11th Mar 2019 11:16
LONDON (Alliance News) - Premier Global Infrastructure Trust PLC on Monday said that 2018 was a "difficult" year, as it underperformed against its benchmark.
The trust also said it has appointed Melville Trimble as non-executive director with effect on April 25. On the same date, Kasia Robinski will step down from her role as non-executive director after two years since 2017.
For the recent year, the investment trust reported a negative return of 11%. This reflected an underperformance against the FTSE Global Core Infrastructure 50/50 Index, which returned positive 2.7%.
Premier Global's net asset value per share as at December 31 was down 32% to 112.55 pence from 165.07p a year before.
The trust's share price as at December 31 was 102.00 pence, representing a 9.4% discount to net asset value, narrowed from 11% the prior year.
Shares in Premier Global were down 0.1% on the day Monday at 118.88 pence, having rallied 17% since the start of 2019.
Premier Global said its underperformance was mainly due to China, which makes up 21% of the trust's portfolio at the year-end. This was due generally to trade tensions between China and the US, and more specifically to a rights issue conducted by the trust's largest Chinese investment, China Everbright International.
UK utility stocks also underperformed due to perceived political risks, but Indian holdings remained robust, it said.
Premier Global declared a total dividend of 10.20 pence per share, up 2% from 10.00p the year before.
"Despite the difficult year, the underlying performance of the portfolio remains encouraging. Markets have focused on macro concerns, while the real gains in the portfolio's operational and financial performance have largely gone unnoticed and unrewarded," said Chair Gillian Nott.
"The board has carefully considered the potential impact of Brexit on the trust. Given that the Trust has only 3% of its assets invested in the EU, and its infrastructure investments in the UK are unlikely to be materially affected, we consider the impact of Brexit to be minimal," Nott added.
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