THE SCOTTISH ORIENTAL SMALLER COMPANIES TRUST PLC
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Next accounts due
2027-02-28 (in 9mo)
Last filed for 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement due
2027-03-23 (in 10mo)
Last made up 2026-03-09
Watchouts
None on the register
Cash
£7M
-82.5% vs 2024
Net assets
£382M
-5.3% vs 2024
Employees
0
Average over period
Profit before tax
-£9M
-112.1% vs 2024
Net assets
2-year trend · vs Financials median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2025-08-31
| Metric | Trend | 2024-08-31 | 2025-08-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £8,883,000 | £7,251,000 | |
| Operating profit | £75,834,000 | -£8,262,000 | |
| Profit before tax | £74,999,000 | -£9,097,000 | |
| Net profit | £62,156,000 | -£7,962,000 | |
| Cash | £37,972,000 | £6,650,000 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £441,616,000 | £414,160,000 | |
| Net assets | £403,068,000 | £381,867,000 | |
| Equity | £403,068,000 | £381,867,000 | |
| Average employees | 0 | 0 | |
| Wages | — | — |
Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2024-08-31 | 2025-08-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 853.7% | -113.9% | |
| Net margin | 699.7% | -109.8% | |
| Return on capital employed | 17.2% | -2.0% | |
| Gearing (liabilities / total assets) | 10.5% | 8.5% | |
| Current ratio | 4.56x | 2.49x | |
| Interest cover | 90.82x | -9.89x |
Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- FRS 102
- Reporting scope
- Standalone (parent only)
- Auditor
- Johnston Carmichael LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“Based on this assessment, the Directors are confident that the Company will have sufficient funds to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements, and therefore have prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis.”
Significant events
- “share price discount to NAV had substantially narrowed to 9.6 per cent as at 31 August 2025 (31 August 2024: 14.0 per cent).”
- “Company bought back 2,772,500 ordinary shares representing 2.4 per cent of shares in issue as at 31 August 2024.”
- “shareholders approved a five for one share split”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
5 active · 14 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JUNIPER PARTNERS LIMITED | Corporate Secretary | 2017-10-26 | — | — |
| BAIRD, Andrew Gerald Harvey | Director | 2017-06-28 | Sep 1954 | British |
| PAISLEY, Michelle Maria | Director | 2020-04-06 | Sep 1968 | British |
| ROYDON, Karen Natalie | Director | 2023-12-08 | Nov 1977 | British |
| WHITLEY, Jeremy | Director | 2017-03-06 | Nov 1964 | British |
Show 14 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAVIDSON, Steven Kean | Secretary | 2011-03-01 | 2017-10-26 |
| MINTO, Bruce Watson | Secretary | 1995-02-16 | 1995-02-27 |
| FIRST STATE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT (UK) LIMITED | Corporate Secretary | 1995-02-27 | 2011-03-01 |
| BHUGTIAR, Uma | Director | 2023-10-19 | 2025-10-28 |
| BRUCE, Roderick Lawrence | Director | 1995-02-16 | 1995-02-27 |
| FERGUSON, James Gordon Dickson | Director | 2004-04-01 | 2022-07-20 |
| GUILD, Ivor Reginald | Director | 1995-02-27 | 2004-04-22 |
| MACKESY, Alexandra Jane | Director | 2004-04-01 | 2020-04-02 |
| MACLEOD, Nathaniel William Hamish, Sir | Director | 1995-09-01 | 2011-01-25 |
| MINTO, Bruce Watson | Director | 1995-02-16 | 1995-02-27 |
| MORGAN, Janet Patricia, Doctor | Director | 1995-02-27 | 2017-12-07 |
| PIKE, David Brian Elwis | Director | 1995-02-27 | 2007-11-30 |
| ROWAN, Thomas Stanley | Director | 1995-02-27 | 2008-10-31 |
| WEST, Anne Edmond | Director | 2010-07-21 | 2023-12-07 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 319 total filings
Material constitutional events — rename, articles re-file, resolution
- 2026-02-17 RESOLUTIONS Resolution
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-16 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2026-03-27 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2026-03-11 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2026-03-02 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2026-02-17 | RESOLUTIONS | resolution | Resolution | |
| 2026-02-16 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2026-02-11 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2026-01-20 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2026-01-14 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares | |
| 2026-01-07 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-12-01 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-12-01 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-10-31 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-09-03 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-08-04 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-07-04 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-07-04 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-05-30 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-05-20 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date | |
| 2025-04-28 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares treasury capital date |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 19
- Capital events
- 16
- Officers appointed
- 0
- Officers resigned
- 1
last 12 months
last 24 months
last 12 months
last 12 months
Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.
Year-on-year
FY2024 → FY2025 · period ending 2025-08-31 vs 2024-08-31
-
Turnover
-18.4%
£8,883,000 £7,251,000
-
Cash
-82.5%
£37,972,000 £6,650,000
-
Net assets
-5.3%
£403,068,000 £381,867,000
-
Employees
—
Not reported
-
Operating profit
-110.9%
£75,834,000 -£8,262,000
-
Profit before tax
-112.1%
£74,999,000 -£9,097,000
Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. The comparison is only shown when the latest and prior accounts cover broadly equal-length periods — short or long stubs (typical around incorporation or a year-end change) are suppressed rather than misrepresented. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers