23rd Nov 2018 11:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Manchester & London Investment Trust PLC on Friday upped its dividend by a third as it outperformed its benchmark in its recently ended financial year.
In addition, Manchester & London announced the departure of its Chairman Peter Stanley, who has been with the company since November 1997.
Following Stanley's retirement, Non-Executive Director David Harris will succeed him as chairman, the trust said.
In a separate statement, Manchester & London said net asset value per share grew significantly to 532.81 pence in the year to the end of July from 429.05p reported the year prior.
Manchester & London Investment upped its annual payout by a third to 12.00p from 9.00p paid the year before.
Its share price at the end of the financial year stood at 526.00p, representing a 1.3% discount to NAV. Shares on Friday were flat at 418.50p.
The NAV total return was negative 0.04%, while the company's benchmark, the MSCI UK Investable Market Index, returned a negative 5.48%.
The portfolio delivered a high double-digit outperformance against the benchmark, driven by its sector positioning, the trust explained.
In its technology investments, the company said there were no material negative contributors, with Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd, accounting for around 50% of the sector return.
In consumer investments, Amazon.com Inc was the dominant driver of the returns. The only material negative performer in this sector was JD.com Inc, the trust said, which it disposed of during the year.
Healthcare & pharmaceutical investments delivered modest returns, with Align Technology Inc and Zoetis Inc being the material positive contributors. The only material negative performer was GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which the company also disposed of during the year.