30th Apr 2020 06:55
(Alliance News) - Henderson International Income Trust PLC on Wednesday reported a drop in assets over the first half, underperforming its benchmark.
At February 29, the trust's NAV per share, with debt at par value, stood at 154.6 pence, down 6.2% from 164.8p at August 31. With debt at fair value, NAV per share slipped 6.0% to 151.6p from 161.3p.
The trust's net assets fell 3.7% over the period to GBP297.9 million from GBP309.2 million.
Henderson International declared two 1.5p interim dividends during the period, taking its total for the six months to 3.0p.
As a result, the trust's NAV total return, with debt at par value, was negative 4.5%. With debt at fair value, Henderson International returned negative 4.3%. Both underperformed the benchmark - the MSCI World (excluding UK) Index - which lost 3.4% over the same six-month period.
Chair Simon Jeffreys said: "The second half of 2019 was a relatively buoyant time for equities, driven by signs that the worst of the [US-China] trade war might be over and the emergence of encouraging economic data. During this period, the company's NAV reached its highest level since launch. At the date of this report, however, all these concerns have been rendered relatively insignificant in the face of the spread of the Covid-19 virus and the human and economic devastation that is unfolding. As a result of these concerns, markets remain volatile, and economically sensitive sectors have underperformed."
Fund manager Ben Lofthouse added: "The most significant detractors to performance over the period came from the stocks with the business models most exposed to the reduction in travel caused by Covid-19, travel and leisure and the oil sector. Whilst we acted quickly to reduce exposure to these sectors, it was not before the stocks had started to react."
He continued: "The company's investment process focuses on companies with attractive dividend yields, strong cash flow generation and the potential to grow both earnings and distributions in the future. In the period under review, income from the portfolio remained robust and the majority of companies increased or maintained their dividends."
Going forward, Jeffreys said he believes the trust is "well equipped to weather periods of economic uncertainty".
Shares in Henderson International Income Trust closed at 145.00 pence each in London on Wednesday.
By Paul McGowan; [email protected]
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