Medienmitteilung

Good first business year - further participations in unlisted companies planned Zurich, February 28, 2001. Today we are presenting the first annual report of Swiss Small Cap Invest (SSCN). In the trading year the net asset value (NAV) has grown by 13.55% to CHF 113.55. The share price increased by 14% to CHF 114.- in the same period. While this result lies above the Swiss Performance Index (+11.95), it fell short of the Vontobel Swiss Small Companies Index (+18.98%) which serves as reference index. However, especially in phases of receding stock markets, we stood our ground successfully. This contributed to a low volatility. As of December 31, 2000, with 10.3% the 1-year volatility was remarkably lower than the 13.4% indicated by the benchmark. The performance The net revenue on financial assets amounts to CHF 4.995 million, of which CHF 3.172 million in unrealized valuation gains and CHF 1.823 million in realized profits. The after-tax yield amounts to CHF 2.683 million. Weighed with the average portfolio, this corresponds to a profit of CHF 11.37 per share. The portfolio comprises 20 securities at a total value of CHF 51.730 million. The most important individual positions are Phoenix Mecano (8.7%), followed by Bachem (8.4%) and Kardex PS (7,6%). Other substantial positions are Schaffner (6.5%), Actelion (6.4%) and Alcopor (6,2%). In addition we hold participations in three unlisted companies. The major participations show predominantly positive price moves. Actelion (+100%), Kardex PS (+56%), Schaffner (+35%) and Phoenix Mecano (+29%) rose above average. In the last quarter Bachem suffered a negative price development which finally led to a scarcely positive performance of +1% for the entire period. The unlisted Swiss Tech Invest (portfolio ratio of 6,6%) has been developing better than comparable tech investment companies. However, it could not entirely escape the negative trend of the industry which increased in the fourth quarter, and it came in with a negative performance of 5,8%. In the reporting period five participations were sold completely. Asklia, Disetronic, Jelmoli and Kuoni brought net gains between 13.5% and 24%. The sale of Day Interactive resulted in a loss of 17.7%. Further investments in the pre-IPO sector ahead Many of the small and mid-sized companies domiciled in Switzerland (SMEs) have a sustainable potential for innovation. The established enterprises are not the only ones to generate first-class products. Early long-term investments can be advantageous especially in startup companies with a very small capitalization. In the first weeks of the new business year we have slightly reduced our high degree of investment. We are planning to allocate the newly disposable resources primarily in the unlisted sector. In this context, we are having intensive talks with several companies. Apart from this we regularly evaluate potential listed portfolio candidates, which allows us to secure alternative investments (exit strategy) for each participation. Please consult www.swiss-small-cap.com on all data concerning SSCN, including a daily account of the net asset value (NAV), the updated portfolio structure as well as the complete Annual Report 2000. The first shareholders' meeting will be taking place in Zug, Switzerland, at 17:00 h on March 21, 2001. Swiss Small Cap Invest (SSCN) was founded on September 6, 1999. Its share capital amounts to a nominal value of CHF 46'500'000. The company holds financial participations in small caps in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Small caps are defined to be companies with a market capitalization not exceeding 0.2% of the total market capitalization (SPI). SSCN engages in carefully selected SMEs with an investment horizon of at least three to five years. Besides the listed companies (e.g. SWX, New Market), to a smaller extent participations in companies can be acquired that are headed towards their listing or are still at the pre-IPO stage. Reference index is the Vontobel Swiss Small Companies Index (VSSCI). The Members of the Board of Directors are: Theodor F. Kocher, President, José Truyol and Markus Eberle. Business Management is the responsibility of Philipp Baumgartner (CEO) and Peter F. Burri, both experienced specialists for Swiss mid- and small cap investments. For more detailed information, please contact: Philipp Baumgartner, CEO Telephone: +41 (0)1-295 9000 e-mail: info@smallcap.ch