15th Apr 2026 11:13
(Alliance News) - Henderson Far East Income Ltd on Wednesday said it is "encouraged by a strong period of performance for Asian markets", as it posted interim net asset value per share gains.
The investor in companies in the Asia Pacific reported a NAV total return of 23.3% for the six months that ended February 28.
Whilst the trust does not have a formal benchmark, the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index, which its uses for comparison purposes, returned 26.2% over the same period.
NAV per share grew 17% to 261.38 pence at February 28, from 222.32p at August 31.
Fund Manager Sat Duhra said: "The company broadly matched the strong rise in the Asia index justifying our previous tilt to a balanced approach between growth and income".
Duhra continued, explaining that Korean holdings were key contributors during the interim period, with Samsung Electronics Co, Hyundai Motor Co Ltd, Kia Corp, SK Square and Industrial Bank of Korea some of the top performers.
By contrast, the fund manager said key detractors from performance included being underweight in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc. Duhra said energy companies GAIL (India) Ltd and Origin Energy also underperformed.
Henderson Far East Income declared a second interim dividend of 6.25 pence per share for the financial year ending August 31, up 0.8% from 6.20p a year prior.
Shares in the investment trust were down 0.2% at 260.00 pence on Wednesday morning in London.
"We are encouraged by a strong period of performance for Asian markets with Asian indices reaching all-time highs at the end of the reporting period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 US Index. We reiterate our view that now is a pivotal period where the recent outperformance of Asian equities versus US equities could be the beginning of a reversal of an unjustifiably wide valuation differential," said Fund Manager Sat Duhra.
"Asian investors have faced several exogenous risks in recent years with conflict in the Middle East the most recent potential shock. However, the growth drivers of our markets are broad based and have already demonstrated resilience in uncertain times," the fund manager added.
By Christopher Ward, Alliance News reporter
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