26th Feb 2025 13:08
(Alliance News) - Strategic Equity Capital PLC on Wednesday said it saw an improved total return for the first half of its current financial year, markedly outperforming its benchmark index.
The specialist alternative equity trust that maintains a portfolio of UK smaller companies said net asset value per share at December 31 was 358.41 pence, up 3.6% on-year from 345.83p but down 9.7% from 396.87p at June 30.
NAV total return for the six months that ended December 31 was 8.8%, an improvement from 1.7% for the same period last year, and outperforming the 5.2% reported for its comparative index, the FTSE SmallCap (ex Investment Trusts) Index.
Strategic Equity proposed no interim dividend, unchanged from the year before.
"Notwithstanding the recent sentiment towards the AIM market, which has translated into short-term selling pressure and de-rating across AIM quoted companies, the investment manager believes that this is a transitory phenomenon and that AIM should continue to thrive in the medium to long term as an attractive source of growth capital and investment opportunities," said Strategic Equity Chair William Barlow.
"The investment manager draws confidence from the relative resilience of its investment portfolio, and notwithstanding short-term market sentiment it does not believe that recent political developments have materially impacted the long-term expected returns of the portfolio companies."
Barlow continued: "Encouragingly, early indications from 2025 are positive for the portfolio’s worst detractors in the six-month period to 31 December 2024, with the majority of those detractors demonstrating a positive contribution to returns in the year to date.
"Furthermore, the investment manager is confident in the significant growth potential across the remaining portfolio, believing that the resilient positioning of the company’s holdings should enable it to perform strongly in the medium to long term."
Shares in Strategic Equity were down 0.9% at 304.85 pence in London on Wednesday afternoon.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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