6th Dec 2018 11:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - BMO Capital & Income Investment Trust PLC on Thursday said it had fallen slightly behind its benchmark in its most recent financial year, with no return in the first half of its year.
In its financial year ended September 30, the trust posted a net asset value per share total return of 5.5%. This was marginally lower than its FTSE All-Share Index benchmark, which recorded a 5.9% return.
"The return in the first half of the company's fiscal year was zero," said BMO Capital & Income Chairman Steven Bates.
"All of this return came between the end of March and the end of September," he added.
The trust's net asset value per share increased 2.2% to 324.04 pence on September 30 from 317.11p the year before.
BMO Capital & Income is proposing to pay a fourth interim dividend of 3.60p per share, bringing the year total to 10.95p from 10.65p per share year-on-year.
Bates said that the markets are experiencing "another bout of jitters" and expressed some concern over Brexit.
"We still do not know what will happen on Brexit and the level of uncertainty posits an accommodative monetary policy. Other things being equal, this is positive for equity markets, but we can expect any upward trend to be interrupted by periods of uncomfortable volatility as the politics unfold and the cycle matures," said Bates.
The company changed its name to BMO Capital & Income in November, after its financial year, having previously traded as F&C Capital & Income Investment Trust PLC. North American bank BMO - the Bank of Montreal - bought the Foreign & Colonial funds business - in 2014.
Shares in BMO Capital & Income were down 1.3% at 295.56 pence on Thursday.
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