23rd Nov 2015 17:08
LONDON (Alliance News) - JPMorgan European Smaller Companies Trust PLC on Monday said its managers, Jim Campbell and Francesco Conte of JP Morgan, outperformed the trust's benchmark index in the first half.
"European economies continue their recovery, but the recent slowdown in the rate of growth in the Chinese economy and its associated effect on exports from Europe into China has made the investment managers more cautious of the immediate market outlook," Chairman Carolan Dobson said in a statement.
"Accordingly, gearing has been reduced, cyclical investments reduced and the portfolio more focused on companies whose prospects are more dependent on their own prospects for growth rather than broader economic growth," Dobson said.
The trust's positive total return on net assets was 2.4% in the six months to September 30. The share price had a positive total return of 0.7%, as the discount at which they traded to net asset value widened to 14.4% from 13.0%.
The total return from the benchmark index, the Euromoney Smaller European Companies (ex UK) Index, was down 3.8% in the first half of the company's financial year.
Shares in the trust closed down 0.9% at 258.25 pence on Monday.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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