27th Feb 2019 10:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Law Debenture Corp PLC on Wednesday said it outperformed its benchmark in 2018 despite a decrease in net asset value.
The investment company said its NAV total return in 2018 was negative 5.8%, but its benchmark, the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index, performed even worse, down 9.5%.
The two largest contributors to return during the year were aerospace components company GKN and media firm Sky, Law Debenture said, both of which were taken over at a material premium to the prevailing share price at the time of acquisition.
Sky was bought by the US' Comcast, while GKN was earlier in the year purchased by FTSE 250 Melrose Industries PLC.
The holding in computer software manufacturer Microsoft Inc was also a strong contributor to performance.
Law Debenture's NAV per share at December 31 stood at 614.07 pence, down from 669.53p at the end of 2017.
The stock was trading 0.8% lower on Wednesday at 585.60p per share.
The company proposed a dividend of 18.90p per share for 2018, a 9.2% increase from 17.30p paid a year earlier.
"Our unique and differentiated business model allows increased flexibility in portfolio construction and will be a key value driver as we aim to deliver continued long-term capital growth and steadily increasing income," said Chief Executive Denis Jackson.
"We remain confident in our investment manager's stock selection given the proven long term record," added Chair Robert Hingley.
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