Strategic Equity Capital Plc – Final Results

Strategic Equity Capital plc (‘SEC’)

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2026

Chairman’s Statement

I am pleased to present the Annual Report for Strategic Equity Capital plc for the year ended 30 June 2026. The year combined an important corporate milestone for the Company with significant macroeconomic, geopolitical and domestic political developments, which contributed to volatility in equity markets and in the Company’s portfolio performance.

Performance and market backdrop

For the year to 30 June 2026, the Company’s net asset value (“NAV”) delivered a total return of -2.2%. The share price total return was +0.6%, while the FTSE Small Cap (ex Investment Trusts) Total Return Index rose by 7.6%. More details on the Company’s performance can be found in the Investment Manager’s report on pages 10 and 11 of the Annual Report. This outcome is disappointing and the Board recognises the relative underperformance experienced by shareholders. It should, however, be considered in the context of a year in which performance and market leadership changed materially between periods.

The portfolio performed strongly through to January 2026, with a financial year-to-date NAV total return of approximately 11%, before reversing sharply by approximately 20% from peak to trough during February and March. Widespread concerns about the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence led to indiscriminate selling across entire sectors in the UK and internationally. With a portfolio weighted towards asset-light, intangible-rich businesses, including technology – software, professional services and wealth management companies, the Company’s NAV was particularly exposed to this thematic de-rating despite overwhelmingly positive operational delivery from the underlying investments. On a macro level, the US Iran War and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz raised concerns about the implications for UK energy prices and inflation, adding to the pressure on financial markets and UK smaller-company valuations.

The final quarter of the financial year saw a strong, although incomplete, recovery. The Company’s NAV total return was +6.6% in calendar Q2, compared with a 9.6% rise in the comparator index. Over the full year, the share price proved more resilient and the discount to NAV narrowed from 7.5% at 30 June 2025 to 5.0% at 30 June 2026. This is welcome evidence that the Company’s discount-management measures and capital framework are having an effect, although the Board remains alert to the risk that weak demand for UK investment companies could cause the discount to widen again.

Artificial intelligence

The Board has considered the competitive implications of artificial intelligence carefully with the Investment Manager. The technology will inevitably alter products, workflows and cost structures across many industries, and each investment case must be tested accordingly. At the same time, work undertaken with investee management teams and sector specialists indicates that the portfolio’s businesses possess durable protections, including proprietary data, deep market and situational expertise, regulatory barriers, embedded customer workflows and trusted system-of-record status that should be resilient to the potential threats posed by AI. In several cases, artificial intelligence should enhance product capability and efficiency rather than undermine the business model.

The Investment Manager used the period of weakness to add selectively to high-conviction holdings at depressed valuations. A number of affected share prices recovered during the final quarter as operational delivery remained sound and the initial concerns became more differentiated. The Board supports this disciplined approach, while recognising that the pace of technological change requires continued scrutiny and that not all companies will be equally well placed.

Corporate activity

Corporate activity continued to demonstrate the gap between public-market valuations and the prices strategic or private-equity buyers are prepared to pay. Earlier in the year, the takeovers of Inspired and Ricardo enabled value to be realised at substantial premia following periods of active engagement. More broadly, more than £35 billion of takeovers of UK-listed companies were announced in H1 2026. This activity is not a substitute for operational progress, but it provides an additional route through which intrinsic value may be recognised.

Realisation opportunity

The 2025 realisation opportunity was the most significant corporate development during the financial year. Following shareholder approval, 9,510,496 Ordinary shares were validly tendered, representing approximately 22% of the Company’s issued share capital. The Board was pleased that holders of approximately 78% of the issued shares chose to remain invested. This retained a stable capital base for the Company and represented a strong endorsement of its differentiated investment proposition.

The realisation process was managed in an orderly manner, balancing the pace of returns to realising shareholders with the need to protect NAV for shareholders as a whole. Two interim payments totalling approximately £29 million had been returned by 24 February 2026, representing approximately 75% of the shares validly tendered. The final distribution of £8.8 million will be paid to tendering shareholders on 24 September 2026, ahead of the 31 October 2026 deadline announced in the Circular published last year.

Discount management, gearing and dividend

The Board remains committed to disciplined discount management. In line with the framework approved by shareholders, the Board will continue to make 50% of net gains from profitable realisations available to fund share buybacks where the Company’s shares trade at a discount of 5% or more to NAV. The Board has also reaffirmed its intention to provide a further realisation opportunity in 2030, aligning the Company’s capital structure with the long-term nature of the investment strategy and shareholders’ liquidity requirements.

The Company continued to operate without a banking loan facility and had no gearing at 30 June 2026, a policy that remains under regular review by the Board and the Investment Manager.

The Board is recommending a final dividend of 4.50 pence per Ordinary Share for the year ended 30 June 2026, subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting. The dividend will be paid on 20 November 2026 to shareholders on the register at 9 October 2026.

Board succession

As previously announced, Richard Locke and I will retire from the Board at the conclusion of the 2026 Annual General Meeting returning the Board to its normal size of five directors. Howard Williams will succeed me as Chair. Howard has brought substantial investment management and governance experience to the Board, and I am confident that the Company will benefit from his leadership.

I am also pleased to welcome Will Rogers and Guy Walker, whose appointments as non-executive Directors took effect on 1 September 2026. Will brings corporate finance, legal and governance experience, while Guy brings extensive investment management and investment trust experience. Their complementary skills will further strengthen the Board. Please note their bios on pages 30 and 31 of the Annual Report.

It has been a privilege to serve as a Director of the Company since 2016 and as Chair since 2022. I would like to thank my fellow Directors, the Investment Manager and our advisers for their support and commitment, particularly through the implementation of the realisation opportunity and the periods of market volatility covered by this report.

Outlook

The outlook at the date of this report remains uncertain. A tentative ceasefire and improved oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz supported markets in June, but renewed attacks after the year end underline the fragility of the position. The portfolio has limited direct exposure to global trade disruption, but no UK company is entirely insulated from the effects of energy costs, inflation, supply chains or weaker confidence.

The UK has also experienced a change of political leadership since the year end, with Andy Burnham becoming Prime Minister in July 2026. The implications for investment, growth, taxation and capital markets will become clearer as the new Government’s policy priorities are developed and implemented. In the near term, the change may add to uncertainty; over the longer term, consistent policy and measures that encourage investment in productive UK businesses would be welcome.

Domestic investors withdrew capital from UK-focused equity funds in each of the four quarters of the Company’s financial year1. This persistent selling remains a headwind for smaller companies and actively managed UK equity strategies, even as overseas investors and corporate buyers increasingly recognise the value available.

That value remains substantial. UK smaller companies continue to trade at marked discounts to larger domestic stocks, international peers and private-market transaction multiples. The portfolio contains businesses with recurring revenues, defensible positions, strong cash generation and modest financial leverage which, in the Board’s view, are not adequately reflected in current market ratings. However value creation is intended to be driven principally by company-specific operational progress, strategic change and active engagement.

The year has demonstrated both the risks of a concentrated portfolio and the importance of maintaining conviction where operational evidence remains supportive. The Board believes the Company is well positioned to benefit from a recovery in UK smaller companies and from further corporate recognition of the valuation opportunity. We remain confident in the Investment Manager’s disciplined, high-conviction approach and in the Company’s ability to deliver attractive long-term returns for shareholders.

The Board thanks shareholders for their continued support.

1. Source: Calastone Fund Flow Index, July 2026.

William Barlow

Chairman

22 September 2026

Investment Manager’s Report for the year ended 30 June 2026

Overview – FY 2025/26

The year to 30 June 2026 was characterised by sharp changes in market leadership and investor sentiment. UK smaller companies remained under pressure from persistent domestic fund outflows, even as the FTSE 100 benefited from a rotation of global capital away from concentrated US equity exposures. Against this mixed backdrop, operational delivery across the Company’s portfolio was generally resilient, but portfolio valuations experienced pronounced intra-year volatility.

During the first half of the financial year, smaller companies generally lagged their larger peers despite improving underlying UK economic fundamentals. The prolonged lead-up to the 2025 Autumn Budget weighed on risk appetite and domestic liquidity, with UK-focused equity funds recording £2.6 billion of net outflows in calendar Q4 2025 alone1.

Calendar Q1 2026 then brought a marked reversal. Smaller-company indices fell as geopolitical escalation in the Middle East supported energy prices and large-cap market leadership, while in February a sharp and broad-based sell-off hit software, professional services and data-platform businesses following a wave of artificial intelligence product launches. The Company’s exposure to asset-light, intangible-rich businesses meant that it was particularly affected by this thematic de-rating, despite substantively all portfolio company trading updates or results in the quarter being positive or in line with expectations. Following extensive engagement with management teams and our specialist network to re-test the AI opportunities and threats for each company, we concluded that a number of holdings possess meaningful barriers to AI-led disruption – including proprietary data, deep domain expertise, regulatory knowledge, embedded customer workflows and trusted system-of-record status – and selectively added to high-conviction positions at depressed valuations.

The final quarter saw a strong, albeit incomplete, recovery as the initial AI concerns became more differentiated and operational delivery remained sound. Again, substantively all portfolio trading updates and financial results in calendar Q2 were positive or in line with market expectations, while several of the holdings most affected by the February sell-off recovered materially. Smaller companies also began to outperform their larger peers during the quarter. The period nevertheless remained volatile, with conflict in the Middle East, energy-price uncertainty and renewed domestic political uncertainty continuing to affect risk appetite.

Corporate activity remained an important source of value realisation. The acquisitions of Inspired and Ricardo crystallised value at substantial premia following periods of active engagement, while public-to-private activity across the UK market remained elevated; in the first half of calendar year 2026 there have been 25 firm offers announced for UK listed companies, with an aggregate value of £35bn2. This continues to validate our view that the valuation gap between UK public markets and strategic or private-market values remains material. Throughout the year, our investment approach remained unchanged: bottom-up stock selection, deep fundamental due diligence and constructive engagement focused on company-specific routes to value creation rather than reliance on a broad market re-rating.

1. Calastone Fund Flow Index, January 2026

2. Source: LexisNexis Market Standards, Trends in UK Public M&A deals in H1 2026, July 2026.

Performance – FY 2025/26

The Trust’s NAV Total Return decreased by 2.2% over the 12-month period ended 30 June 2026, versus the FTSE Small Cap Index (excluding Investment Companies), which rose by 7.6%.

NAV return attribution

* Manager Stock Selection is the balancing item, computed as NAV less Benchmark, Structurally Excluded Sectors, Fees (Ongoing and Tender-related) and Buyback.

+ Sector Effect is the sector allocation effect of the GICS industries exposure estimated from Brinson Attribution analysis from Bloomberg PORT. Sector Effect is heavily influenced by Structurally Excluded Sectors (Energy, Materials, Banks and REITs). As SEC holds no stocks in these industries, their entire active contribution is an allocation effect.

Structurally Excluded Sectors contributed -3.0% of total return within this component.

++ Buyback reflects the residual change in shares with voting rights from the post-tender Continuing Pool base, to 30 June 2026

Top and bottom contributors to relative return

Positive contributors

Negative contributors

Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”) and Contribution to Return (“CTR”). Source: Bloomberg PORT

Key contributors to performance during the year included:

• Costain Group, following a series of strategically important contract wins and framework appointments, strong cash generation and continued progress towards its medium-term margin targets. Costain also announced a new pension scheme agreement supporting enhanced shareholder returns via dividend and buyback.

• TruFin, following repeated earnings upgrades driven by the continued strong performance of its Playstack division, which was subsequently announced to have been divested at material valuation in the context of the group’s market capitalisation, along with a material capital return programme to shareholders.

• ActiveOps, following strong results and trading updates demonstrating double-digit revenue growth, expanding recurring revenue, continued cash generation and successful integration of the Enlighten acquisition, reinforcing confidence in the scalability of its Decision Intelligence platform.

• Diaceutics, supported by strong revenue momentum, new enterprise-wide agreements, improved profitability and a record order book, notwithstanding a period of share price weakness in calendar Q4 on no specific company news flow.

• Tribal Group, following trading updates that reaffirmed revenue expectations, indicated adjusted EBITDA ahead of consensus and demonstrated a substantial improvement in the balance sheet to a net cash position.

3. Contribution to Return (“CTR”) of an investment is the weighted total return of that investment instrument, calculated as the daily total return multiplied by the daily weight, compounded over the attribution timeframe.

The main detractors over the period were:

• Brooks Macdonald Group, as the shares de-rated despite operational progress, including in-line interim results, a return to net positive flows (now evidenced for three consecutive quarters) and continued strength in its platform MPS proposition.

• Everplay Group, reflecting weaker sentiment after full-year results indicated a shift in the timing of 2026 revenues from the first half to the second half and a delay to the Hell Let Loose: Vietnam release, following a period in which the shares had previously benefited from stronger back-catalogue performance.

• Iomart Group, following continued elevated churn in its legacy self-managed infrastructure segment, which increased leverage and masked success in other parts of the group.

• Watkin Jones, which despite an in-line trading update is exposed to cyclical headwinds in the UK construction sector and flagged a wide range of outcomes for the second half of its financial year.

• Fintel, as valuation and sentiment weakened despite positive late-2025 trading momentum, continued SaaS growth and a strengthened balance sheet and credit facility providing capacity for further organic growth and selective acquisitions.

The full-year result masks significant intra-year dispersion. Performance was strong through January 2026 before reversing sharply during February and March: the Company’s NAV total return fell by 10.3% in calendar Q1, compared with a 4.7% decline in the FTSE Small Cap Index (excluding Investment Companies). This was driven principally by the market-wide de-rating of perceived “AI-exposed” sectors rather than deteriorating portfolio trading. The final quarter recovered a meaningful proportion of this decline as company results remained resilient and the market began to differentiate more clearly between potential AI beneficiaries and genuinely disrupted business models.

Portfolio Activity

New Investments

We made six new investments during the period:

• ActiveOps, a leading enterprise software provider specialising in back-office management with c.90% recurring revenue, double-digit organic growth, strong cash generation and a dominant position in a structurally expanding market.

• Watkin Jones, a specialist property development and management business focused on UK build-to-rent and purpose-built student accommodation, using a capital-light forward-funding model and offering recovery potential as development activity normalises.

• Spire Healthcare Group, the UK’s largest private hospital group by revenue, where we initially saw structural growth in private healthcare, scope for margin improvement and potential value creation from its property-backed asset base. However, the combination of trading uncertainty around the latest round of NHS tariff commissioning, and a protracted takeover process with multiple offerors including a major shareholder, led us to exit the position after a short holding period.

• Elixirr International, a challenger consultancy firm which is well known to the Manager, with a high-quality customer base diversified by both geography and sector, which is expected to benefit from continued growth in demand for digital consultancy particularly around AI threats and opportunities.

• Eagle Eye Solutions, a marketing and loyalty software platform provider with a scalable, high-margin recurring revenue model and structural exposure to increasing adoption of digital promotions and personalised customer engagement by global retailers.

• Ten Lifestyle Group, a technology-enabled concierge and lifestyle services provider supported by growing demand from global financial institutions and luxury brands, new enterprise client wins, double-digit revenue growth and improving profitability.

Follow-on investments

During periods of share price weakness that we assessed to be disconnected from long-term fundamentals, the Manager added selectively to existing holdings. Examples included Diaceutics and Next 15 Group in calendar Q3; XPS Pensions Group and Fintel in Q4; and Netcall and Watkin Jones in Q1 2026. Across the full year, follow-on investment also included Brooks Macdonald Group, Iomart Group and Tribal Group.

Full exits

We also fully exited six positions during the period:

• Benchmark Holdings, following the return of proceeds after the disposal of its Genetics division, which crystallised value at a 48% premium to the company’s ex-cash equity value.

• Inspired, following completion of the all-cash Recommended Takeover by HGGC at 81p per share, c.33% above the undisturbed share price and c.103% above the 40p equity recapitalisation led by the Manager in January 2025.

• Ricardo, following completion of the agreed all-cash Recommended Takeover by WSP Global at approximately a 70% premium to the 90-day volume-weighted average price.

• The Property Franchise Group, following a period of strong operational performance and share price appreciation after a record year of growth, allowing us to crystallise gains and recycle capital into higher-conviction opportunities.

• Spire Healthcare Group, as above, capitalising on ample liquidity during a volatile takeover process.

• Halfords Group, following a strong trading update, robust like-for-like sales growth, gross margin expansion and a move to net cash, which drove a significant re-rating and provided an attractive opportunity to realise value.

Outlook – FY 2026/27

Looking ahead, the near-term backdrop remains uncertain. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, changes in UK political leadership and continued domestic equity fund outflows may sustain volatility. At the same time, the rotation of international capital away from highly concentrated US equity exposures has improved the relative backdrop for UK assets. We believe the portfolio is well positioned: its holdings typically have high recurring revenues, defensible market positions, strong cash generation and low or modest financial leverage, with limited direct exposure to global trade disruption.

The valuation opportunity in UK smaller companies remains compelling. At 31 August 2026, companies below £500 million market capitalisation traded at a 25% median price-to-earnings discount to companies above £4 billion. Corporate and private equity buyers have continued to demonstrate a willingness to pay substantial premia for high-quality UK assets. If public markets continue to misprice these businesses, we expect M&A to remain an important additional route to value realisation. Several potential catalysts could support the asset class over the coming year:

• Continued improvement in international sentiment towards UK equities and a broader rotation from large caps into small and mid-cap companies as valuation dispersion normalises;

• Further reopening of the IPO and equity capital markets, improving liquidity, price discovery and investor confidence; and

• Continued corporate activity and public-to-private transactions, providing routes to crystallise intrinsic value where public markets do not recognise it.

These catalysts are supportive but are not required for our investment cases to work. History suggests that smaller companies can recover rapidly once market leadership broadens, but we continue to anticipate returns that are idiosyncratic and primarily from company-specific earnings growth, cash generation, strategic change and active engagement. We will also continue to test each investment case rigorously against the opportunities and risks created by artificial intelligence, distinguishing businesses that can use AI to enhance their products and efficiency from those whose competitive positions may be more exposed.

We remain focused on a high-conviction, bottom-up portfolio of companies where we believe quality, strategic relevance and identifiable routes to value creation are not reflected in current market valuations. After a year that demonstrated both the risks of concentration and the importance of maintaining conviction when operational evidence remains supportive, we believe the portfolio is well positioned to deliver attractive long-term returns for shareholders.

Top 10 Investee Company Review

(as at 30 June 2026)

Gresham House, as at 30 June 2026

1. Top ten holdings representing 78.8% of NAV

2. Aggregate Gresham House Asset Management equity stake.

Portfolio as at 30 June 2026

Ken Wotton

Gresham House Asset Management

22 September 2026

Financial Summary

+Net asset value or NAV, the value of total assets less current liabilities. The net asset value divided by the number of shares in issue produces the net asset value per share.

++ FTSE Small Cap (ex Investment Trusts) Index.

1 Alternative Performance Measures. Please refer to pages 75 and 76 of the Annual Report for definitions and reconciliations of the Alternative Performance Measures to the year-end results.

A breakdown of the relevant financial information for the Company’s two pools, the Continuation Pool and the Realisation Pool, is noted on page 76 of the Annual Report.

Annual General Meeting

The Notice of the Annual General Meeting to be held on Thursday 12 November 2026 is set out on pages 78 to 80 of the Annual Report. The Annual General Meeting will be held at the offices of Panmure Liberum Limited, Ropemaker Place, 25 Ropemaker Street, London EC2Y 9LY.

Further Information and Contact Details

The full Annual Report and Financial Statements can be accessed via the Company’s website at: www.strategicequitycapital.com or by contacting the Company Secretary as below.

Copies of the announcement, annual reports, quarterly update presentations and other corporate information can be found on the Company’s website at: www.strategicequitycapital.com.

For further information, please contact:

Financial Statements

Statement of Comprehensive Income

The total column of this statement represents the Statement of Comprehensive Income prepared in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards. The supplementary revenue and capital return columns are both prepared under guidance published by the AIC. All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued during the year.

Statement of Changes in Equity