSE All-Share Index (total return)

Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream

Annual statement
The Board confi rms that the above Remuneration 
Implementation Report in respect of the year ended 
31 December 2017 summarises:

• 

the major decisions on directors’ remuneration;

•  any signifi cant changes relating to directors’ 
remuneration made during the year; and

• 

the context in which the changes occurred 
and decisions have been taken. 

By order of the Board of Directors 

John Reeve
Chairman
20 February 2018

22

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

THE AIC CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Corporate Governance is the process by which the board of 
directors of a company protects  shareholders’ interests and 
by which it seeks to enhance shareholder value. Shareholders 
hold the directors responsible for the stewardship of a 
company’s affairs, delegating authority and responsibility 
to the directors to manage the company on their behalf and 
holding them accountable for its performance.

The Board considers the practice of good governance to 
be an integral part of the way it manages the Company 
and is committed to maintaining high standards of fi nancial 
reporting, transparency and business integrity.

As Temple Bar is a UK-listed company the Board’s principal 
governance reporting obligation is in relation to the UK 
Corporate Governance Code (the “UK Code”) issued by the 
Financial Reporting Council (‘FRC’) . However, it is recognised 
that investment companies have special circumstances 
which have an impact on their governance arrangements. An 
investment company typically has no employees and the roles 
of CEO, portfolio manager, administration, accounting and 
company secretarial tend to be outsourced to a third party. 
The Association of Investment Companies has therefore 
drawn up its own set of guidelines known as the AIC Code of 
Corporate Governance (the “AIC Code”) issued in February 
2013 and updated in 2016, which recognises the nature of 
investment companies by focusing on matters such as board 
independence and the review of management and other 
third party contracts. The FRC has endorsed the AIC Code 
and confi rmed that companies which report against the AIC 
Code will be meeting their obligations in relation to the 
UK  Code and paragraph LR9.8.6 of the FCA’s Listing Rules. 
The Board believes that reporting against the principles 
and recommendations of the AIC Code will provide better 
information to shareholders.

The Company has complied with the recommendations 
of the AIC Code (which incorporates the UK  Code), except 
as set out below. The UK  Code includes provisions relating 
to:

• 

the role of the chief executive

•  executive directors’ remuneration

• 

the need for an internal audit function

The Board considers these provisions are not relevant to 
the position of Temple Bar, being an externally managed 
investment company. In particular, all of the Company’s 
day-to-day management and administrative functions are 
outsourced to third parties. As a result, the Company has no 
executive directors, employees or internal operations. The 
Company has therefore not reported further in respect of 
these provisions.

COMPLIANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF THE AIC 
CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Operation of the Board
The Board is ultimately responsible for framing and 
executing the Company’s strategy and for closely 
monitoring risks. There is a formal schedule of matters to 
be specifi cally approved by the Board. I t has delegated 
investment management, within clearly defi ned parameters 
and dealing limits, to Investec Fund Managers Limited 
(‘IFM’) and the administration of the business to Investec 
Asset Management Limited (‘IAM’). The Board reviews the 
performance of the Company at Board meetings and sets 
the objectives for the Manager.

The Corporate Company Secretary (‘the Company Secretary’) 
is responsible to the Board, inter alia, for ensuring that Board 
procedures are followed and for compliance with applicable 
rules and regulations including the AIC Code. Appointment 
or removal of the nominated representative of the Company 
Secretary is a matter for the Board as a whole. 

The content and presentation of Board papers circulated 
before each meeting contain suffi cient information 
concerning  the fi nancial condition of the Company. Key 
representatives of IFM attend each Board meeting enabling 
directors to probe on matters of concern or seek clarifi cation 
on certain issues. 

Biographies of those directors in offi ce at the date of signing 
of the fi nancial statements are set out on page 17 . There were 
seven Board meetings, two audit committee meetings and 
four nomination committee meetings held during the year 
and the attendance by the directors was as follows:

Number of meetings attended

Board

Audit 
Committee

Nomination
Committee

John Reeve

Arthur Copple

Nicholas Lyons*

June de Moller

Richard Jewson

Lesley Sherratt

David Webster

Richard Wyatt**

*appointed 23 January 2017
**appointed 27 November 2017

7

7

5

7

6

7

7

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

–

4

4

2

4

4

4

4

–

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CONTINUED

Audit committee
The audit committee is a formally constituted committee 
of the Board with defi ned terms of reference. Its role 
and responsibilities are set out in the Report of the Audit 
Committee on page 26 . The Board is satisfi ed that members 
of the audit committee have relevant and recent fi nancial 
experience, with at least one member having audit or 
accounting experience, to fulfi l their role effectively and also 
have suffi cient experience relevant to the  sector. The auditor, 
who the Board has identifi ed as being independent, is invited 
to attend the audit committee meeting at which the annual 
accounts are considered and any other meetings that the 
committee deems necessary. The committee is chaired by 
Mr Jewson, the Senior Independent Director.

Nomination committee
A nomination committee comprising all the directors has 
been established to oversee a formal review procedure 
governing the appointment of new directors and to 
evaluate the overall composition of the Board from time to 
time, taking into account the existing balance of skills and 
knowledge. This committee is chaired by Mr Reeve.

During the year the Board appointed Richard Wyatt as 
an additional director. The process leading up to this 
appointment involved the identifi cation and interview of 
potential candidates put forward by an external agency, 
Nurole, an independent fi rm of consultants, alongside 
the evaluation of various other candidates either known 
personally to or recommended by individual board members. 
Following an extensive review process it was decided to 
proceed with the appointment of  Mr Wyatt, as the candidate 
best qualifi ed to complement the existing balance of skills 
and experience on the  Board. He will stand for election at the 
AGM alongside all other  Board members proposed for re-
election in accordance with our policy.

The committee is also responsible for assessing on an annual 
basis the individual performance of directors and for making 
recommendations as to whether they should remain in offi ce.

Management engagement committee
As all the directors are fully independent of the management 
company, the Board as a whole fulfi ls the function of a 
management engagement committee.

Independence of the directors
Each of the directors is independent of any association with 
the Manager and has no other relationships or circumstances 
which might be perceived to interfere with the exercise 
of independent judgement. Three of the seven directors 
(Mr Reeve, Mr Jewson and Mrs de Moller) have served on 
the Board for more than nine years from the date of their 
fi rst election, but given the nature of the Company as an 
investment trust and the strongly independent mindset of 
the individuals involved, the Board is fi rmly of the view that 
all of the directors can be considered to be independent. 
In arriving at this conclusion the Board makes a clear 
distinction between the activities of an investment trust and 
a conventional trading company. An investment trust has 
no employees or executive directors, the most signifi cant 
relationship being with the Manager. In overseeing this 

relationship it is the view of the Board that long service 
aids the understanding and judgement of the directors. 
The directors have a range of business and fi nancial skills 
and experience relevant to the direction of the Company. 
Mr Jewson is the Senior Independent Director.

Re-election of directors
Directors are subject to re-election by shareholders at the 
fi rst AGM following their appointment and, thereafter, are 
subject to retirement on an annual basis. In addition, the 
appointment of each director is reviewed by other members 
of the Board every year. Directors are not, therefore, subject 
to automatic re-appointment. Non-executive directors are 
not appointed for specifi ed terms. Because of the nature of 
an investment trust the Board believes that the contribution 
and independence of a director is not diminished by long 
service.

The Board has carefully considered the position of each 
of the directors and believes it would be appropriate for 
them to be proposed for re-election. Each of the directors 
continues to be effective and to display an undiminished 
enthusiasm and commitment to the role.

Diversity
The Board’s policy on diversity, including gender, is to 
take this into consideration during the recruitment and 
appointment process. Typically, the Board seeks to ensure 
that there is a suitable balance between directors with 
industrial/commercial and traditional ‘City’ backgrounds. 
However, the Board is committed to appointing the most 
appropriate candidate, regardless of gender or other forms 
of diversity, and therefore no targets have been set against 
which to report.

Induction and training
New directors appointed to the Board are provided with 
an induction programme which is tailored to the particular 
circumstances of the appointee. Regular briefi ngs are 
provided during the year on industry and regulatory matters 
and the directors receive other relevant training as required. 
Individual directors may seek independent advice at the 
expense of the Company within certain limits. 

Ongoing evaluation
On an annual basis the Board formally reviews its 
performance, together with that of the audit and nomination 
committees and the effectiveness and contribution of the 
individual directors, including the Chairman, within the 
context of service on those bodies. The review encompasses 
an assessment of how cohesively these bodies work as a 
whole as well as the performance of the individuals within 
them. In 2016 the Board also employed the services of Board 
Evaluation, an external evaluation agency, to carry out an 
 independent evaluation of its performance. On the basis 
of these reviews the Board has concluded that it has an 
appropriate balance of skills and is operating effectively.

24

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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Shareholder communications
Shareholder relations are given high priority by both the 
Board and the Manager. The principal medium by which the 
Company communicates with shareholders is through half 
yearly  and annual reports. The information contained therein 
is supplemented by daily NAV announcements and by a 
monthly fact sheet available on the Company’s website. 

The Board largely delegates responsibility for communication 
with shareholders to the management company and, through 
feedback, both from the Manager and the Company’s 
stockbroker, expects to be able to develop an understanding 
of  shareholders’  views. The Board receives a quarterly 
report from the Manager summarising any shareholder 
correspondence together with any comments about Temple 
Bar on social media. Members of the Board are willing to 
meet with shareholders for the purpose of discussing matters 
in relation to the operation and prospects of the Company.

The Board encourages investors to attend the AGM and 
welcomes questions and discussion on issues of concern or 
areas of uncertainty. 

Following the formal AGM proceedings the portfolio manager 
makes a presentation to the meeting outlining the key 
investment issues that face the Company.

The Board has also established a series of investment 
parameters, which are reviewed annually, designed to 
limit the risk inherent in managing a portfolio of 
investments. The safeguarding of assets is entrusted 
to an independent reputable custodian with whom the 
holdings are regularly reconciled.

The effectiveness of the overall system of internal control is 
reviewed on an annual basis by the Board. Such a system can 
provide only reasonable and not absolute assurance against 
material misstatement or loss. The Board believes that there 
is a robust framework of internal controls in place to meet 
the requirements of the AIC Code.

The Board receives reports from its advisers on internal 
control matters. Based on the foregoing the Company has a 
continuing process for identifying, evaluating and managing 
the risks it faces. This process has been in place for the 
reporting period and to the date of this report.

By order of the Board of Directors

Accountability, internal controls and audit 
The Board pays careful attention to ensuring that all 
documents released by the Company, including the Annual 
Report, present a fair and accurate assessment of the 
Company’s position and prospects.

John Reeve 
Chairman
20 February 2018

The Board confi rms that there is an ongoing process for 
identifying, evaluating and managing the risks faced by the 
Company in accordance with the FRC’s document ‘Guidance 
on Risk Management, Internal Controls and Related Financial 
and Business Reporting’.

The directors are responsible for the Company’s system of 
internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness. In order 
to facilitate the control process the Board has requested 
the Manager to confi rm annually that it has conducted the 
Company’s affairs in compliance with the legal and regulatory 
obligations which apply to the Company and to report on the 
systems and procedures within IFM which are applicable to 
the management of Temple Bar’s affairs. The Board meets on 
seven scheduled occasions in each year and at each meeting 
receives suffi cient fi nancial and statistical information to 
enable it to monitor adequately the investment performance 
and status of the business. In addition, fi nancial information is 
circulated to the directors on a monthly basis.

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

25

 
 
 
 
The Committee meets at least twice a year. The two 
planned meetings are held prior to the Board meetings 
to approve the half yearly and annual results.

The valuation of the 
investment portfolio

REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE

I am pleased to present the Committee’s report to shareholders 
on the effectiveness of the external audit process and how 
this has been assessed for the year ended 31 December 2017.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Company has established a separately chaired 
Audit Committee (“the Committee”) whose duties include 
considering and recommending to the Board for approval the 
contents of the half yearly and annual fi nancial statements, 
and providing an opinion as to whether the Annual Report, 
taken as a whole, is fair, balanced, understandable and 
provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess 
the Company’s performance, business model and strategy. 
The Committee also reviews the external auditor’s report 
thereon and is responsible for reviewing and forming an 
opinion on the effectiveness of the external audit process 
and audit quality. Other duties include reviewing the 
appropriateness of the Company’s accounting policies and 
ensuring the adequacy of the internal control systems and 
standards, as set out in more detail below. The Terms of 
Reference of the Committee are available on the Company’s 
website at www.templebarinvestments.co.uk

COMPOSITION

All the directors are members of the Committee, which 
is chaired by Mr Jewson. The Board considers that the 
members of the Committee have suffi cient recent and 
relevant fi nancial experience for the Committee to 
discharge its function effectively. At least one member of 
the Committee has audit or accounting experience and the 
Committee has members with suffi cient experience relevant 
to the  sector. The Chairman of the Company is a member of 
the Committee to enable him to be kept fully informed of any 
issues which may arise.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND REVIEW OF 
THE EXTERNAL AUDIT 

During the year the principal activities of the 
Committee included:

•  considering and recommending to the Board for 

approval the contents of the half yearly and annual 
fi nancial statements and reviewing the external 
auditor’s report thereon;

• 

• 

• 

• 

reviewing the scope, execution, results, cost 
effectiveness, independence and objectivity of the 
external auditor;

reviewing and recommending to the Board for approval 
the audit and non-audit fees payable to the external 
auditor and the terms of their engagement;

reviewing and approving the external auditor’s plan 
for the fi nancial year, with a focus on the identifi cation 
of areas of audit risk, and consideration of the 
appropriateness of the level of audit materiality adopted;

reviewing the quality of the audit engagement 
partner and the audit team, and making a 
recommendation to the Board with respect to 
the re-appointment of the auditor;

• 

reviewing the appropriateness of the Company’s 
accounting policies; and

•  ensuring the adequacy of the internal control 

systems and standards.

 SIGNIFICANT ISSUES CONSIDERED REGARDING THE 
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Committee also considered signifi cant issues and areas 
of key audit risk in respect of the Annual Report and Financial 
Statements, as outlined below. The Committee reviewed the 
external audit plan at an early stage and concluded that the 
appropriate areas of audit risk relevant to the Company had 
been identifi ed and that suitable audit procedures had been 
put in place to obtain reasonable assurance that the fi nancial 
statements as a whole would be free of material misstatements. 
The table below sets out the key areas of risk identifi ed by the 
Committee and also explains how these were addressed by it .

Signifi cant Issue

How the issue was addressed

Verifi cation of the 
existence of the 
assets in the portfolio

The Committee reviews reports from its 
service providers on key controls over 
the assets of the Company. Monthly 
reconciliations are performed by the 
independent Depositary together with 
an annual verifi cation of the existence 
of all portfolio holdings carried out 
by the auditor. Any signifi cant issues 
are reported by the Manager to the 
Committee.

The Committee reviews detailed portfolio 
valuations on a regular basis throughout 
the year and receives confi rmation from 
the Manager that the pricing basis is 
appropriate. The audit includes a check 
of pricing back to source data to confi rm 
that the correct valuation basis has been 
applied in accordance with the accounting 
policies adopted, as disclosed in note 1 to 
the Financial Statements. All investments 
are in quoted securities in active markets, 
are considered to be liquid and have been 
categorised as level 1 within the IFRS 13 
hierarchy.

Having considered the Company’s 
investment objective, risk management 
policies and cash fl ow projections 
the Committee is satisfi ed that the 
Company has adequate resources and 
an appropriate fi nancial structure to 
continue in operational existence for the 
foreseeable future.

The Committee reviews income
forecasts and receives explanations 
from the Manager for any variations or 
signifi cant movements from previous 
forecasts and prior year numbers.

Going concern

The verifi cation of 
investment income

The provision of portfolio valuation, accounting and 
administration services is delegated to the Company’s 
Manager, who sub-delegates fund accounting to a third 
party service provider. T he provision of custody services is 
contracted to HSBC.

26

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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CONCLUSIONS IN RESPECT OF THE ANNUAL 
REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The production and audit of the Company’s Annual Report 
and Financial Statements is a comprehensive process 
requiring input from a number of different contributors. One 
of the key governance requirements of a Company’s fi nancial 
statements is for the Report and Financial Statements to 
be fair, balanced and understandable. In order to reach a 
conclusion on this matter, the Board has requested that the 
Committee advise on whether it considers that the Annual 
Report and Financial Statements fulfi ls these requirements.

As a result of the work performed, the Committee has 
concluded that the Annual Report for the year ended 
31 December 2017, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced 
and understandable and provides the information necessary 
for shareholders to assess the Company’s performance, 
business model and strategy. The Committee has reported 
on these fi ndings to the Board. The Board’s conclusions 
in this respect are set out in the Statement of Directors’ 
Responsibilities on page 28 .

Richard Jewson 
Chairman
Audit Committee 
20   February 2018 

AUDITOR AND AUDIT TENURE

The Company’s current auditor, Ernst & Young LLP, has 
acted in this role since 2003 pursuant to a competitive tender 
process which took place at that time. There has not been a 
subsequent tender process. The appointment of the auditor 
is reviewed each year and the audit partner changes at least 
every fi ve years in accordance with professional and regulatory 
standards in order to protect independence and objectivity 
and to provide fresh challenge to the business. The last fi ve 
yearly  partner rotation took place in 2017. The Committee 
is aware that EU legislation requires listed companies to 
rotate their auditor every 10 years. Under the transitional 
arrangements for fi rms where the tenure was between 11 and 
20 years on the effective date under the new EU rules, there 
 is a grace period of nine years after the enactment of the EU 
legislation. Accordingly, based upon the new legislation, Ernst 
& Young will not be able to act as auditor to the Company 
 for accounting periods starting on or after 17 June 2023 so 
the last fi nancial year that they could serve as auditor would 
end on 31 December 202 3. The Committee has not decided 
when to put the audit out to tender but will keep this matter 
under review. There are no contractual obligations that restrict 
the Company’s choice of auditor. Other non-audit fees of 
£2,300  (excluding VAT) paid to Ernst & Young LLP relate to 
their services in the electronic fi ling of tax returns; due to this 
amount being negligible, the  Committee does not consider 
this a threat to the auditor's independence.

ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE EXTERNAL 
AUDIT PROCESS

To assess the effectiveness of the external audit, members of 
the Committee work closely with the Manager to obtain a good 
understanding of the progress and effi ciency of the audit.

Feedback in relation to the audit process, and also of the 
effectiveness of the Manager in performing its role, is also 
sought from relevant  parties, notably the audit partner 
and team. The external auditor is invited to attend the 
Committee meeting at which the annual accounts are 
considered, where they have the opportunity to meet with 
the Committee without representatives of the Manager 
being present.

  To form a conclusion with regard to the independence of the 
external auditor, the Committee considers whether the skills 
and experience of the auditor make them a suitable supplier 
of any non-audit service and whether there is any threat to 
their objectivity and independence in the conduct of the 
audit resulting from the provision of such services. On an 
annual basis, Ernst & Young LLP review the independence of 
their relationship with the Company and report to the Board, 
providing details of any other relationships with the Manager. 
As part of this review, the Committee also receives information 
about policies and processes for maintaining independence 
and monitoring compliance with relevant requirements from 
the Company’s auditor, including information on the rotation 
of audit partners and staff, and details of any relationships 
between the audit fi rm and its staff and the Company, as well 
as an overall confi rmation from the auditor of its      independence 
and objectivity. As a result of their review, the Committee 
has concluded that Ernst & Young LLP is independent of the 
Company and the Manager.

The Company confi rms that it has complied with the 
September 2014 Competition and Markets Authority Order.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

27

 
 
 
 
STATEMENT OF DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The directors confi rm that to the best of their knowledge:

• 

• 

the fi nancial statements, prepared in accordance with 
the applicable accounting standards, give a true and fair 
view of the assets, liabilities, fi nancial position and profi t 
or loss of the Company; and

the Annual Report includes a fair review of the development 
and performance of the business and the position of the 
Company, together with a description of the principal 
risks and uncertainties that the Company faces.

The UK Corporate Governance Code also requires Directors 
to ensure that the Annual Report and Accounts are fair, 
balanced and understandable. In order to reach a conclusion 
on this matter, the Board has requested that the Audit 
Committee advise on whether it considers that the Annual 
Report and Accounts fulfi ls these requirements. The process 
by which the Committee has reached these conclusions is set 
out in the Audit Committee’s report on pages 26  and 27 . As 
a result, the Board has concluded that the Annual Report for 
the year ended 31 December 2017, taken as a whole, is fair, 
balanced and understandable and provides the information 
necessary for shareholders to assess the Company’s 
performance, business model and strategy.

On behalf of the Board

John Reeve 
Chairman
20 February 2018

The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual 
Report and the fi nancial statements in accordance with 
applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare fi nancial 
statements for each fi nancial year. Under that law the 
directors have chosen to prepare the fi nancial statements in 
accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards 
as adopted by the European Union. Under company law the 
directors must not approve the fi nancial statements unless 
they are satisfi ed that they give a true and fair view of the 
state of affairs of the Company and of the profi t or loss of 
the Company for that period. In preparing these fi nancial 
statements, the directors are required to:

• 

select suitable accounting policies in accordance 
with IAS8: ‘Accounting Policies, Changes in 
Accounting Estimates and Errors’, and then apply
these consistently;

•  present information, including accounting policies, 

in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, 
comparable and understandable information;

•  provide additional disclosures when compliance with the 

specifi c requirements in IFRS is insuffi cient to enable users 
to understand the impact of particular transactions, other 
events and conditions on the entity’s fi nancial position and 
fi nancial performance; and

• 

state that the Company has complied with IFRS, subject 
to any material departures disclosed and explained in the 
fi nancial statements.

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate 
accounting records which are suffi cient to show and explain 
the Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable 
accuracy at any time the fi nancial position of the Company and 
enable them to ensure that the fi nancial statements comply 
with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for 
safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking 
reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and 
other irregularities.

The directors are responsible for ensuring that the 
Annual Report includes a fair review of the development 
and performance of the business and the position of the 
Company, together with a description of the principal 
risks and uncertainties it faces.

28

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 
TO THE MEMBERS OF TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

 Opinion
We have audited the fi nancial statements of Temple Bar Investment Trust Plc (‘the Company’) for the year ended 31 December 
2017 which comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Statement of Changes in Equity, the Statement of Financial 
Position, the Statement of Cash Flows and the related notes 1 to 22, including a summary of signifi cant accounting policies. 
The fi nancial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and International Financial 
Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union.

In our opinion, the fi nancial statements:

• 

• 

• 

 give a true and fair view of the Company’s affairs as at 31 December 2017 and of its profi t for the year then ended;

 have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union; and

 have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our 
responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the fi nancial 
statements section of our report below. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that 
are relevant to our audit of the fi nancial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard as applied to public interest 
entities, and we have fulfi lled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is suffi cient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Use of our report
This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies 
Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company’s members those matters we are 
required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not 
accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, 
for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Conclusions relating to principal risks, going concern and viability statement
We have nothing to report in respect of the following information in the annual report, in relation to which the ISAs (UK) 
require us to report to you whether we have anything material to add or draw attention to:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 the disclosures in the annual report set out on page 13 that describe the principal risks and explain how they are being 
managed or mitigated;

 the directors’ confi rmation set out on page  13 in the annual report that they have carried out a robust assessment of the 
principal risks facing the entity, including those that would threaten its business model, future performance, solvency or 
liquidity;

 the directors’ statement set out on page 18 in the fi nancial statements about whether they considered it appropriate to 
adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing them, and their identifi cation of any material uncertainties to 
the entity’s ability to continue to do so over a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of the fi nancial 
statements;

 whether the directors’ statement in relation to going concern required under the Listing Rules in accordance with Listing 
Rule 9.8.6R(3) is materially inconsistent with our knowledge obtained in the audit; or

 the directors’ explanation set out on pages 13 and 14 in the annual report as to how they have assessed the prospects of 
the entity, over what period they have done so and why they consider that period to be appropriate, and their statement as 
to whether they have a reasonable expectation that the entity will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities 
as they fall due over the period of their assessment, including any related disclosures drawing attention to any necessary 
qualifi cations or assumptions.

Overview of our audit approach

Key audit matters

•  Incomplete or inaccurate income recognition through failure to recognise proper income 

entitlements or to apply the appropriate accounting treatment.

•  Incorrect valuation and existence of the investment portfolio, including incorrect application of 

exchange rate movements or failure to assess stock liquidity appropriately. 

Materiality

•  Overall materiality of £9.36 million which represents 1% of net assets.

Key audit matters
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most signifi cance in our audit of the fi nancial 
statements of the current year and include the most signifi cant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due 
to fraud) that we identifi ed. These matters included those which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy, the 
allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. These matters were addressed in the 
context of our audit of the fi nancial statements as a whole, and in our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate 
opinion on these matters.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

29

 
 
 
 
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT CONTINUED
TO THE MEMBERS OF TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

Key observations communicated to the 
Audit Committee 

We have no matters to communicate 
with respect to our assessment of the 
Manager’s and Administrator’s processes 
and controls surrounding revenue 
recognition and allocation of special 
dividends.

We noted no issues in agreeing the 
accounting treatment adopted with respect 
to special dividend receipts above our 
testing threshold that we reviewed.

We noted no issues in agreeing the sample 
of dividend receipts to an independent 
source, recalculating these amounts and 
agreeing them to the bank statements.

We noted no issues in agreeing the sample 
of investee Company announcements to 
the income entitlements recorded by the 
Company.

We noted no issues in recalculating the 
accrued dividends, agreeing the rate to 
Company announcements, agreeing, where 
possible, to post year end bank statements 
and confi rming that the income obligation 
arose prior to 31 December 2017.

We noted no issues in recalculating a 
sample of effective interest rates on fi xed 
interest income securities.

Risk

Our response to the risk

Incomplete or inaccurate income 
recognition through failure to recognise 
proper income entitlements or apply the 
appropriate accounting treatment.

Refer to the Report of the Audit Committee 
(page 26), Accounting policy 1 (page 40) , 
and Note 4 of the Financial Statements 
(page 42)

The investment income receivable by the 
Company during the year directly affects 
the Company’s ability to make a dividend 
payment to shareholders.

The income receivable for the year to 
31 December 2017 was £34.0 million, 
split between dividends from the listed 
investments held (£32.4 million) and fi xed-
interest securities (£1.6  million.)

Included within the dividend income fi gure 
above were special dividends totalling 
£0.6 million (2016: £ 1.6  million). In addition 
to these special dividends the Company 
received special dividends of £0.9 million 
(2016: £ 1.0  million) which were recognised 
within capital.

Given the manual and judgemental element 
in allocating special dividends between 
revenue and capital, we considered there to 
be a fraud risk in accordance with Auditing 
Standards in this area of our audit. 

We performed the following procedures:

Obtained an understanding of the 
Manager’s and Administrator’s 
processes and controls surrounding 
revenue recognition and allocation of 
special dividends and also performed a 
walkthrough to evaluate the design and 
effectiveness of controls;

 Reviewed the income report and the 
acquisition and disposal report to 
identify special dividends greater than 
our testing threshold (set at 25% of our 
revenue tolerable threshold) received 
in the year. We reviewed the treatment 
of all special dividends greater than our 
testing threshold based on the underlying 
motives and circumstances for the payment 
and considered the treatment of the 
classifi cation of these dividends as either 
revenue or capital that was adopted by the 
directors;

Agreed a sample of dividends and interest 
received from the income report to the 
corresponding announcement made by 
the investee Company, recalculated the 
dividend and interest amount received and 
agreed cash received to bank statements;

Agreed a sample of dividends and 
interest paid on investments held from 
an independent source to the income 
recorded by the Company;

Agreed 100% of accrued dividends and 
interest to an independent source to assess 
whether the dividend obligation arose 
prior to 31 December 2017. We agreed the 
dividend and interest rate to corresponding 
announcements made by the investee 
company, recalculated the dividend and 
interest amount receivable and agreed cash 
received to post year end bank statements, 
where possible; and

Recalculated a sample of effective interest 
rates on fi xed interest income securities 
and confi rmed the accuracy of the interest 
income recognised in the year end.

30

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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Risk

Our response to the risk

Incorrect valuation and existence of the 
investment portfolio, including incorrect 
application of exchange rate movements 
or failure to assess stock liquidity 
appropriately.

We performed the following procedures:

Obtained an understanding of the 
Manager’s and the Administrator’s systems 
and controls in relation to the valuation and 
existence of the investment portfolio;

Refer to the Report of Audit Committee 
(page 26); Accounting policy 1 (page 41); 
and Note 12 of the Financial Statements 
(page 45)

The valuation of the assets held in the 
investment portfolio is the key driver of the 
Company’s investment return. The value 
of the Company’s investment portfolio as 
at 31 December 2017 was £1,035.7 million 
(2016: £973.4 million), consisting of 
listed equities of £898.7 million (2016: 
£894.2 million) and fi xed income securities 
of £137.0 million (2016: £79.2 million).

Incorrect asset pricing or a failure 
to maintain proper legal  title of the 
investments held by the Company could 
have an impact on the portfolio valuation 
and, therefore, the return generated for 
shareholders.

 Independently checked 100% of the 
investment prices in the portfolio and 
exchange rates applied to an external 
source;

In order to validate the appropriate 
legal title is held for all investments in 
the portfolio, we have independently 
obtained confi rmation from the 
Company’s Custodian and Depositary of 
the investments held as at 31 December 
2017 and agreed these to the underlying 
fi nancial records; and

 Reviewed pricing exception and stale 
 pricing exception reports to highlight and 
review  any unexpected price movements in 
investments held as at the year end.

Key observations communicated to the 
Audit Committee 

We have no matters to communicate 
with respect to our assessment of the 
Manager’s and Administrator’s processes 
and controls surrounding the valuation 
and existence of the investment 
portfolio.

For all investments, we noted no 
differences in market value or exchange 
rates when compared to an independent 
source in excess of our reporting threshold.

We noted no differences between the 
Custodian and Depositary confi rmations 
and the Company’s underlying fi nancial 
records.

We noted no issues with our review of 
pricing exception and stale pricing reports.

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An overview of the scope of our audit
Tailoring the scope
Our assessment of audit risk, our evaluation of materiality and our allocation of performance materiality determine our audit 
scope for the Company. This enables us to form an opinion on the fi nancial statements. We take into account size, risk profi le, 
the organisation of the Company and effectiveness of controls, including controls and changes in the business environment 
when assessing the level of work to be performed.

Our application of materiality
We apply the concept of materiality in planning and performing the audit, in evaluating the effect of identifi ed misstatements 
on the audit and in forming our audit opinion.

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Materiality
The magnitude of an omission or misstatement that, individually or in the aggregate, could reasonably be expected to infl uence 
the economic decisions of the users of the fi nancial statements. Materiality provides a basis for determining the nature and 
extent of our audit procedures.

We determined materiality for the Company to be £9.36 million (2016: £8.80 million), which is 1% (2016: 1%) of net assets. 
We believe that net assets are the most important fi nancial metric on which shareholders would judge the performance of the 
Company  and, accordingly, consider this to be an appropriate metric to determine materiality.

Performance materiality
The application of materiality at the individual account or balance level. It is set at an amount to reduce to an appropriately low 
level the probability that the aggregate of uncorrected and undetected misstatements exceeds materiality.

On the basis of our risk assessments, together with our assessment of the Company’s overall control environment, our 
judgement was that performance materiality was 75% (2016: 75%) of our planning materiality, namely £7.02 million (2016: 
£6.60 million). We have set performance materiality at this percentage based on our understanding of the control environment 
that indicates a lower risk of material misstatements, both corrected and uncorrected.

Given the importance of the distinction between revenue and capital for the Company we have also applied a separate 
tolerable threshold of £1.46 million for the revenue column of the Statement of Comprehensive Income, being 5% of profi t 
before taxation.

Reporting threshold
An amount below which identifi ed misstatements are considered as being clearly trivial.

We agreed with the Audit Committee that we would report to them all uncorrected audit differences in excess of £0.47 million 
(2016: £0.44 million), which is set at 5% of planning materiality, as well as differences below that threshold that, in our view, 
warranted reporting on qualitative grounds.

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

31

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT CONTINUED
TO THE MEMBERS OF TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

We evaluate any uncorrected misstatements against both the quantitative measures of materiality discussed above and in light 
of other relevant qualitative considerations in forming our opinion.

Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the fi nancial statements and our 
auditor’s report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information.

Our opinion on the fi nancial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly 
stated in this report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the fi nancial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, 
consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the fi nancial statements or our knowledge obtained in 
the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material 
misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the fi nancial statements or a 
material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material 
misstatement of the other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

In this context, we also have nothing to report in regard to our responsibility to specifi cally address the following items in the 
other information and to report as uncorrected material misstatements of the other information where we conclude that those 
items meet the following conditions:

(cid:129)  Fair, balanced and understandable set out on page 28 – the statement given by the directors that they consider the 

annual report and fi nancial statements taken as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information 
necessary for shareholders to assess the Company’s performance, business model and strategy, is materially inconsistent 
with our knowledge obtained in the audit; or

(cid:129)  Audit committee reporting set out on page 26 – the section describing the work of the audit committee does not 

appropriately address matters communicated by us to the audit committee; or

(cid:129)  Directors’ statement of compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code set out on page 23 – the parts of 

the directors’ statement required under the Listing Rules relating to the Company’s compliance with the UK Corporate 
Governance Code containing provisions specifi ed for review by the auditor in accordance with Listing Rule 9.8.10R(2) 
do not properly disclose a departure from a relevant provision of the UK Corporate Governance Code.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the 
Companies Act 2006.

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• 

the information given in the strategic report and the directors’ report for the fi nancial year for which the fi nancial 
statements are prepared is consistent with the fi nancial statements; and

• 

the strategic report and directors’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we 
have not identifi ed material misstatements in the strategic report or directors’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to 
report to you if, in our opinion:

•  adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches 

not visited by us; or

• 

the fi nancial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited are not in agreement with the 
accounting records and returns; or

•  certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specifi ed by law are not made; or

•  we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit

Responsibilities of directors
As explained more fully in the Statement of directors’ responsibilities set out on page 28, the directors are responsible for 
the preparation of the fi nancial statements and for being satisfi ed that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal 
control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of fi nancial statements that are free from material 
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the fi nancial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the Company’s ability to continue as a going 
concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless 
the directors either intend to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

32

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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I

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Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the fi nancial statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the fi nancial statements as a whole are free from material 
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance 
is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a 
material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or 
in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to infl uence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these 
fi nancial statements.

Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
The objectives of our audit, in respect to fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the fi nancial 
statements due to fraud; to obtain suffi cient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement 
due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses; and to respond appropriately to fraud or suspected 
fraud identifi ed during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both 
those charged with governance of the entity and management.

Our approach was as follows:

•  We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the Company and determined 
that the most signifi cant are the Companies Act 2006, the Listing Rules, the UK Corporate Governance Code and section 
1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.

•  We understood how the Company is complying with those frameworks through discussions with the Audit Committee and 

Company Secretary and review of the Company’s documented policies and procedures.

•  We assessed the susceptibility of the Company’s fi nancial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might 
occur by considering the key risks impacting the fi nancial statements. We identifi ed a fraud risk with respect to incomplete 
or inaccurate revenue recognition relating to the recognition of special dividends. Further discussion of our approach is set 
out in the section on key audit matters above.

•  Based on this understanding we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance with such laws and regulations. 

Our procedures involved review of the reporting to the Directors with respect to the application of the documented 
policies and procedures and review of the fi nancial statements to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements of the 
Company.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the fi nancial statements is located on the Financial Reporting 
Council’s website at https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Other matters we are required to address
•  We were appointed as auditors by the Board of Directors with effect from 1 January 2003 for the year ended 31 December 

2003 and signed an engagement letter on 12 November 2003.

•  The period of total uninterrupted engagement including previous renewals and reappointments is 15 years, covering the 

years ending 31 December 2003 to 31 December 2017.

•  The non-audit services prohibited by the FRC’s Ethical Standard were not provided to the Company and we remain 

independent of the Company in conducting the audit.

•  The audit opinion is consistent with the additional report to the audit committee

Caroline Mercer (Senior statutory auditor)
for and on behalf of Ernst & Young LLP, Statutory Auditor
 Edinburgh

 20 February 2018

Notes:
1. 

 The maintenance and integrity of the Temple Bar Investment Trust plc web site is the responsibility of the directors; the 
work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no 
responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the fi nancial statements since they were initially presented on the 
web site.

2.   Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of fi nancial statements may differ from 

legislation in other jurisdictions.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

33

 
 
 
 
L STATEMENTS CONTINUED

34

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

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FINANCIAL REPORT

 36   Statement of Comprehensive Income

 37   Statement of Changes in Equity

 38   Statement of Financial Position

 39   Statement of Cash Flows

 40   Notes to the Financial Statements

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

35

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

Investment Income

Other operating income

Notes

4

4

Revenue
£000

 33,990

 8

 33,998

2017

Capital
£000

 –

 –

 –

Total
£000

 33,990

 8

Revenue
£000

34,069

5

 33,998

34,074

2016

Capital
£000

–

–

–

Total
£000

34,069

5

34,074

Profi t/(losses) on investments

Profi t/(losses) on investments held at fair 
value through profi t or loss

12(b)

Total income

Expenses

Management fees

Other expenses

Profi t/(loss) before fi nance costs and tax

Finance costs

Profi t/(loss) before tax

Tax

Profi t/(loss) for the year

 –

 33,998

 62,251

 62,251

 62,251

 96,249

–

34,074

128,792

128,792

128,792

162,866

6

7

8

9

 (1,532)

 (600)

 31,866

 (2,701)

 29,165

 (207)

 28,958

 (2,215)

 (969)

 59,067

 (4,078)

 54,989

 –

 54,989

 (3,747)

 (1,569)

 90,933

 (6,779)

 84,154

 (207)

 83,947

(1,380)

(633)

32,061

(2,645)

29,416

(163)

(1,990)

(1,039)

(3,370)

(1,672)

125,763

157,824

(4,012)

(6,657)

121,751

151,167

–

(163)

29,253

121,751

151,004

Earnings per share (basic and diluted)

11

 43.30p

 82.23p

 125.53p

43.74p

182.06p

225.80p

The total column of this statement represents the Statement of Comprehensive Income prepared in accordance with IFRS. 
The supplementary revenue return and capital return columns are both prepared under guidance issued by the Association 
of Investment Companies. All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.

No operations were acquired or discontinued during the year.

The Company does not have any income or expense that is not included in  profi t for the year. Accordingly, the 
 profi t for the year is also the Total Comprehensive Income for the Year, as defi ned in IAS1 (revised).

The notes on pages  40   to  50   form an integral part of the fi nancial statements.

36

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

Balance at 1 January 2016

Unclaimed dividends

P rofi t for the year

 Dividends paid to equity shareholders

Balance at 31 December 2016

Unclaimed dividends

Profi t for the year

 Dividends paid to equity shareholders

Balance at 31 December 2017

Notes

Ordinary 
share capital
£000

 16,719

Share 
premium 
account
£000

 96,040

 –

 –

 –

Capital 
reserves
£000

 613,427

 –

 121,751

 –

 –

 –

 –

 16,719

 96,040

 735,178

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 54,989

 –

 16,719

 96,040

 790,167

10

10

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Retained 
revenue 
earnings
£000

Total 
equity
£000

 29,569

 755,755

 24

 29,253

(26,8 43) 

 32,003

 11

 28,958

 (27,532 )

 33,440

 24

 151,004

 (26,8 43)

 879,940

 11

 83,947

 (27,532 )

 936,366

As at 31 December 2017 the Company had distributable revenue reserves of £ 33,440,000 (2016: £32,003,000) and 
distributable realised capital reserves of £ 642,323,000 (2016: £596,215,000) for the payment of future dividends. The only 
distributable reserves are the retained earnings and realised capital reserves.

The notes on pages 40  to 50  form an integral part of the fi nancial statements.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

37

 
 
 
 
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2017

Non-current assets

Investments held at fair value through profi t or loss

Current assets

Receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Total assets

Current liabilities

Interest bearing borrowings

Payables

Total assets less current liabilities

Non-current liabilities

Interest bearing borrowings

Net assets

Equity attributable to equity holders

Ordinary share capital

Share premium

Capital reserves

Retained revenue earnings

Total equity

Net asset value per share

31 December 2017

31 December 2016

Notes

£000

£000

£000

£000

12

13

14

14

15

16

17

18 

20

 1,035,670

973,353

 3,613

 12,161

4,266

17,340

 15,774

 1,051,444

 –

 (1,159)

 1,050,285

 (113,919)

 936,366

21,606

994,959

(25,000)

(1,169)

968,790

(88,850)

879,940

 16,719

 96,040

 790,167

 33,440

16,719

96,040

735,178

32,003

 936,366

 1,400.22p

879,940

1,315.84p

The notes on pages  40   to  50   form an integral part of the fi nancial statements.

The fi nancial statements on pages  36  to  50   were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 
20 February 2018. They were signed on its behalf by:

J Reeve
Chairman

38

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

Cash fl ows from operating activities

Profi t/(loss) before tax

Adjustments for:

(Gains)/losses on investments 

Finance costs 

Purchases of investments1 

Sales of investments1 

Dividend income

Interest income

Dividend received

Interest received

 Decrease/(increase) in receivables

 (Decrease)/increase in payables

Overseas withholding tax suffered

Net cash fl ows from operating activities

Cash fl ows from fi nancing activities 

Repayment of 9.875% 2017 debenture

Proceeds from issue of 2.99% Private Placement Loan

 Issue costs relating to 2.99% Private Placement Loan

Unclaimed dividends

Equity dividends paid 

 Interest paid on borrowings 

Net cash fl ows from  fi nancing activities

Net (decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year

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2017

2016

Notes

£000

£000

£000

£000

 84,154

151,167

12(b)

8

12(a)

12(a)

4

4

9

10

 (62,251)

 6,779

 (437,327)

 437,261

 (32,410)

 (1,588)

 32,189

 1,248

 1,212

 (10)

 (207)

(25,000)

 25,000 

(121  )

 11

   (27,532)

(6,587)

(128,792)

6,657

(335,164)

346,228

(32,841)

(1,233)

32,078

1,683

(1,231)

95

(163)

 (55,104)

 29,050

(112,683)

38,484

–

–

–

24

(26,843) 

(6,587) 

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(33,406)

5,078

12,262

17,340

 (34,229)

 (5,179)

 17,340

 12,161

1 Purchases and sales of investments are considered to be operating activities of the Company, given its purpose, rather than investing activities. 

The notes on pages  40   to  50    form an integral part of the fi nancial statements.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

39

 
 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1  PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of accounting
The fi nancial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (‘IFRS’), which 
comprise standards and interpretations approved by the International Accounting Standards Board (‘IASB’), and International 
Accounting Standards and Standing Interpretations Committee interpretations approved by the International Accounting 
Standards Committee (‘IASC’) that remain in effect, and to the extent that they have been adopted by the European Union.

The principal accounting policies adopted by the Company are set out below. Where presentational guidance set out in the 
Statement of Recommended Practice (‘SORP’) for investment trusts issued by the Association of Investment Companies (‘AIC’) 
in November 2014 is consistent with the requirements of IFRS, the directors have sought to prepare the fi nancial statements on 
a basis compliant with the recommendations of the SORP.

All values are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds unless otherwise indicated.

Presentation of Statement of Comprehensive Income 
In order better to refl ect the activities of an investment trust company and in accordance with guidance issued by the AIC, 
supplementary information which analyses the Statement of Comprehensive Income between items of a revenue and capital 
nature has been presented alongside the Statement of Comprehensive Income.

Income
Dividend income from investments is recognised when the Company’s right to receive payment has been established, 
normally the ex-dividend date.

Where the Company has elected to receive its dividends in the form of additional shares rather than cash, the amount of 
cash dividend foregone is recognised as income. Any excess in the value of shares received over the amount of cash dividend 
foregone is recognised as a capital gain in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.

Interest income is accrued on a time basis, by reference to the principal outstanding and at the effective interest rate 
applicable, which is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the fi nancial 
asset to that asset’s net carrying amount.

Special dividends are credited to capital or revenue according to their circumstances.

Foreign Currency
The fi nancial statements are prepared in Pounds Sterling because that is the currency of the primary economic environment in 
which the Company operates.

The primary objective of the Company is to generate returns in Pounds Sterling, its capital-raising currency. The liquidity of the 
Company is managed on a day-to-day basis in Sterling as the Company’s performance is evaluated in that currency. Therefore, 
the directors consider Pounds Sterling as the currency that most faithfully represents the economic effects of the underlying 
transactions, events and conditions.

Transactions involving foreign currencies are converted at the exchange rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Foreign 
currency monetary assets and liabilities as well as instruments carried at fair value are translated into Pounds Sterling at the 
exchange rate ruling on the year-end date. Foreign exchange differences arising on translation are recognised in the Statement 
of Comprehensive Income.

Expenses
All expenses are accounted for on the accruals basis. In respect of the analysis between revenue and capital items presented 
within the Statement of Comprehensive Income, all expenses have been presented as revenue items except as follows:

•  Transaction costs which are incurred on the purchases or sales of investments designated as fair value through 

profi t or loss are expensed to capital in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.

•  Expenses are split and presented partly as capital items where a connection with the maintenance or enhancement of the 

value of the investments held can be demonstrated and, accordingly, the investment management fee and fi nance costs 
have been allocated 40% to revenue and 60% to capital, in order to refl ect the directors’ long term view of the nature of 
the expected investment returns of the Company.

Taxation
The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax. The tax currently payable is based on the 
taxable profi t for the year. The taxable profi t differs from profi t before tax as reported in the Statement of Comprehensive 
Income because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes 
items that are never taxable or deductible. The Company’s liability for current tax is calculated using a blended rate as 
applicable throughout the year.

In line with the recommendations of the SORP, the allocation method used to calculate tax relief on expenses presented 
against capital returns in the supplementary information in the Statement of Comprehensive Income is the ‘marginal basis’. 
Under this basis, if taxable income is capable of being entirely offset by expenses in the revenue column of the income 
statement, then no tax relief is transferred to the capital column.

40

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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I

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Deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the carrying amounts of assets 
and liabilities in the fi nancial statements and the corresponding tax bases used in the computation of taxable profi t and 
is accounted for using the balance sheet liability method. Deferred tax liabilities are recognised for all taxable temporary 
differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profi ts will be available against 
which deductible temporary differences can be utilised.

Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is 
realised. Deferred tax is charged or credited in the revenue return of the Statement of Comprehensive Income, except when it 
relates to items charged or credited directly to equity, in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity.

Investment trusts which have approval under Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 are not liable for taxation on 
capital gains.

Irrecoverable withholding tax is recognised on any overseas dividends on an accruals basis using the applicable rate for the 
country of origin.

Financial instruments
Financial assets and fi nancial liabilities are recognised in the Statement of Financial Position when the Company becomes a 
party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. The Company shall offset fi nancial assets and fi nancial liabilities if it has a 
legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and interests and intends to settle on a net basis. Financial assets 
and liabilities are derecognised when the Company settles its obligations relating to the instrument.

Receivables
Receivables do not carry any interest, are short term in nature and are accordingly stated at their nominal value as reduced 
by appropriate allowances for estimated irrecoverable amounts.

Investments
Investments held at fair value through profi t or loss are initially recognised at fair value, being the consideration given and 
excluding transaction or other dealing costs associated with the investment.

After initial recognition, investments are measured at fair value through profi t or loss. Gains or losses on investments measured 
at fair value through profi t or loss are included in net profi t or loss as a capital item and transaction costs on acquisition or 
disposal of investments are expensed. For investments that are actively traded in organised fi nancial markets, fair value is 
determined by reference to stock exchange quoted market bid prices at the close of business on the year-end date.

All purchases and sales of investments are recognised on the trade date, i.e. the date that the Company commits to purchase 
or sell an asset.

Financial liabilities and equity instruments
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classifi ed according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An 
equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the Company after deducting all of its liabilities.

Interest bearing borrowings
Interest bearing borrowings, being the debenture stock  and loans issued by the Company, are initially recognised at a carrying 
value equivalent to the proceeds received net of issue costs associated with the borrowings. After initial recognition, interest 
bearing borrowings are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest rate method. The fair value is 
determined by reference to quoted market mid prices at close of business on the year-end date.

Payables
Payables are non interest bearing and are stated at their nominal value.

Equity dividends payable
Equity dividends payable are recognised when the shareholders’ right to receive payment is established. For interim dividends 
this is when they are paid and for fi nal dividends this is when they are approved by  shareholders.

Finance costs
Interest payable on the debenture stock  and loans in issue is accrued on the effective interest rate basis. In accordance 
with the expected long term division of returns, 40% of the interest for the year is charged to revenue, and the other 60% is 
charged to capital .

Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents (which are presented as a single class of asset on the Statement of Financial Position) comprise cash 
at bank and in hand and deposits with an original maturity of three months or less.

The carrying value of these assets approximates their fair value.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

41

 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED

 2  SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING JUDGEMENTS, ESTIMATES AND ASSUMPTIONS

The preparation of the Company’s fi nancial statements requires the directors to make judgements, estimates and assumptions 
that affect the reported amounts recognised in the fi nancial statements and disclosure of contingent liabilities. However, 
uncertainty about these assumptions and estimates could result in outcomes that could require a material adjustment to the 
carrying amount of the asset or liability affected in future periods. There have been no  judgements, estimates or assumptions 
which have had a signifi cant impact on the fi nancial statements for the current or preceding fi nancial year.

3  ADOPTION OF NEW AND REVISED STANDARDS 

At the date of authorisation of these fi nancial statements, the following Standards , which have not been applied in these fi nancial 
statements, were in issue but were not yet effective (and in some cases had not yet been adopted by the European Union):

 IFRS 9 Financial Instruments – effective from 1 January 2018
IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers – effective from 1 January 2018 

 IFRS 9 – Financial Instruments (2014) replaces IAS 39 and deals with a package of improvements including principally a revised 
model for classifi cation and measurement of fi nancial instruments, a forward looking expected loss impairment model and 
a revised framework for hedge accounting. In terms of classifi cation and measurement the revised standard is principles 
based depending on the business model and nature of cash fl ows. Under this approach instruments are measured at either 
amortised cost or fair value. Under IFRS 9 equity and derivative investments will be held at fair value because they fail the 
‘solely payments of principal and interest’ test and debt investments will be held at fair value because the business model is to 
manage them on a fair value basis. The scope of the fair value option is reduced within IFRS 9. The standard is effective from 
1 January 2018 with earlier application permitted. The Company does not plan to early adopt this standard. The Standard is 
not expected to have any impact on the Company as all its investments are held at fair value through profi t or loss.

4 

INCOME

Income from investments

UK dividends

Overseas dividends

Interest from fi xed interest securities

Other income

Deposit interest

Total income

Investment income comprises:

Listed investments

2017
£000

  30,717

 1,693  

 1,580

 33,990

 8

 33,998

 33,990

 33,990

2016
£000

 31,159

1,682

1,228

34,069

5

34,074

34,069

34,069

 During the year ended 31 December 2017, the Company received special dividends totalling £1,448,799 (2016: £2,666,852). 
Of this, £583,324 (2016: £1,627,931) is recognised as revenue and is included within investment income and £865,475 (2016: 
£1,038,921) is recognised as capital and is included in profi t on investments held at fair value through profi t or loss (see note 12(b)).

5  SEGMENTAL REPORTING

The directors are of the opinion that the Company is engaged in a single segment of business being investment business.

6 

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FEE

Investment management fee

Secretarial fee

2017

Capital
£000

 2,215

 –

 2,215

Revenue
£000

 1,477

 55

 1,532

Total
£000

 3,692

 55

 3,747

Revenue
£000

1,326

54

1,380

2016

Capital
£000

1,990

–

1,990

Total
£000

3,316

54

3,370

As at 31 December 2017 an amount of £ 916,852 (2016: £870,483) was payable to the Manager in relation to management fees 
for the quarter ended 31 December 2017.

Details of the terms of the investment management agreement are provided on page  18 .

42

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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7  OTHER EXPENSES

Transaction costs on fair value 
through profi t or loss assets1

Directors’ fees (see Report on 
Directors Remuneration on page  21)

Registrar’s fees

AIC membership costs

Marketing costs

Printing & postage

Directors’ liability insurance

Auditor’s remuneration – annual audit2

– non audit fee

Stock exchange fees

FCA fee

Depositary fee

Safe custody fees

Other expenses

Revenue
£000

 –

 185

 85

 21

 45

 30

 14

 30

 3

 26

 20

 101

 10

 30

 600

2017

Capital
£000

 969

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

 –

Total
£000

Revenue
£000

 969

 185

 85

 21

 45

 30

 14

 30

 3

 26

 20

 101

 10

 30

–

163

125

21

25

37

15

31

3

22

20

95

11

65

2016

Capital
£000

Total
£000

1,039

1,039

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

163

125

21

25

37

15

31

3

22

20

95

11

65

 969

 1,569

633

1,039

1,672

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1 

 Transaction costs on fair value through profi t or loss assets represent such costs incurred on both the purchase and sale of those assets.
Transaction costs on purchases amounted to  £755,713 (2016: £898,478) and on sales amounted to  £213,276 (2016: £140,080).

2   During the year there were audit fees of £25,000 (201 6: £25,000) (excluding VAT) paid to the Auditor. 

All expenses are inclusive of VAT where applicable.

8  FINANCE COSTS

Interest on borrowings

9.875% debenture stock 2017

5.5% debenture stock 2021

4.05% Private placement loan 20281

2.99% Private placement loan 20471

Bank interest payable

Total fi nance costs

Revenue
£000

2017

Capital
£000

Total
£000

Revenue
£000

 988

 839

 815

 56

 2,698

 3

 2,701

 1,481

 1,269

 1,242

 86

 4,078

 –

 4,078

 2,469

 2,108

 2,057

 142

 6,776

 3

 6,779

990

838

812

–

2,640

5

2,645

2016

Capital
£000

1,486

1,276

1,250

–

4,012

–

4,012

Total
£000

2,476

2,114

2,062

–

6,652

5

6,657

The amortisation of the debenture and loan issue costs is calculated using the effective interest method.

1  The 4.05% and 2.99% Private Placement Loans contain the following principal fi nancial or other covenants, with which failure to comply could necessitate the early repayment of 

the loan:

•  net tangible assets of at least £275 million

•  aggregate principal amount of fi nancial indebtedness not to exceed 50% of net tangible assets

•  prior approval by the note holder of any change of Manager

•  prior approval by the note holder of any change in the Company’s investment objectives and policies

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

43

 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED

9  TAXATION

(a)  There is no corporation tax payable (2016: nil).

(b)  The charge for the year can be reconciled to the profi t per the Statement of Comprehensive Income as follows:

Profi t/(loss) before tax per accounts     

 UK corporation tax rate at   19 .25  % 
(2016 : 20.00 %)

E ffects of:

Non-taxable gains on investments1

Disallowed expenses

Non-taxable UK dividends1

Non-taxable overseas dividends1

Increase in excess management expenses 
in the year2

Overseas withholding tax suffered

Total tax charge for the year

Revenue
£000

 29,165

2017

Capital
£000

 54,989

Total
£000

 84,154

Revenue
£000

29,416

2016

Capital
£000

121,751

Total
£000

151,167

  5,615

  10,585

  16,200

5,883

24,350

30,233

 –

 –

 (5, 814)

 (31 9)

 51 8

207

  207 

 (11, 984)

 (11, 984)

 18 7

 –

 –

  1,212

–

 –

 18 7

 (5, 814)

 (31 9)

  1,730

207

  207 

–

–

(6,145)

(316)

578

163

163

(25,758)

(25,758)

208

–

–

1,200

–

–

208

(6,145)

(316)

1,778

163

163

1 Investment trusts are not subject to corporation tax on these items.

2  The Company has not recognised a deferred tax asset of £ 15,541,058  (201 6: £ 14,013,219)  based on a future  effective tax rate of 17  .0% (2016: 17.0%)        arising as a result of having 

unutilised management expenses since, under current tax legislation, it is unlikely that the Company will obtain any benefi t from the asset.

10  DIVIDENDS

Amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the year

Final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2016 of 16.18p (2015: 15.87p) per share 

Interim dividends (three) for the year ended 31 December 2017 of 8.33p (201 6: three payments of 8.09p) per share

2017
£000

 10,820

 16,712

 27,532

2016
£000

10,613

16,230

26,843

Proposed fi nal dividend for the year ended 31 December 2017 of 17.48 p (2016: 16.18p) per share

 11,689   

10,820

The proposed fi nal dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting and has not 
been included as a liability in these fi nancial statements. Therefore, also set out below is the total dividend payable in respect 
of these fi nancial years, which is the basis on which the requirements of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 are 
considered.

Interim dividends (three) for the year ended 31 December 2017 of 8.33p (2016: three payments of 8.09p) per share

Proposed fi nal dividend for the year ended 31 December 2017 of  17.48     p (2016: 16.18p) per share

11  EARNINGS PER SHARE

Earnings per ordinary share

Revenue
pence

 43.30p

2017

Capital
pence

 82.23p

Total
pence

 125.53p

Revenue
pence

43.74p

2017
£000

 16,712

 11,689   

 28 , 401

2016

Capital
pence

182.06p

2016
£000

16,230

10,820

27,050

Total
pence

225.80p

The calculation of the above is based on revenue returns of £ 28,958,000 (2016: £29,253,000), capital returns of £ 54,989,000 
(2016:  £121,751,000 ) and total returns of £ 83,947,000 (2016:  £151,004,000 ) and a weighted average number of ordinary shares 
of 66,872,765 (2016: 66,872,765).

44

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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12  INVESTMENTS HELD AT FAIR VALUE THROUGH PROFIT OR LOSS

(a) Movements in the year

Opening cost at 1 January 

Investment holding gains at 1 January

Opening fair value

Purchases at cost

Sales – proceeds

 – realised gains on sales

Increase/(decrease) in investment holding gains

Closing fair value at 31 December

Closing cost at 31 December

Investment holding gains at 31 December

(b) Gains/(losses) on investments

Gains on sales of investments based on historical book cost

Revaluation gains recognised in previous years

 Gains/(losses) on investments sold in the year based on carrying value at previous statement of fi nancial 
position date

Increase/(decrease) in investment holding gains

2017
£000

2016
£000

 834,390

815,311

 138,963

40,314

 973,353

855,625

 437,327

335,164

 (437,261)

(346,228)

 53,370

 8,881

30,143

98,649

 1,035,670

973,353

 887,825

834,390

 147,845

138,963

 1,035,670

973,353

 53,370

30,143

 (49,079)

(16,337)

 4,291

13,806

 57,960

114,986

 62,251

128,792

All investments are listed.

(c) Fair value of fi nancial instruments
IFRS 13   requires an entity to classify fair value measurements using a fair value hierarchy that refl ects the signifi cance of the 
inputs used in making the measurements. The fair value hierarchy has the following classifi cations:

•  Level 1 – quoted prices in active markets for identical investments.

•  Level 2 – other signifi cant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, prepayments, 

credit risk, etc). There are no level 2 fi nancial assets (2016: £nil).

•  Level 3 – signifi cant unobservable inputs (including the Company’s own assumptions in determining the fair 

value of investments). There are no level 3 fi nancial assets (2016: £nil).

All of the Company’s investments are in quoted securities actively traded on recognised stock exchanges, with their fair 
value being determined by reference to their quoted bid prices at the reporting date. The total value of the investments of 
£ 1,035,670,000 (2016: £973,353,000) has therefore been determined as Level 1.

Please refer to Note 22 on page  49  for the disclosure and fair value categorisation of the fi nancial liabilities.

 13  RECEIVABLES

Accrued income

Other receivables

2017
£000

 3,320

 293

 3,613

2016
£000

2,757

1,509

4,266

The above receivables do not carry any interest and are short term in nature. The directors consider that the carrying values 
of these receivables approximate their fair value.

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

45

 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED

14  CURRENT LIABILITIES

Payables

Accruals

2017
£000

 1,159

 1,159

2016
£000

1,169

1,169

The above payables do not carry any interest and are short term in nature. The directors consider that the carrying values of 
these payables approximate their fair value.

Interest bearing borrowings

9 7/8% Debenture stock 2017

15  NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES

Interest bearing borrowings

Amounts payable after more than one year:

5.5% Debenture stock 2021

4.05% Private placement loan 2028

2.99% Private placement loan 2047

Opening balance as per the Statement of fi nancial position

Loans drawn in the year

Loans repaid in the year

Interest paid in the year

Finance costs for the year as per the Statement of comprehensive income

Closing balance as per the Statement of fi nancial position

2017
£000

 –

 –

2017
£000

 38,550

 50,349

 25,020

2016
£000

25,000

25,000

2016
£000

38,535

50,315

–

 113,919

88,850

2017
£000

2016
£000

(113,850)

(113,780)

(25,000)

25,000

6,707

(6,776)

–

–

6,582

(6,652)

(113,919)

(113,850)

The 5.5% Debenture stock 2021 is secured by a fl oating charge over the assets of the Company. The stock is repayable at 
par on 8 March 2021.

The 4.05% Private Placement Loan is secured by a fl oating charge over the assets of the Company. The loan is repayable at 
par on 3 September 2028.

The 2.99% Private Placement Loan is secured by a fl oating charge over the assets of the Company. The loan is repayable at 
par on  24 October 2047.

16  ORDINARY SHARE CAPITAL

Issued, allotted and fully paid

Ordinary shares of 25p each

There were no shares issued during 2017 (2016: Nil) 

17  SHARE PREMIUM

Balance at 1 January 201 7

Premium arising on issue of new shares

Balance at 31 December 201 7

2017
Number

2016
Number

2017
£000

2016
£000

66,872,765

66,872,765

16,718,191

16,718,191

2017
£000

 96,040

 –

 96,040

2016
£000

96,040

–

96,040

46

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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18   CAPITAL RESERVES

The capital reserves comprise both realised and unrealised gains. A summary of the split is shown below.

Capital reserves – realised

Capital reserves – unrealised

2017
£000

 642,323

 147,844

 790,167

2016
£000

596,215

138,963

735,178

19  CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND CAPITAL COMMITMENTS

As at 31 December 2017 there were no contingent liabilities or capital commitments for the Company (2016: £nil).

20   NET ASSET VALUES

Ordinary shares of 25p each

Net asset 
value per 
ordinary share 
Pence

Net assets 
attributable 
£000

 1,400.22p

 936,366

The net asset value per ordinary share is based on net assets at the year-end of £ 936,366,000 (2016: £879,940,000) and on 
66,872,765 (2016: 66,872,765) ordinary shares in issue at the year-end.

21   RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS AND TRANSACTIONS WITH THE MANAGER

IAS 24 ‘Related party disclosures’ requires the disclosure of the details of material transactions between the Company and any 
related parties. Accordingly, the disclosures required are set out below:

Directors – The remuneration of the directors is set out in the Report on Directors’ Remuneration on page 21 . There were no 
contracts subsisting during or at the end of the year in which a director of the Company is or was interested and which are 
or were signifi cant in relation to the Company’s business. There were no other material transactions during the year with the 
directors of the Company.

At 31 December 201 7 there was £48,910  (2016: £40,797) payable to the directors for fees and expenses.

Manager – Investec Fund Managers Limited is the Alternative Investment Fund Manager of the Company and has delegated 
portfolio management to Investec Asset Management Limited. Details of the services provided by the Manager and the fees 
paid are given on page 18 and also set out in note 6 on page 42  .

22   RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Company’s investing activities undertaken in pursuit of its investment objective, as set out on page 10 , involve certain 
inherent risks. The main fi nancial risks arising from the Company’s fi nancial instruments are market price risk, interest rate 
risk, liquidity risk, credit risk and currency risk. The Board reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks as 
summarised below. These policies have remained substantially unchanged during the current and preceding periods.

Market price risk
Market price risk arises mainly from uncertainty about future prices of fi nancial instruments used in the Company’s business. It 
represents the potential loss the Company might suffer through holding market positions in the face of price movements. The Board 
meets on seven scheduled occasions in each year and at each meeting it receives suffi cient fi nancial and statistical information 
to enable it to monitor adequately the investment performance and status of the business. In addition, fi nancial information is 
circulated to the directors on a monthly basis. The Board has also established a series of investment parameters, which are reviewed 
annually, designed to limit the risk inherent in managing a portfolio of investments. The Company’s borrowings have the effect 
of increasing the market risk faced by shareholders. This gearing effect is such that, for example, for a 10% movement in the 
valuation of the Company’s investments, the net assets attributable to shareholders would move by approximately 11.1%.

Interest rate risk
Interest rate risk is the risk of movements in the value of fi nancial instruments or interest income cash fl ows that arise as a 
result of fl uctuations in interest rates. The Company fi nances its operations through retained profi ts including capital profi ts, 
and additional fi nancing is obtained through the  debenture stock  in issue and the two Private Placement Loans, on all of 
which interest is paid at a fi xed rate.

Liquidity risk
The Company’s assets comprise mainly readily realisable securities, which can be sold to meet funding commitments if 
necessary. Short term fl exibility is achieved through the use of cash balances and short term bank deposits.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

47

 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED

22  RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS CONTINUED
Credit risk
Credit risk is the risk that one party to a fi nancial instrument will fail to discharge an obligation and cause the other party to 
incur a fi nancial loss. This is mitigated by the Manager reviewing the credit ratings of broker counterparties. The risk attached 
to dividend fl ows is mitigated by the Manager’s research of potential investee companies. The Company’s custodian is 
responsible for the collection of income on behalf of the Company. Cash is held either with reputable banks with high quality 
external credit ratings or in liquidity/cash funds providing a spread of exposures to various underlying banks in order to 
diversify risk. The carrying amounts of fi nancial assets represent their maximum exposure to credit risk. The full portfolio can 
be found on pages 15  to 16 .

Currency risk
The income and capital value of the Company’s investments and liabilities can be affected by exchange rate movements as 
some of the Company’s assets and income are denominated in currencies other than Pounds Sterling which is the Company’s 
reporting currency. The key areas where foreign currency risk could have an impact on the Company are:

•  movements in rates that would affect the value of investments and liabilities; and

•  movements in rates that would affect the income received.

The Company had the following currency exposures, all of which are included in the Statement of Financial Position at fair 
value based on the exchange rates ruling at the respective year-ends.   Exposures vary throughout the year as a consequence of 
changes in the composition of the net assets of the Company arising out of the investment and risk management processes.

Euro

US Dollar

Norwegian Krone 

Pounds Sterling

Euro

US Dollar

Norwegian Krone 

Pounds Sterling

31 December 2017

Investments
£000

Cash
£000

Receivables
£000

Payables
£000

 19,046

 93,858

 18,938

 903,828

 1,035,670

 –

 272

 1

 11,888

 12,161

 361

 3

 1

 3,248

 3,613

31 December 2016

Investments
£000

Cash
£000

Receivables
£000

Payables
£000

18,134

103,753

17,786

833,680

973,353

–

1

1

17,338

17,340

328

–

–

3,938

4,266

 (1,159)

 (1,159)

 (113,919)

 (113,919)

Non-current
liabilities
£000

 –

 –

 –

Non-current
liabilities
£000

–

–

–

 –

 –

 –

–

–

–

(1,169)

(1,169)

(113,850)

(113,850)

Total
£000

 19,407

 94,133

 18,940

 803,886

 936,366

Total
£000

18,462

103,754

17,787

739,937

879,940

Foreign currency sensitivity
The following table illustrates the sensitivity of the profi t after tax for the year and the net assets for the year in relation to 
foreign exchange movements o n Euro, Norwegian Krone  and US Dollar denominated investments. The analysis below assumes 
that the Euro, Norwegian Krone  and US Dollar exchange rates may move +/-2% against Pounds Sterling.

Projected movement

Effect on net assets for the year

Effect on capital return

£000

+2%

2,65 0

2,637 

£000

-2%

(2,65 0)

(2,637 )

Financial assets – Interest rate risk
The majority of the Company’s fi nancial assets are equity shares and other investments which neither pay interest nor have a 
maturity date. The Company’s fi xed interest holdings have a market value of £ 137,047,000, representing  14.6% of net assets of 
£ 936,366,000 (2016: £79,153,000; 9.0%). The weighted average running yield as at 31 December 2017 was  1.5% (2016: 1.6%) 
and the weighted average remaining life was  0.9 years (2016: 1.9 years). The Company’s cash balance of £ 12,161,000 (2016: 
£17,340,000) earns interest, calculated on a tiered basis, depending on the balance held, by reference to the base rate.

If the bank base rate had increased by 0.5%, the impact on the profi t or loss and net assets would have been a positive £ 60,805 
(2016: £86,700 ). If the bank base rate had decreased by 0.5%, the impact on the profi t or loss and net assets would have been 
a negative £ 60,805 (2016: negative £86,700). The calculations are based on the cash balances at the respective balance sheet 
dates and are not representative of the year as a whole.

48

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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Financial liabilities – Interest rate risk
All of the Company’s fi nancial liabilities of £ 115,078  ,000 (2016: £115,019,000) are denominated in Pounds Sterling. All current liabilities 
have no interest rate and are repayable within one year. The 5.5% debenture stock, the 4.05% Private Placement Loan and the 2.99% 
Private Placement Loan, which are repayable in 2021, 2028 and 2047 respectively, pay interest at fi xed rates. The weighted average 
period until maturity of the loans is  12 years (2016: 7 years) and the weighted average interest rate payable is  4.0% (2016: 6.0%) p.a.

Other price risk exposure
If the investment valuation fell by 10% at 31 December 2017, the impact on profi t or loss and net assets would have been 
negative £ 103.6 million (2016: negative £97.3 million). If the investment portfolio valuation rose by 10% at 31 December 2017, 
the impact on profi t or loss and net assets would have been positive £ 103.6 million (2016: positive £97.3 million).   Exposures 
vary throughout the year as a consequence of changes in the net assets of the Company arising out of the investment and risk 
management processes.

The Company held the following categories of fi nancial instruments, all of which are included in the Statement of Financial 
Position at fair value or an approximation to fair value, with the exception of interest bearing borrowings which are shown at 
book value at 31 December 2017. The valuation techniques are explained in the Principal Accounting Policies note.

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Assets at fair value through profi t or loss

Cash

Loans and receivables

Investment income receivable

Other receivables

Payables

Interest bearing borrowings:

9.875% Debenture Stock1

5.5% Debenture Stock2

4.05% Private Placement Loan3

2.99% Private Placement Loan4

1 Effective interest rate is 9.875%
2 Effective interest rate is 5.583%
3 Effective interest rate is 4.133%
4 Effective interest rate is 3.015 %

2017

2016

Book value
£000

 1,035,670

 12,161

Fair value
£000

 1,035,670

 12,161

Book value
£000

973,353

17,340

Fair value
£000

973,353

17,340

 3,320

 293

 (1,159)

 –

 (38,550)

 (50,349)

 (25,020)

 3,320

 293

 (1,159)

 –

 (42,510)

 (54,846)

 (25,456)

2,757

1,509

(1,169)

(25,000)

(38,535)

(50,315)

 –

2,757

1,509

(1,169)

(27,500)

(43,431)

(54,843)

 –

 936,366

 927,473

879,940

868,016

The 5.5% Debenture Stock 2021 is classifi ed as a Level 1 instrument (2016: Level 1).

The 4.05% Private Placement Loan 2028 and the 2.99% Private Placement Loan 2047    do not have prices quoted on an active 
market but their fair values are based on observable inputs. As such they have been classifi ed as Level 2 instruments (2016: 
Level 2).

Liquidity risk exposure
This is the risk that the Company will encounter diffi culty in meeting obligations associated with fi nancial liabilities.

Contractual maturities of the fi nancial liabilities at the year end, based on the earliest date on which payment can be 
required, are as follows:

2017

2016

Three 
months 
or less
£000

Not more 
than one 
year
£000

More 
than one 
year
£000

Three 
months 
or less
£000

Not more 
than one 
year
£000

More 
than one 
year
£000

Total
£000

Total
£000

Creditors: amounts falling due 
after more than one year

Debenture stock and Loans

 2,058

 2,805

 160,153

 165,016

2,058

29,526

117,590

149,174

Creditors: amounts falling due 
within one year

Accruals and deferred income

 917

 2,975

 242

 –

 1,159

 3,047

 160,153

 166,175

870

2,928

299

–

1,169

59,351

117,590

150,343

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

49

 
 
 
 
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED

22  RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS CONTINUED

Capital management policies and procedures
The Company’s capital management objectives are to ensure that it will be able to continue as a going concern, 
and to provide long term growth in revenue and capital, principally by investment in UK securities.

The Company’s capital is its equity share capital and reserves that are shown in the Statement of Financial Position and its 
debenture  and fi xed term loans (see note 15) at a total of £1,050,285  (2016: £993,790,000).

The Company is subject to several externally imposed capital requirements:

•  as a public company, the Company has a minimum share capital of £50,000.

• 

• 

in order to be able to pay dividends out of profi ts available for distribution by way of dividends, the Company has 
to be able to meet one of the two capital restriction tests imposed on investment companies by company law.

the terms of the debenture trust deed have various covenants that prescribe that moneys borrowed should not exceed the 
adjusted total capital and reserves as defi ned in the debenture trust deed. The Note Purchase Agreements governing the 
terms of the Private Placement Loans also contain certain fi nancial covenants. These are measured in accordance with the 
policies used in the annual fi nancial statements.

The Company has complied with all of the above requirements.

OTHER INFORMATION

Securities Financing and Total Return Swap Disclosure
During the year the Company did not engage in securities lending or any total return swaps.

Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive
In accordance with the AIFM Directive, information in relation to the Company’s leverage and the remuneration of the 
Company’s AIFM, Investec Fund Managers Limited (‘IFM’), is required to be made available to investors. In accordance with the 
Directive, the AIFM remuneration policy is available at www.investecassetmanagement.com or from the Company Secretary 
on request (see contact details on page 56 ) and the numerical remuneration disclosures in respect of the AIFM’s relevant 
reporting period (year ended 31 March 2017) are also available at www.investecassetmanagement.com.

Leverage
For the purposes of the AIFM Directive, leverage is any method which increases the Company’s exposure, including the 
borrowing of cash and the use of derivatives. It is expressed as a ratio between the Company’s exposure and its net asset 
value and can be calculated on a gross and a commitment method. Under the gross method, exposure represents the sum of 
the Company’s positions after the deduction of sterling cash balances, without taking into account any hedging and netting 
arrangements. Under the commitment method, exposure is calculated without the deduction of sterling cash balances and 
after certain hedging and netting positions are offset against each other. The Company’s maximum and actual leverage levels 
at 31 December 2017 are shown below:

Leverage Exposure

Maximum limit

Actual

Gross 
method

Commitment 
method

250%

 120%

200%

 124%

Remuneration
   The table below shows the total amount of remuneration paid by the AIFM to its staff for the fi nancial year ending 31 March 
2017, split into fi xed and variable remuneration, and showing the number of benefi ciaries. No performance fees or any other 
type of remuneration was paid directly by the Fund.

IFM does not directly employ staff.

The table below shows, for the same period, the aggregate amount of remuneration paid to Identifi ed/Code Staff in respect of 
activities related to the AIFM and the Fund. Identifi ed/Code Staff are staff and other individuals identifi ed by the AIFM whose 
activities have a material impact on the risk profi le of the AIFM or the Fund. This table excludes Identifi ed/Code Staff activities 
subject to a delegation agreement.

Aggregate Remuneration

Senior Management

Other individuals with material impact

Number of Staff

£162,675

£156,970

£5,705

10

50

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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NOTICE OF MEETING

THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt as to the action you 
should take you should consult your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent fi nancial adviser 
authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 immediately.

If you have sold or otherwise transferred all of your ordinary shares in Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC, please forward this 
document and the accompanying form of proxy as soon as possible to the purchaser or transferee or to the stockbroker, bank 
or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was or is being effected for delivery to the purchaser or transferee.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the 92nd Annual General Meeting of Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC will be held 
at 11.00am on Monday  26 March 2018 at 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QP for the following purposes:

ORDINARY BUSINESS:

1. 

 To approve the Company’s Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017 (together with 
the reports of the directors and auditor thereon).

2.  To approve the report on directors’ remuneration for the year ended 31 December 2017.

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3.  To declare a fi nal dividend of 17.48 p per ordinary share.

4.  To re-elect Mr A T Copple as a director of the Company.

 5.  To re-elect Mr R W Jewson as a director of the Company.

 6.  To re-elect Mr J Reeve as a director of the Company.

 7.  To re-elect Mrs J F de Moller as a director of the Company.

 8.  To re-elect Mr N S L Lyons as a director of the Company.

  9.  To re-elect Dr L R Sherratt as a director of the Company.

10. To elect Mr R E J Wyatt as a director of the Company.

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11.   To re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP as the auditor to the Company and to authorise the audit committee to determine their 

remuneration.

SPECIAL BUSINESS:

To consider and, if thought fi t, pass the following resolutions:

ORDINARY RESOLUTION:

12 .  That in substitution of all existing authorities the directors be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised in 

accordance with Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 to allot shares in the Company or grant rights to subscribe for or 
to convert any security into shares in the Company (‘Rights’) up to an aggregate maximum nominal amount of £1,671,819, 
being 10% of the issued share capital of the Company as at 20 February 2018 and representing 6,687,276 ordinary shares 
of 25p each in the capital of the Company (or if changed the number representing 10% of the issued share capital of the 
Company at the date at which this resolution is passed), provided that:

(i) 

(ii) 

 the authority granted shall expire at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company in 2019 or 
15 months from the date of the passing of this resolution, whichever is the earlier, but may be revoked or varied by 
the Company in general meeting and may be renewed by the Company in general meeting; and

 the said authority shall allow and enable the directors to make an offer or agreement before the expiry of that 
authority which would or might require shares to be allotted or Rights to be granted after such expiry and the 
directors may allot shares and grant Rights in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if that authority had 
not expired.

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

51

 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTICE OF MEETING CONTINUED

SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS:

13 .  That, in substitution of all existing powers but, subject to the passing of resolution 12  set out above, the directors be and 
they are hereby generally empowered pursuant to Section 570-573 of the Companies Act 2006 (the ‘Act’) to allot equity 
securities (as defi ned in Section 560 of that Act) for cash, including for the avoidance of doubt, the sale of shares held by 
the Company as treasury shares, in accordance with the authority conferred on them by this meeting to allot shares as 
if Section 561(i) of that Act did not apply to the allotment, provided that the power conferred by this resolution shall be 
limited to:

(i) 

(ii) 

 the allotment of equity securities in connection with a rights issue, open offer or the pre-emptive offer in favour 
of ordinary shareholders where the equity securities respectively attributable to the interests of all ordinary 
shareholders are proportionate to the respective numbers of ordinary shares held by them on the record date of such 
allotment (but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the directors may deem necessary or expedient to 
deal with equity securities in relation to fractional entitlements or legal or practical problems under the law of or the 
requirements of any regulatory body or any stock exchange in any territory or any other matter whatsoever); and

 the allotment (otherwise than pursuant to sub paragraph (i) above) of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal 
value not exceeding £1,671,819, being 10% of the issued share capital of the Company as at 20 February 2018 and 
representing 6,687,276 shares of 25p each in the capital of the Company (‘Shares’) (or, if changed, the number 
representing 10% of the issued share capital of the Company at the date at which this resolution is passed), and 
provided further that (i) the number of equity securities to which this power applies shall be reduced from time 
to time by the number of treasury shares which are sold pursuant to any power conferred on the directors by 
resolution 12  set out above and (ii) no allotment of equity securities shall be made under this power which would 
result in Shares being issued at a price which is less than the higher of the Company’s estimated cum or ex income net 
asset value per Share as at the latest practicable time before such allotment of equity securities as determined by the 
directors in their reasonable discretion; and

 such power shall expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company after the passing of this 
resolution or 15 months from the date of passing this resolution, whichever is earlier, unless previously revoked, varied 
or renewed by the Company in general meeting and save that the Company may make an offer or agreement before this 
power has expired, which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the directors may 
allot equity securities in pursuance of such offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not expired.

14 .  That the Company generally be and is hereby authorised for the purpose of Section 701 of the Companies Act 2006 

(the ‘Act’) to make one or more market purchases (as defi ned in Section 693 of the Act) of ordinary shares of 25p each in 
the capital of the Company (‘ordinary shares’) either for retention as treasury shares for future reissue, resale, transfer or 
cancellation provided that:

(i) 

(ii) 

(iii) 

(iv) 

(v) 

 the maximum number of ordinary shares hereby authorised to be purchased is 14.99% of the issued share capital of 
the Company as at the date of the passing of this resolution;

 the minimum price (exclusive of expenses payable by the Company) which may be paid for such ordinary shares is 
25p per share;

 the maximum price (exclusive of expenses payable by the Company) which may be paid for such ordinary shares shall 
be 5% above the average of the market value of the share quotations taken from the London Stock Exchange Daily 
Offi cial List for the fi ve business days immediately before the purchase is made;

 the authority hereby conferred shall (unless previously renewed or revoked) expire at the end of the Annual General 
Meeting of the Company to be held in 2019, or, if earlier, the date falling fi fteen months from the date of this 
resolution;

 the Company may make a contract to purchase its own ordinary shares under the authority hereby conferred prior to 
the expiry of such authority which will or may be executed wholly or partly after the expiry of such authority, and may 
make a purchase of its own shares in pursuance of any such contract.

By order of the Board of Directors 

M K Slade 
For Investec Asset Management Limited 
Secretary 

20 February 2018

Woolgate Exchange
25 Basinghall Street
 London EC2V 5HA

52

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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I

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SHOWN IS A PLAN OF THE 
LOCATION OF INVESTEC 
ASSET MANAGEMENT 
LIMITED, 2 GRESHAM STREET, 
LONDON EC2V 7QP WHERE 
THE ANNUAL GENERAL 
MEETING WILL BE HELD ON 
MONDAY 26 MARCH 2018 AT 
11.00AM.

NOTES

1.   Entitlement to attend and vote 

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 Members who hold ordinary shares in the Company in uncertifi cated form must have been entered on the Company’s 
register of members by 6.30pm on 22 March 2018 in order to be able to attend and vote at the meeting, or if the meeting 
is adjourned, 6.30pm on the day two business days before the time fi xed for the adjourned meeting. Such members may 
only vote at the meeting in respect of ordinary shares held at the time.

2.   Proxies

 A member entitled to attend and vote at the above meeting is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend the meeting to speak 
and vote on a show of hands and, on a poll, to vote instead of him. A proxy need not be a member of the Company. A 
member wishing to appoint more than one proxy must appoint each proxy in respect of a specifi ed number of shares within 
his holding. For this purpose, a member may photocopy the enclosed Form of Proxy before completion and must indicate 
the number of shares in respect of which each proxy is appointed.

 Instruments of proxy should be sent to Equiniti Limited, Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex BN99 6DA 
so as to arrive no later than 11.00am on 2 2 March 2018. Completion and return of the form of proxy will not preclude 
shareholders from attending and voting at the meeting in person should they wish to do so. 

 As an alternative to completing a hard copy Form of Proxy, you can appoint a proxy or proxies electronically by visiting 
www.sharevote.co.uk. You will need your Voting ID, Task ID and Shareholder Reference Number (this is the series of 
numbers printed at the top right-hand side of the Form of Proxy). Alternatively, if you have already registered with Equiniti 
Limited’s online portfolio service, Shareview, you can submit your Form of Proxy at www.shareview.co.uk. You may not use 
any electronic address provided in this notice of meeting to communicate with the Company for any purposes other than 
those expressly stated. Full instructions are given on both websites. To be valid, your proxy appointment(s) and instructions 
should reach Equiniti Limited no later than 11.00am on 22 March 2018.

 CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies by utilising the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may 
do so for the meeting and any adjournment(s) thereof by using the procedures described in the CREST Manual. CREST 
personal members or other CREST sponsored members and those CREST members who have appointed a voting service 
provider(s) should refer to their CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) who will be able to take the appropriate 
action on their behalf. In order for a proxy appointment made using the CREST service to be valid, the appropriate CREST 
message (a “CREST Proxy Instruction”) must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear’s specifi cations 
and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual (available via 
www.euroclear.com). The CREST message must be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer’s agent (ID RA19) by 
not later than 48 hours (excluding non-working days) before the time appointed for the holding of the meeting or the 
adjourned meeting. For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp 
applied to the CREST message by the CREST Applications Host) from which the issuer’s agent is able to retrieve the CREST 
message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST. 

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

53

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTICE OF MEETING CONTINUED

2.   Proxies continued

 After this time any change of instructions to proxies appointed through CREST should be communicated to the appointee 
through other means. CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service provider(s), should 
note that Euroclear does not make available special procedures in CREST for any particular messages. Normal system 
timings and limitations will therefore apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is the responsibility of the 
CREST member concerned to take (or, if the CREST member(s) is/are a CREST personal member or sponsored member or 
has appointed a voting service provider(s), to procure that the CREST sponsor or voting service provider takes) such action 
as shall be necessary to ensure that a CREST message is transmitted by means of the CREST system by any particular 
time. In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service provider(s) is/are 
referred, in particular, to those sections of the CREST Manual concerning practical limitations of the CREST system and 
timings. The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy instruction in the circumstances set out in Regulation 35(5)(a) of 
the Uncertifi cated Securities Regulations 2001.

3.   Corporate representatives 

 A member of the Company which is a corporation may authorise a person or persons to act as its representative(s) at the 
AGM. In accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006, each such representative may exercise (on behalf 
of the corporation) the same powers as the corporation could exercise if it were an individual member of the Company, 
provided that they do not do so in relation to the same shares. It is no longer necessary to nominate a designated 
corporate representative.

4.   Nominated persons

 In accordance with Section 325 of the Companies Act 2006, the right to appoint proxies does not apply to persons 
nominated to receive information rights under Section 146 of the Act. Persons nominated to receive information rights 
under Section 146 of the Act who have been sent a copy of this notice of meeting are hereby informed, in accordance with 
Section 149 (2) of the Act, that they may have a right under an agreement with the registered member by whom they were 
nominated to be appointed, or to have someone else appointed, as a proxy for this meeting. If they have no such right, 
or do not wish to exercise it, they may have a right under such an agreement to give instructions to the member as to the 
exercise of voting rights. Nominated persons should contact the registered member by whom they were nominated in 
respect of these arrangements.

5.   Members’ requests under Section 527 of the 2006 Act

 Under Section 527 of the Companies Act 2006 members meeting the threshold requirements set out in that section have 
the right to require the Company to publish on a website a statement setting out any matter relating to (i) the audit of the 
Company’s accounts (including the auditor’s report and the conduct of the audit) that are to be laid before the Annual 
General Meeting for the fi nancial year beginning 1 January 2017 ; or (ii) any circumstance connected with an auditor of the 
Company appointed for the fi nancial year 1 January 2017  ceasing to hold offi ce since the previous meeting at which annual 
accounts and reports were laid. The Company may not require the shareholders requesting any such website publication 
to pay its expenses in complying with Sections 527 or 528 (requirements as to website availability) of the Companies Act 
2006. Where the Company is required to place a statement on a website under Section 527 of the Companies Act 2006, it 
must forward the statement to the Company’s auditor not later than the time when it makes the statement available on the 
website. The business which may be dealt with at the Annual General Meeting for the relevant fi nancial year includes any 
statement that the Company has been required under Section 527 of the Companies Act 2006 to publish on a website.

6.   Members’ rights to ask questions

 Any member attending the meeting has the right to ask questions. The Company must cause to be answered any such 
question relating to the business being dealt with at the meeting but no such answer need be given if (a) to do so would 
interfere unduly with the preparation for the meeting or involve the disclosure of confi dential information, (b) the answer 
has already been given on a website in the form of an answer to a question, or (c) it is undesirable in the interests of the 
Company or the good order of the meeting that the question be answered.

7.   Inspection of documents
  None of the directors has a service contract with the Company.

8.   Total number of shares and voting rights 

 As at 20 February 2018, the latest practicable date prior to publication of this document, the Company had 66,872,765 
ordinary shares in issue with a total of 66,872,765 voting rights.

9.   Website

 In accordance with Section 311A of the Companies Act 2006, the contents of this notice of meeting, details of the total 
number of shares in respect of which members are entitled to exercise voting rights at the AGM and, if applicable, any 
members’ statements, members’ resolutions or members’ matters of business received by the Company after the date of 
this notice will be available on the Company’s website: www.templebarinvestments.co.uk.

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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USEFUL INFORMATION FOR SHAREHOLDERS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting will be held at 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QP (see map on page  53), on 26 March 2018 at 
11.00am.

FINANCIAL CALENDAR

The fi nancial calendar for 2018 is set out below:

Ordinary shares
Final dividend, 2017  – payable 

– ex-dividend 
– record date 

First interim dividend, 2018 
Second interim dividend, 2018 
Third interim dividend, 2018 
Final dividend, 2018   

5.5% Debenture Stock 2021
Interest payments 

PAYMENT OF DIVIDENDS

29 March 2018
 8 March 2018
 9 March 2018
29 June 2018
28 September 2018
 27 December 2018
End of March 2019

8 March and 8 September

Cash dividends will be sent by cheque to the fi rst-named shareholder on the Register at his or her registered address together 
with a tax voucher. At shareholders’ request, dividends may instead be paid direct into the shareholder’s bank account through 
the Bankers’ Automated Clearing System (‘BACS’). This may be arranged by contacting the Company’s Registrar 
on 0371 384 2432.

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PRICE AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

The Company’s ordinary shares and debenture stock  are traded on the London Stock Exchange. The market price of the 
ordinary shares is shown daily in the Financial Times, other leading newspapers and on the Company’s website.

SHARE REGISTER ENQUIRIES

The Company’s Registrar, Equiniti, maintains the share register. In the event of queries regarding your holding, please contact 
the Registrar on 0371 384 2432 (overseas +44 (0)121 415 7047). Lines are open from 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday. 
Changes of name or address must be notifi ed in writing to the Registrar.

TAX INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Local laws may require Temple Bar to disclose investor, holding and income data to UK and other tax authorities. This will only 
happen where required by law.

ASSOCIATION OF INVESTMENT COMPANIES

The Company is a member of the Association of Investment Companies, which produces monthly publications of detailed 
information on the majority of investment trusts. The Association of Investment Companies can be contacted by telephone 
on 020 7282 5555.

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TEMPLE  BAR WEBSITE

The Company’s own website can be found at www.templebarinvestments.co.uk and includes useful background information on 
the Company together with helpful downloads of published documentation such as previous Annual Reports.

WHERE TO BUY TEMPLE BAR SHARES

1. Via a third party provider
Third party providers include:

AJ Bell 
Alliance Trust Savings 
Barclays Stockbrokers 
Bestinvest 
Charles Stanley Direct 
FundsNetwork 
Hargreaves Lansdown 

Interactive Investor
James Brearley
James Hay
Selftrade
TD Direct
The Share Centre
Trustnet Direct

Please note this list is not exhaustive and the availability of  Temple Bar may vary depending on the provider. These websites 
are third party sites and Temple Bar does not endorse or recommend any. Please observe each site's privacy and cookie 
policies as well as their platform charges structure.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

55

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
USEFUL INFORMATION FOR SHAREHOLDERS CONTINUED

2. Through a professional adviser
Professional advisers are usually able to access the products of all the companies in the market and can help you fi nd an 
investment that suits your individual circumstances. An adviser will let you know the fee for their service before you go ahead. 
You can fi nd an adviser at www.unbiased.co.uk

You may also buy investment trusts through stockbrokers, wealth managers and banks.

To familiarise yourself with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) adviser charging and commission rules, visit fca.org.uk

Independent auditor 
Ernst & Young LLP
 Atria One
144 Morrison Street
Edinburgh EH3 8EX 

Depositary, bankers and custodian 
HSBC Bank plc
Poultry
London EC2P 2BX

Stockbrokers
JPMorgan Cazenove
25 Bank Street 
Canary Wharf 
London E14 5JP

Solicitors
Eversheds LLP 
1 Wood Street
London EC2V 7WS

CORPORATE INFORMATION

Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM)
Investec Fund Managers Limited
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
Portfolio Manager, Alastair Mundy
Woolgate Exchange
25 Basinghall Street
London EC2V 5HA
Telephone No. 020 7597 2000

Registered offi ce 
Woolgate Exchange 
25 Basinghall Street 
London EC2V 5HA

Company Secretary
Investec Asset Management Limited, 
represented by Martin Slade

Registered number
Registered in England No. 214601

Temple Bar Identifi ers
Ordinary Shares ISIN – GB0008825324
Ordinary Shares Sedol – 0882532
Legal Entity Identifi er – 213800O8EAP4SG5JD323 

Registrar
Equiniti Limited
Aspect House
Spencer Road
Lancing
West Sussex BN99 6DA

Telephone No:
+44 121 415 7047 (overseas shareholder helpline)
0371 384 2432 (shareholder helpline)*
0906 559 6025 (broker helpline)

*Lines open 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday.

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ABSOLUTE PERFORMANCE

The return that an asset achieves over a period of time, relative to the investment itself.

AIC

The Association of Investment Companies.

ANNUAL MANAGEMENT FEE

The annual consideration paid to an asset management company for managing clients’ investments.

ATTRIBUTION ANALYSIS

A performance-evaluation tool used to analyse the abilities of portfolio or fund managers. Attribution analysis 
uncovers the impact of the manager’s investment decisions with regard to overall investment policy, asset allocation, 
security selection and activity.

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BENCHMARK

A comparative performance index.

BORROWING

See gearing.

BOTTOM-UP STOCK SELECTION

An investment approach that concentrates on the analysis of individual companies and considers the company’s history, 
management and potential as more important than macroeconomic trends.

CASH ALTERNATIVES/EQUIVALENT

Also known as cash equivalents. A class of investments considered relatively low-risk because of their high liquidity, 
meaning they can be quickly converted into cash. 

CONTRARIAN APPROACH

An investment style that goes against prevailing market trends. In very simple terms the approach is defi ned by buying
assets that are performing poorly and then selling when they perform well.

DEBENTURE STOCKS

A type of stock entitling the bearer to a certain fi xed dividend at set periods of time.

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS

An instrument whose value depends on the performance of an underlying security or rate which requires no initial 
exchange of principal. Options, futures and swaps are all examples of derivatives.

DISCOUNT

The amount by which the market price per share of an investment trust is lower than the net asset value per share. The 
discount is normally expressed as a percentage of the net asset value per share.

DIVERSIFICATION

Holding a range of assets to reduce risk.

DIVIDEND 

The portion of company net profi ts paid out to shareholders.

FIXED INTEREST 

Fixed interest securities, also known as bonds, are loans usually taken out by a government or company which normally 
pay a fi xed rate of interest over a given time period, at the end of which the loan is repaid.

FTSE ALL-SHARE INDEX

A comparative index that tracks the market price of the UK’s leading companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. 
Covering around 900 companies, including investment trusts, the name FTSE is taken from the Financial Times (FT) and 
the London Stock Exchange (SE), who are its joint owners.

FTSE 350 INDEX

A comparative index that tracks the market price of the UK’s 350 largest companies, by market value, listed on the 
London Stock Exchange. 

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

57

 
 
 
 
GEARING

In accounting terms, gearing is the amount of a company’s total borrowings divided by its share capital. High gearing means 
a proportionately large amount of debt, which may be considered more risky for equity holders. However, gearing also entails 
tax advantages. In investment analysis, a highly geared company is one where small changes in sales produce big swings in 
profi ts. Also known as leverage.

GILTS

A bond that is issued by the British government which is generally considered low risk. 

HEDGING 

A technique seeking to offset or minimise the exposure to a specifi c risk by entering an opposing position. 

LIQUIDITY

The ease with which an asset can be sold at a reasonable price for cash.

MARKET CAPITALISATION

The total value of a company’s equity, calculated by the number of shares multiplied by their market price.

NET ASSET VALUE

In a company context, the net asset value describes total assets minus total liabilities.

ONGOING CHARGE

This fi gure includes the annual management fee and administrative costs but excludes any performance fee or portfolio 
transaction costs. Ongoing charges may vary from year to year.

 PEER COMPANIES

Companies that operate in the same industry sector and are of similar size.

PREMIUM

The amount by which the market price per share of an investment trust exceeds the net asset value per share. The premium is 
normally expressed as a percentage of the net asset value per share.

RELATIVE PERFORMANCE

The return that an asset achieves over a period of time, compared to a benchmark.

SHARE BUYBACK 

When a company buys some of its own shares in the market, which leads to a rise in the share price. It changes the company’s 
debt-to-equity ratio and is a tax-effi cient alternative to paying out dividends.

STOCK LENDING

Also known as securities lending. The act of loaning a stock, derivative, or other security to an investor or fi rm. It requires the 
borrower to put up collateral, whether cash, security or a letter of credit. When a security is loaned, the title and the ownership 
is also transferred to the borrower.

TOTAL RETURN

Captures both the capital appreciation/depreciation of an investment as well as the dividends       generated over a holding 
period.

Return on Net Asset Value 
As at 31 December 2017, the difference between the Trust's opening and closing NAV stood at £56,426,000 (2017: 
£936,366,000; 2016: £879,940,000); adding the dividend paid in the current year of £29,265,000 results in a total return of 
£85,691,000 for the purposes of this calculation. Dividing this return by the opening NAV of the Trust results in the return of 
9.7% (please see the Statement of Financial position and note 10 of the fi nancial statements on pages 38 and 44 respectively, 
for the audited inputs to the calculation).

Return on Share price 
As at 31 December 2017, the difference between the Trust's opening and closing market price per share stood at 91.00p (2017: 
1,314.00p; 2016: 1,223.00p); adding the dividend accrued in the current year of 41.66p results in a total return per share of 
132.66p for the purposes of this calculation. Dividing this return by the opening market value per share results in the return of 
11. 0% (please see the Summary of Results on page 1 for the audited inputs to the calculation).

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Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

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VALUATION 

Determination of the value of a company’s stock based on earnings and the market value of assets.

VALUE INVESTING

An investment strategy where stocks are selected that trade for less than their intrinsic values because it is believed that the 
market has undervalued them based on certain forms of fundamental analysis.

YIELD 

A measure of the income return earned on an investment. In the case of a share the yield expresses the annual dividend 
payment as the percentage of the market price of the share. In the case of a bond the running yield (or fl at or current yield) is 
the annual interest payable as a percentage of the current market price. The redemption yield (or yield to maturity) allows for 
any gain or loss of capital which will be realised at the maturity date.

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TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

59

 
 
 
 
60

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 201 7

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Temple Bar Investment Trust’s investment objective is to 
provide growth in income and capital to achieve a long term 
total return greater than the benchmark FTSE All-Share 
Index, through investment primarily in UK Listed securities. 
The Company’s policy is to invest in a broad spread of 
securities with typically the majority of the portfolio selected 
from the constituents of the FTSE 350 Index.

CONTENTS

STRATEGIC REPORT

GOVERNANCE REPORT

FINANCIAL REPORT

1   Summary of results

17   Directors

36   Statement of 

SHAREHOLDER 
INFORMATION

2  Chairman’s statement

18   Report of Directors

3   Ten year record

21   Report on directors’ 

5   Manager’s review

9   Attribution analysis

10   Overview of strategy

15   Portfolio of investments

remuneration

23   Corporate governance

26   Report of the audit 

committee

28   Statement of directors’ 

responsibilities

29   Independent auditor’s 

report

Comprehensive Income

51   Notice of meeting

37   Statement of Changes 

in Equity

55   Useful information  
for shareholders

38   Statement of Financial 

56   Corporate Information

57  Glossary of terms

Position

39   Statement of  
Cash Flows

40   Notes to the Financial 

Statements

50  Other information

TEMPLE BAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2017

Perivan Financial Print   247986

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ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017