22nd Sep 2022 10:09
(Alliance News) - European Opportunities Trust PLC on Thursday said it outperformed its benchmark, but noted it had been a difficult year for equity markets.
The investment trust's net asset value per share rose 3.2% to 850.64 pence at its May 31 year-end, from 824.29p a year earlier.
The NAV total return, with dividends added back, was 3.4%, outperforming the benchmark MSCI Europe index, which returned of 2.4%.
European Opportunities Trust declared a final dividend of 2.5 pence per share, up from 2.0p last year.
The company said the past year has been "one of the most challenging for equity markets since the 2008 global financial crisis". However, it also said that "it is at times like these that active funds have the best opportunity to lay the foundations upon which long-term outperformance can be built."
Chair Andrew Sutch said: "Our active philosophy empowers our investment manager to invest according to his convictions. Our portfolio has performed well relative to both its benchmark and its peers in the year under review, and I believe that it is well-placed to adapt and perform.
"The underperformance of the last couple of years is reflected in the rating of the company's shares, and market conditions are not particularly favourable at present, but I believe that our investment manager's investment style remains capable of delivering consistent outperformance over the medium to long term."
Shares in European Opportunities Trust were trading 0.3% lower at 668.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Chris Dorrell; [email protected]
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