27th Oct 2022 17:10
(Alliance News) - JPMorgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust PLC on Thursday said that unexpected economic and geopolitical events have negatively impacted the performance of its portfolio over the financial year.
At July 31, the firm's net asset value per share was 140.30 pence, down from 152.20p the year prior.
In the twelve months ended July 31, JPMorgan Global's net asset value return, including dividends, was negative 4.7%. This compared to a return of negative 8.7% for the company's benchmark index, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
The total return to shareholders was negative 9.4%, which the firm said reflected a widening of the NAV discount at which shares trade to 12%, from 6.7% a year earlier.
Chair Sarah Fromson said the firm's emerging markets portfolio had "suffered significantly" since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, as the ongoing war and associated economic sanctions influenced the price of energy, therefore intensifying existing inflationary pressures.
Fromson also said that China's interventionist policies, its developing geopolitical tensions with the US, and its "economic slowdown" caused by the country's "zero-covid" policy, had dented Chinese market sentiment and negatively impacted global markets in the period.
However, she argued that a "disciplined investment process" and "careful approach to risk management" would enable the firm to "outperform over the longer term, as it has done in the past".
JPMorgan Global declared a total dividend for the year of 5.2p per share, up from 5.1p a year prior.
JPMorgan Global shares closed 0.8% higher at 111.34 pence each in London on Thursday.
By Holly Beveridge; [email protected]
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