8th Apr 2020 18:06
(Alliance News) - JPMorgan US Smaller Cos Investment Trust PLC on Wednesday said it outperformed its benchmark on its portfolio selection, as it declared an unchanged dividend.
The stock closed 2.5% higher at 245.00 pence each on Wednesday in London.
At December 31, the company's net asset value per share rose 25% to 343.0p from 274.8p. Net assets also rose to GBBP198.3 million from GBP158.8 million. Its total return was 25.8%, outperforming its benchmark the Russell 2000 Index, which returned 20.4%.
JPMorgan US Smaller declared a dividend of 2.5p for 2010, unchanged from the year prior.
The performance was attributed to the company's stock selection and sector allocation, with holdings in the producer durables and financial services sectors adding the most value.
Shares in Douglas Dynamics outperformed as the company reported "solid" earnings and demand "remained robust". Kinsale Capital Group and Catalent also contributed positively to performance, the trust said.
Restaurant delivery platform Grubhub, medical device company ICU Medical and Quaker Chemical detraced from performance, the company added.
Looking ahead, JPMorgan US Smaller said it expects economic growth in the first half of 2020 to be hurt on uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 outbreak.
"While nearly impossible to quantify at this point, we expect economic growth to be materially impacted in the first half of 2020, despite emergency rate cuts by the Fed and growing fiscal and monetary stimulus globally. If the virus is contained in the near term, there's a possibility for re-acceleration in the second half of the year as pent up demand is released, though the bottom is unclear at this point," the company said.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected]
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