25th Feb 2016 12:14
LONDON (Alliance News) - JPMorgan Mid Cap Investment Trust PLC on Thursday reported a rise in its total return on net assets in the first half of its financial year, beating its benchmark.
The trust said its net asset total return in the six months to December 31 was 9.0%, 8.4 percentage points ahead of its benchmark the FTSE 250 Index (excluding investment trusts), which returned 0.6% on a total return basis.
It said the discount of the share price versus the net assets "closed dramatically" in the half year, leading to a share price total return of 26%.
"It was extremely pleasing that towards the end of the period the discount at which the company's shares had traded for a number of years was eliminated. The trend has continued into 2016 with the shares trading at or around net asset value," JPMorgan said in a statement.
JPMorgan said notable companies which contributed to its outperformance included online betting company Betfair Group PLC, sports retailer JD Fashion Sports PLC, books and stationery retailer WHSmith PLC, card and gifts retailer Card Factory PLC, and kitchen supplier Howden Joinery Group PLC.
Meanwhile, the trust exited from is investments in car parts and bicycle retailer Halfords Group PLC, discount retailer Poundland Group PLC, and telecoms provider TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC, due to those companies performing poorly.
JPMorgan added that while it remains confident in its outlook for the rest of the year, it expects to experience headwinds resulting from the implementation of the National Living Wage in April and the EU referendum in June.
Shares in JPMorgan Mid Cap were trading up 1.9% at 943.18 pence on Thursday afternoon.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
JMF.L