12th Aug 2016 07:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - The Diverse Income Trust PLC on Friday said its net asset value rose in its financial year to the end of May, amidst a "period of flux" and raised its dividend for the year.
The trust, which invests in UK-listed stocks, said its net asset value per share rose 4.6% in the year to 91.02 pence from 87.03p a year earlier, in a year in which the FTSE All-Share index, The FTSE SmallCap (excluding Investment Companies) Index and the FTSE AIM All-Share Index fell.
The FTSE All-Share was down 9.7% over the year, the FTSE SmallCap (Excluding Investment Companies), declined 2.5% and the FTSE AIM All-Share Index was down 4.3%.
"The makeup of the smaller quoted company stock market has evolved over the period, with many of the more speculative investments often running into difficulties and becoming a smaller part of the investment universe. In contrast, those with solid businesses generating a rising turnover and cashflow have attracted greater investor support, in part because of their rising dividend streams," said Chairman Michael Wrobel.
"The universe of these types of investments has been swelled further by a growing number of smaller companies that have come to market, offering attractive dividend yields. This period of flux within the smaller company universe is reflected in the divergent returns on the indices," Wrobel added.
The trust raised its dividend for the full year to 2.80 pence per share, 12% ahead of the 2.50p paid out over the prior year.
The Diverse Income Trust said, whilst the UK's decision to withdraw from the EU may lead to a period of uncertainty, it "has greater scope than many others to invest in the shares of those companies (be they big or small) where the potential opportunities have been improved by this prospective change".
Shares in the trust were up 4.1% at 90.00p on Friday morning.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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