6th Feb 2014 15:07
LONDON (Alliance News) - Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust PLC Thursday said it underperformed its benchmark by some way in the third quarter, but said December was a good month for companies in its portfolio.
In a statement, the trust, which primarily invests in Continental European quoted smaller companies, said its net asset value per share increased by 2.8% during the three month period ended December 31, 2013, compared to an 8.0% rise in the benchmark index.
"The quarter began with outperformance of low quality, value stocks - a continuation of the trend that has been in place since the middle of 2012," Montanaro said in a statement.
But it said the earnings recovery that had been priced into stocks' prices over the past 18 months failed to materialise, meaning the December market rally saw a shift back into growth stocks.
"These companies form the core of the company's portfolio and have become attractively valued relative to the broader SmallCap market," Montanaro added.
At the end of the year, with a share price of 513.0 pence, the discount to net asset value was clocked at 10.8%. The net asset value per share was 575.1 pence.
The trust's shares were Thursday quoted at 516.67 pence, up 4.67 pence, or 0.9%.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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