20th Nov 2019 12:22
(Alliance News) - Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC on Wednesday said it underperformed against its benchmark in the first half of its financial year due to its overweight positions in the biotechnology sector.
In the six months ended September 30, the healthcare sector investor posted a negative 2.7% net asset value per share total return. This was far weaker than the 6.0% positive return from its benchmark, the MSCI World Healthcare Index.
Asset allocation was the main factor in the trust's weaker performance, as Worldwide Healthcare is overweight in biotechnology. The company noted a general move in the period toward bigger and more liquid pharmaceutical firms, where Worldwide Healthcare is less well represented, and away from biotechnology as a result of "market instability".
NAV per share fell 3.5% to 2,628.1 pence as at September 30 from 2,722.9p on March 31.
Worldwide Healthcare has maintained its interim dividend at 6.5p per share.
Chair Martin Smith said: "Despite continued market volatility due, in part, to the impact of geopolitical events on market sentiment, the spectre of a global recession and also to the uncertainties surrounding the 2020 US presidential election, our portfolio manager continues to believe that the fundamentals underpinning healthcare equities remain strong.
"Their focus remains on the selection of stocks with strong growth prospects and we reiterate our belief that the long-term investor in the healthcare sector will be well rewarded."
Shares in Worldwide Healthcare were up 0.7% at 2,863.40p in London on Wednesday.
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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