Personal Assets Trust plc

LEI: 213800Z7ABM7RLQ41516

Results for the year ended 30 April 2025

The Directors of Personal Assets Trust plc (the 'Company') are pleased to announce the Company's results for the year ended 30 April 2025.

The key points are as follows:

·    The Company's investment policy is to protect and increase (in that order) the value of shareholders' funds per share over the long term.

·    Over the year to 30 April 2025 the net asset value ('NAV') total return was 7.5%. This compares to a total return of 7.5% in the FTSE All-Share Index.  The share price rose by 28.00p during the year and at 30 April 2025 was 511.00p. An analysis of performance is provided in the Chairman's Statement and Investment Manager's Report below.

·    Percentage changes to 30 April 2025:

(1)   The Company became self-managed in 1990.

(2)   Alternative Performance Measure. Please see pages 64 and 65 of the Annual Report for a glossary of terms and definitions.

·    During the year the Company's shares continued to trade close to NAV. The Company bought back 26,087,000 shares and issued 600,000 shares in the year under review.

·    During the year, the Company continued to maintain a high level of liquidity. At 30 April 2025, liquidity was 63.3%. This included 21.8% in UK Gilts, UK index-linked bonds, UK cash, overseas cash, and net current assets and 41.5% in various classes of non-equity risk assets: 26.7% in US TIPS, 4.0% in US Treasuries and 10.8% in Gold Bullion. This compared to holdings as at 30 April 2024 of 11.8% in UK Gilts, UK cash, overseas cash, and net current liabilities and 60.6% in various classes of non-equity risk assets: 36.5% in US TIPS, 11.6% in US Treasuries and 12.5% in Gold Bullion.

The Chairman, Iain Ferguson, said:

Our world has become ever more unpredictable and uncertain over the last year. We have seen a predicted change of government in the UK and the 'world changing' re-election of President Trump in the United States. Trump has dominated the geo-political and world-economic agenda since the start of the year, challenging and disrupting long-standing relationships across the globe, whilst conducting his own 'brand' of diplomacy and negotiation in a blaze of highly public engagements: 'Not for him the Art of Quiet Diplomacy'. In recent weeks his imposition of tariffs, followed by myriad bilateral negotiations and 'special-deals and arrangements' has both spread alarm and confusion but has also shown the limits of his ability to influence international markets without severely damaging the US economy. Very sadly, the wars in Europe, the Middle East and Africa continue and are each proving to be hugely intractable despite intensifying international efforts to find workable solutions; we must hope that these efforts can finally prevail and bring lasting and just peace.

This is the volatile and challenging context in which we seek to deliver our core investment proposition, which is to protect and increase (in that order) the value of shareholders' funds per share (also known as net asset value ('NAV') per share), over the long term. All the Personal Assets Trust plc ('PAT') Directors and our Investment Managers at Troy Asset Management Limited ('Troy'), Sebastian Lyon and Charlotte Yonge, are shareholders in PAT. As such, we are all strongly aligned and are advocates for this investment proposition. As PAT Directors, we have a close, but also independent, relationship with the Troy team, bringing our collective experience to complement, inform, challenge and support.

We track the performance of the Company from 1990. Since then, the NAV total return has grown at an annual compound rate of 8.6% compared to 3.5% for the UK Retail Price Index and 8.4% for the FTSE All-Share Index (total return), our two main comparators. We also track the degree of risk experienced in achieving our financial performance. The results are tabulated in the Key Features section on page 2 of the Annual Report and the volatility experienced is indicated on the chart on page 11 of the Annual Report. This shows that over the last 25 years the Company has been less volatile than equities in general and also less volatile than the AIC Flexible Investment Sector. Whilst this combination of above comparator financial performance and below-sector volatility is the outcome of a focus on capital preservation, these metrics are by no means a target. The Investment Manager's focus remains on the avoidance of permanent capital loss (our preferred definition of risk) and on growing the real value of the Company's capital over the long run. In the report on pages 6 and 7 of the Annual Report, Sebastian and Charlotte provide further details of our investment performance and describe the particular challenges of the last year.

During the year we bought back 26,087,000 Ordinary shares into Treasury, and issued 600,000 Ordinary shares from Treasury, under the Company's discount control policy, for a net outflow of £126 million. As at 30 April 2025 we had 392,805,200 Ordinary shares in issue, with 75,966,828 Ordinary shares in Treasury. It is the policy of the Company to ensure that, in normal market conditions, its Ordinary shares always trade at or close to NAV and this policy is enshrined in the Articles of Association. It is reassuring to report that since November 1999, when investment trusts were empowered to use capital to buy back shares and hence control the discount to NAV at which their shares trade, the PAT share price has closely tracked the NAV. This has held true both through periods of significant issuance and, as demonstrated in recent past, through a period of sustained buyback avoiding the major discounts to NAV which have impacted many trusts across the wider market.

The Company aims to pay as consistent and sustainable a dividend as is compatible with protecting and increasing the value of its shareholders' funds and maintaining its investment flexibility. The Board remains committed to paying an annual dividend of 5.60p per share in line with this policy. High levels of inflation during the year, particularly in the United States, mean that the Company has again this year earned significantly more income on its holding of US TIPS than in previous years. Accordingly, in order to meet the investment trust distribution requirements, the Board has resolved to pay an additional special dividend for the year to 30 April 2025 of 1.60p per share. This dividend will be paid to shareholders in July 2025 alongside the first interim dividend of 1.40p per share for the year to 30 April 2026.

The Board membership has enjoyed a further year of stability and I am grateful for the continuing commitment and wise counsel of my colleagues. Jean Sharp will step down from the Board after nine years as a Director, latterly as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at the close of the upcoming AGM. Jean has been a very effective and diligent member of the Board and we are grateful for the significant contribution she has made to PAT; we wish her well for the future. Sharon Brown will be joining the Board as a Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, with effect from the conclusion of the AGM. Sharon brings extensive financial and commercial experience together with contemporary knowledge of investment trusts; we look forward to her contribution to our discussions. During 2025 Lintstock conducted an independent external review of the performance of the Board and its Committees. Whilst this did not highlight any material weaknesses or concerns, it did helpfully identify a few areas for further focus by the Board in the period ahead. Further detail can be found on page 29 of the Annual Report, and we will comment on progress made in our report next year.

As part of our oversight of our key service providers, we conduct a formal annual review process with Troy. The review process is led by Mandy Clements and includes open discussions with all the PAT Directors and several members of the senior team at Troy. We have all found this to be a positive and helpful exercise. In summary, our relationship with Troy continues to be excellent and we are increasingly benefitting from access to the shared resources and focused support from the wider Troy team. We now hold at least two Board meetings each year in the Troy offices in London which is helping us to get to know more members of the Troy team and to deepen our relationship on a broader base. As our shareholder funds continue to be above £1.5 billion, we continue to benefit from the revised fee structure agreed in 2021. Details of the fee structure are shown on page 15 of the Annual Report. We also pay particular attention to ensuring the competitiveness of our ongoing charges ratio, which was 0.67% for the year ended 30 April 2025, having reduced from 0.89% in 2013 and is a small increase from last year's figure of 0.65%.

We adopt a similar annual review process with Juniper Partners. As with Troy, this process is led by Mandy Clements. Our relationship with Juniper Partners, which provides our administrative, company secretarial, AIFM and discount control services, continues to be excellent with a very open and supportive culture. Juniper Partners provides a first-class service to the Company and works in close association with Troy to provide a seamless service to the PAT Board and shareholders.

We recognise the continuing evolution of the Company's shareholder base and the increasing number of investors holding shares through retail platforms who may not have direct access to communications with the Company. This is a challenge which is often discussed by the Board as we seek to improve communication and interaction with investors. We hope that our website (www.patplc.co.uk), our Quarterlies, our Annual and Interim Reports and our monthly Factsheet are providing investors with easy and effective access to information about PAT and we will continue to seek innovative ways of improving our dialogue with shareholders and with potential shareholders.

We are looking forward to holding the AGM at 12 noon on Friday 18 July 2025 at The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The Investment Manager's presentation will also be made available on our website following the AGM for those who cannot attend in person. I would encourage all shareholders to submit any questions for the AGM to our Company Secretary by email in advance of the meeting at [email protected] by Tuesday, 15 July 2025. In the meantime, I wish you all good health and thank you for entrusting your investment to PAT.

Iain Ferguson CBE

Chairman

17 June 2025

The Investment Co-managers, Sebastian Lyon and Charlotte Yonge, said:

Over the year to 30 April 2025, the net asset value per share ('NAV') of Personal Assets Trust ('PAT') rose by +7.5% while our traditional comparator, the FTSE All-Share Index ('FTSE'), rose by +7.5% (both in total return terms). The UK Retail Price Index ('RPI'), which we also use as a comparator (see the inside front cover of the Annual Report and Key Features and Record 1990-2025 on pages 2 and 3 of the Annual Report respectively), rose by +4.5%. The Company's NAV and share price (thanks to the discount control mechanism 'DCM') continued to demonstrate below-average volatility compared to peers and the stock market.

Our aim is to protect and grow shareholders' capital over the long term. Our desire is to generate equity-like returns (high single-digits) with bond-like, or considerably lower, volatility. The performance of your Company over the past year has happened to be almost exactly in line with the return for the UK stock market, our comparator, but this is merely a coincidence as our portfolio could not look more different. Shareholders should expect returns to vary materially from the stock market. Our focus is on absolute returns rather than returns relative to an index. We are very aware that shareholders cannot spend relative pounds!

The performance of markets over the year belies considerable volatility - especially after the tariff announcements on 'Liberation Day' in April. PAT shareholders were sheltered from much of the volatility with the Company's NAV falling only modestly (-1.9%), compared to near double digit falls of -9.7% and -10.5% in the MSCI World and FTSE All-Share respectively. Moreover, in a period in which many investment trust discounts have widened materially, shareholders have been protected by the DCM, with the shares consistently trading close to the NAV.

Our investment views in recent years have been shaped by an expectation of regime change. This began with policy decisions made during the pandemic. The shift to substantial monetary expansion by central banks, combined with fiscal spending by governments led to a more inflationary environment. Since the blow out of inflation in 2022 and 2023, in which UK RPI peaked at 14% and US CPI peaked at 9%, central banks have struggled to get inflation back to target, despite the tightest monetary policy in almost two decades. The fiscal genie is out of the bottle and government spending has grown, despite recent attempts (in the United States) to reverse fiscal commitments. Elon Musk's attempt via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to rein in federal spending appears to have failed. Government debts have grown dramatically across the developed world. This was fine whilst interest rates were close to zero but today, with interest rates and bond yields at 4%-5%, the interest burden has become a material part of government spending. In the US, this cost has ballooned in the past three years from 8% of federal government tax receipts in 2022 to 19% in 2025 (source: Jefferies). Globalisation, which provided growth and helped depress inflation, appears to be firmly in reverse. President Trump's recently announced trade war and isolationist inclinations have only accelerated the deglobalisation trend. Finally, the war in Europe, now in its fourth year, is leading to a wholesale change in defence spending. All these factors have led to a world of greater uncertainty, higher inflation and a bond bear market, which began in the summer of 2020. Thus far, the 2020s are looking very different from the 2010s.

Amid this environment, we have attempted to avoid the trap of rising bond yields, which affects the valuations of fixed income securities and some equities. We have sailed close to the shore with a relatively low equity exposure and short bond duration; preferring index-linked to nominal bonds. Gold bullion has played a critical role in the portfolio as a diversifier and an offset to falls in other asset prices, when they occur. We hold plenty of liquidity for when we see selective and more wholesale opportunities in the stock market.

The biggest contributors to performance during the year included our holdings in Visa, VeriSign, Unilever and American Express. The biggest detractors were Diageo and Pernod Ricard, which continue to suffer from weaker trading in spirits markets. Following a boom both during and following the pandemic, the sector has suffered from a nasty hangover of weaker demand and pricing. Our experience informs us that demand will ultimately recover but it may take time. The valuations are low today by historic standards, which should offer support and, ultimately, opportunity.

During the year we made several changes to the portfolio and by our standards, we were more active than usual. We sold longstanding holdings in Becton Dickinson and Procter & Gamble ('P&G'). Despite making a positive total return since our purchase in 2020, Becton Dickinson continued to face operational challenges and financial progress has been sluggish. Subsequent to our sale, the shares have fallen materially on further deterioration in the company's operating environment. P&G was first acquired in 2015. It proved to be an excellent investment for us; a well-executed long term turnaround. In addition, P&G benefited from a strong US domestic economy, when peers struggled in Europe and emerging markets. The shares have materially re-rated over many years of clinical delivery by competent management but performance is looking less resilient, with slowing organic sales growth and a valuation that looks hard to justify compared to peers like Unilever.

Over the last year, we have added new holdings of Canadian National Railway, Chubb and VeriSign. We have followed Canadian National for five years. Its natural monopoly, as a North American railroad, allows the company to generate high, sustainable profit margins. Adverse weather and port strikes provided an opportunity to purchase this structurally advantaged business at a below-average valuation. We have also been looking for companies that benefit from a rising yield environment. Chubb, the world's largest property and casualty insurer, has an exceptional track record of managing its risks with a consistent track record of profitability and capital allocation. The company is well-known for its strong market position serving high net worth customers. There is an opportunity to materially grow investment income from higher bond yields. As Chubb's bonds held on its balance sheet mature, they are reinvested at higher yields, providing a tailwind to earnings, which was not present in a zero-interest rate world. Lastly, VeriSign is the exclusive registry for .com and .net domain names, meaning any company that buys a .com web address ultimately purchases it from VeriSign. The company has provided uninterrupted service for over 20 years and is rewarded by being able to gradually raise prices for domains. We expect VeriSign to grow sales and profit margins through modest growth in the number of web addresses, gradual price rises and operating leverage. We were also attracted by its strong balance sheet, with very conservative debt levels.

In the stock market falls that followed the announcement of United States' tariffs, we increased existing equity holdings as well as adding two new European companies to the portfolio, LVMH and L'Oréal. Both meet our careful, quality criteria and had fallen to valuations which looked fair.

Apart from the portfolio's equity exposure, we are seeking complementary asset classes that may offset falls in equity markets. The US dollar has been kind to us over many years, especially during periods of stock market turbulence such as 2008, 2020 and 2022. The greenback has ridden to our rescue in these times of trouble, dampening the volatility of the Company's NAV. More recently the currency has not stuck to the script. Our view is that this may prove to be a lasting change as investors increasingly question the dollar's position as the world's reserve currency. We have reduced the dollar exposure in favour of the yen, which we expect to behave more reliably as a safe haven in periods of market stress.

Gold remains a cornerstone of the portfolio. As no one's liability, bullion has a special place, and it is once again being appreciated as the ultimate reserve asset. In a world of heightened geopolitical risk, and the desire to diversify away from the US dollar, central banks continued to add to their holdings during the past year. There are very rational reasons for the recent rise in the price, when compared to paper money. Charlie Munger used to say, "Always invert". Consider the gold price not rising but the value of paper currencies, like sterling and the US dollar, depreciating in value when compared to gold. We would not wish to get disproportionately more bullish into rising prices, so we have reduced the trust's holding into strength, retaining a percentage weighting of 10-12%.

During the past year, the investment narrative has changed from 'American exceptionalism' to one best summed up by the acronym 'ABUSA - anything but the USA'. We are not convinced life is so simple. Such views demonstrate changes to sentiment and a voting machine mentality, over the weighing machine of substance. The US stock market remains very fully valued, yet it also hosts some of the very best companies including Microsoft and Visa, held by the Company, which are not available elsewhere. We will continue to add selectively to equities in the US, Europe and the UK, as we did during market falls in April when presented with improved valuations and better prospective returns.

Finally, in March we were delighted to announce the promotion of Charlotte Yonge as Co-Manager of PAT, which became effective on 1 May. This changes very little as to how the Company is managed day-to-day and I very much look forward to continuing our partnership in the years ahead. As longstanding investors in the Company, Charlotte and my interests are firmly aligned with fellow shareholders. Charlotte has been at Troy since 2013 and is one of several employees who have been with the business for over a decade. We see great value in hiring, developing, and retaining talent, and believe that our high rates of retention underline the stability and depth of our broader team.

Sebastian Lyon and Charlotte Yonge

Troy Asset Management

17 June 2025

For further information, please contact:

Troy Asset Management

Investment Manager

Tel:  0207 499 4030

Juniper Partners Limited

Company Secretary

Tel:  0131 378 0500

Income Statement

The 'Return for the Year' is also the 'Total Comprehensive Income for the Year', as defined in IAS1 (revised), and no separate Statement of Comprehensive Income has been presented.

The 'Total' column of this statement represents the Company's Income Statement, and the 'Revenue return' and 'Capital return' columns are supplementary to this and are prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies.

Return per share (both basic and diluted) is calculated on 332,542,668 (2024: 367,849,279) shares, being the weighted average number in issue (excluding Treasury shares) during the year.

Statement of Financial Position

Statement of Changes in Equity

*On 24 April 2024 the Court of Session in Scotland (the 'Court') approved the reduction of the Company's share premium account and the crediting of an equivalent amount to the Company's distributable reserves. The Order of the Court approving the reduction became effective on 26 April 2024 when it was registered with the Registrar of Companies.

Cash Flow Statement

Principal Risks and Risk Management

The Board has carried out a careful assessment of the principal risks facing the Company, including the ongoing current geopolitical risks and the ongoing impacts of inflation levels and heightened interest rates. The Board has established and maintains, with the assistance of the Company Secretary, a risk matrix which identifies the key risks to the Company. This register is formally reviewed on a regular basis. Emerging risks that could impact the Company are considered and discussed at each Board meeting, or on an ad hoc basis as required, along with any proposed mitigating actions.

The principal risks and uncertainties facing the Company, together with a summary of the mitigating action the Board takes to manage these risks and how these risks have changed over the period, are set out below.

The arrows denote if the relevant risk has increased, decreased or remained the same during the year after considering the mitigating actions.

Emerging

Risk

Geopolitical developments, including the imposition of US tariffs and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East continue to pose risks to global economic growth and investors' risk appetites and consequently can impact the valuation of companies in the portfolio. There is also an increasing awareness of the challenges and emerging risks posed by climate change as well as the impact and pace of technological developments on the companies in the investment universe.

Mitigation

The Board seeks to mitigate these emerging risks through maintaining a broadly diversified global equity portfolio and appropriate asset and geographical allocation. In respect of climate change risks, the investment process considers ESG factors, as set out in the Responsible Investment section on pages 20 and 21 of the Annual Report. Overall the specific potential effects of climate change and developing technology are difficult, if not impossible, to predict and the Board and Investment Manager will continue to monitor developments in this area. The Board is in regular communication with the Investment Manager on emerging matters which may impact on the portfolio.

↑ Increased risk

Economic

Risk

The Board believes that the principal risk to shareholders and the Company's investments are events or developments, including the emerging risks noted above, which can affect the general level of share prices and other securities within the portfolio. These include for instance, inflation or deflation, economic recessions and movement in interest rates and currencies which could cause losses within the portfolio.

Mitigation

The Board regularly monitors the investment environment and the management of the Company's investment portfolio, and applies the principles detailed in the guidance provided by the Financial Reporting Council. Further details on the Company's financial risks are contained in the Notes to the Accounts on pages 47 to 59 of the Annual Report.

The Company's strategy is reviewed formally on at least an annual basis considering investment performance, market developments and shareholder communication. The Board receives regular updates on the composition of the Company's portfolio. Investment performance and the portfolio composition has been monitored specifically in the light of the emerging risks noted above.

↑ Increased risk

Operational

Risk

The Company is reliant on service providers including Troy as Investment Manager, Juniper as AIFM, Company Secretary, Administrator and discount and premium control provider, J.P. Morgan as Depositary and Custodian and Equiniti as Registrar. Failure of the internal control systems of these parties, including in relation to cybersecurity measures, could result in losses to the Company.

Mitigation

The Board formally reviews the Company's service providers on an annual basis, including reports on their internal controls where available. As part of the annual review the Board considers the business continuity plans in place with each of its key suppliers and the measures taken to mitigate cyber threats. The Company's internal controls are described in more detail on pages 33 and 34 of the Annual Report.

→ Risk remains relatively unchanged

Legal and Regulatory

Risk

Breach of legal and regulatory rules could lead to the suspension of the Company's Stock Exchange listing, financial penalties, or a qualified audit report. Breach of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 could lead to the Company being subject to tax on realised capital gains.

Mitigation

Compliance with the Company's regulatory obligations is monitored on an ongoing basis by the AIFM, the Investment Manager and other professional advisers as required who report to the Board regularly.

→ Risk remains relatively unchanged

Discount and Premium Control

Risk

The share price could be impacted by a number of external factors which could cause significant discount and premium fluctuations.

Mitigation

The Company's discount and premium control policy, which is enshrined in the Articles of Association, is to ensure that shares always trade at close to net asset value. The Company bought back 26,087,000 shares and issued 600,000 shares in the year under review.

→ Risk remains relatively unchanged

Directors' Responsibility Statement

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulation.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors have prepared the financial statements in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards.

Under company law, Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or loss of the Company for that period.

In preparing the financial statements, the Directors are required to:

·    select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

·    state whether applicable UK-adopted international accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

·    make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and

·    prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.

The Directors are 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 also responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company. This enables them to ensure that the financial statements and the Directors' Remuneration Report comply with the Companies Act 2006.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Going Concern

The Directors believe, in the light of the controls and review processes reported in the Report of the Audit and Risk Committee on pages 33 and 34 of the Annual Report and bearing in mind the nature of the Company's business and assets, which are considered to be readily realisable if required, that the Company has adequate resources to continue operating for at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts.

As part of the going concern assessment a sensitivity analysis was performed. If the market dropped by 25% and no dividend income became available the Company would be able to continue operating for the foreseeable future.

Related Party Transactions

Investment management services are provided by Troy Asset Management Limited. The fee for the year ended 30 April 2025 was £9,131,000 (2024: £9,603,000). An amount of £2,190,000 was outstanding to the Investment Manager at 30 April 2025 (2024: £2,359,000).

Directors of the Company received fees for their services. An amount of £27,000 was outstanding to the Directors at 30 April 2025 (2024: £19,000). Further details are provided in the Directors' Remuneration Report on pages 30 to 32 of the Annual Report. The Directors' shareholdings are also detailed on pages 12 and 13 of the Annual Report.

Notes:

1.    The financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with UK-adopted International Accounting Standards and with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 as applicable to companies reporting under those standards.

Substantially all of the assets of the Company consist of securities that are readily realisable and, accordingly, the Directors are satisfied that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of the Financial Statements and therefore consider the going concern assumption to be appropriate. The Directors have reviewed the income and expense projections and the liquidity of the investment portfolio in making their assessment.

The financial statements are presented in Sterling and all values are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds (£'000) except where otherwise indicated.

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, modified by revaluation of financial assets and financial liabilities held at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below. These have been applied consistently, other than where new policies have been adopted. Where the presentational guidance set out in the Statement of Recommended Practice (the 'SORP') for investment trusts issued by the Association of Investment Companies (the 'AIC') in July 2022 is consistent with the requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRS'), the Directors have sought to prepare the financial statements on a basis compliant with the recommendation of the SORP.

2.    During the year 26,087,000 shares were bought back and held in Treasury at a cost of £129,179,000 and 600,000 were re‑issued from Treasury for proceeds of £3,096,000.

3.    The Company held the following categories of financial instruments as at 30 April 2025:

Level 1 reflects financial instruments quoted in an active market. The Company's investment in Gold Bullion has been included in this level.

Level 2 reflects financial instruments the fair value of which is evidenced by comparison with other observable current market transactions in the same instrument or based on a valuation technique the variables of which include only data from observable markets. The Company's forward currency contract has been included in this level as fair value is achieved using the foreign exchange spot rate and forward points which vary depending on the duration of the contract.

Level 3 reflects financial instruments the fair value of which is determined in whole or in part using a valuation technique based on assumptions that are not supported by prices from observable market transactions in the same instrument and not based on available observable market data.

There have been no changes to valuation technique over the year.

4.    These are not statutory accounts in terms of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.  Full audited accounts for the year to 30 April 2025 will be sent to shareholders in June 2025 and will be available for inspection at 28 Walker Street, Edinburgh EH3 7HR, the registered office of the Company. The full Annual Report will be available on the Company's website www.patplc.co.uk. A copy will also shortly be available for inspection at the National Storage Mechanism at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

The audited accounts for the year ended 30 April 2025 will be lodged with the Registrar of Companies.