ASCI.L Share News (ASCI)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Aberdeen Smaller Cos Income Trust PLC on Tuesday reported a "successful" year for the trust as it outperformed its benchmark.

The trust reported a total return on net asset value of 33%, outperforming its FTSE Small Cap Index benchmark, which returned 16%.

NAV per share as at December 31 was 341.12 pence per share, up from 262.93p as at the end of 2016. Aberdeen Smaller Cos share price was up 46% to 288.00p from 203.50p, representing a 15% discount to NAV in the period, which narrowed from 22.1% the prior year.

The trust's shares were up 1.8% at 290.00p per share on Tuesday.

The company declared four interim dividends during the year, taking its total dividend for 2017 to 7.05p, up 2.9% from the 6.85p paid the previous year.

Aberdeen Smaller Cos Chairman Robert Lister said: "2017 saw a number of major equity indices finish the year at all-time highs. Consequently, company valuations have reached quite lofty levels warranting some caution on how long this bull market can continue to run."

"Reassuringly," Lister added, "the real world economic picture appears increasingly robust. Whilst growth projections for the UK economy have been reducing, the prospects for the rest of the world look healthier with growth forecasts for the US, Eurozone and Japan having seen upward revisions of late and improvements in world trade and firming commodity prices supporting a more broad-based recovery in emerging markets."

"Political news in 2018 will continue to play its part in shaping investor sentiment," Lister added. "As a board, however, we believe the trust is well placed to benefit from the opportunities of global growth and, with its bottom-up focus on quality stocks, should be well placed to weather any choppier waters along the way."