Sterling weakness cushions Polar's losses

Polar Capital Technology, the investment trust that invests in global technology stocks, saw its decline in net asset value last year limited by the weakness of sterling.The company said its decision to greatly reduce its exposure to the UK market proved to be a good one as sterling fell substantially versus the US dollar, the euro and the Japanese yen.Net asset value per share at the end of April 2009 was down 4.4% to 216.75p from 226.72p at the end of April last year. This decline compared favourably with the performance of benchmark indices such as the Dow Jones World Technology Index and the FTSE World Index which fell 5.5% and 18.2% in sterling terms respectively.The board intends to allow its investment manager the freedom to have up to 85% of the portfolio invested in North America, compared to a limit of 75% previously. Investment income in the year to 30 April 2009 was £3.18m, up from £2.64m the year before. Loss before tax was £16.9m, an improvement from a loss of £19.5m the year before. Profitability was hit by a £17.7m loss on investments held at fair value, compared to a loss of £13.4m the year before. No dividend has been recommended.