8th Mar 2019 09:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust PLC on Friday said 2018 was a disappointing year as it underperformed its benchmark, posting a negative total return.
The company finished the year with a negative total return of 13.5%. This compares with a total return for the same period from the company's benchmark index, the FTSE All-Share, of negative 9.5%, an underperformance of 4.0 percentage points.
Net asset value per share dropped to 655.4 pence from 785.4p a year ago.
"2018 proved to be a disappointing year for investors in equities. Whilst I was able to report a positive return on the company's net assets for the first half of 2018, an outperformance compared to the benchmark index of 1.7%, this performance was not sustained in the second half of the year," Chair Andrew Sutch said.
"Stock markets generally were under pressure in the latter months of 2018, reflecting, amongst other things, concerns of a US trade war with China and the 'Brexit' outcome."
The company declared a fourth quarter interim dividend of 9.5 pence per share, taking the total annual payout to 27.5p, up 5.8% from 26.0p a year ago.
Looking ahead, the trust warned that many of its portfolio companies operate internationally and will therefore continue to be affected by global issues such as the tensions between US and China.
"The company has strong revenue reserves and a good record of dividend growth. It is also structured, with its diversified portfolio and risk controls, to help it withstand challenging market conditions. With these strengths I am hopeful that the company will provide strong performance over the years to come," Sutch added.
JPMorgan Claverhouse shares were trading up 0.1% at 705.00p each.
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