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(Alliance News) - City Of London Investment Trust PLC on Friday reported generally strong half-year results with increased net asset value, and announced its intention to delist in New Zealand.
The FTSE 250-listed investment firm said its net asset value at December 31 was 401.7 pence per share, up from 385.2p at June 30.
Shares in City Of London were trading 0.4% higher at 392.65 pence on Friday morning in London.
City Of London said its NAV total return for the six months to December 31 was positive 6.5%. This outperformed its benchmark, the FTSE All-Share Index, which delivered a positive 5.2% return "with medium-sized and small companies slightly outperforming larger peers".
However, City Of London noted that it simultaneously underperformed against the Investment Association UK Equity Income OEIC sector average of positive 6.9%.
The company has already declared two interim dividends of 5.05p per share for the current financial year, and plans to declare the third in April.
"The company's diverse portfolio, strong cash flow and revenue reserve give the board confidence that...it will be able to increase the total annual dividend for the 58th consecutive year," Chair Laurie Magnus said.
For the year to June 30, 2023 the company declared a total dividend of 20.1p per share.
Earnings per share, meanwhile, "rose marginally" to 8.80p from 8.79p and pretax net return surged by 97% to GBP133.0 million from GBP67.2 million.
Also on Friday, City Of London said the costs of maintaining its secondary listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange "have become disproportionate to the benefits", especially since shareholdings in Wellington now only represent 1.2% of its issued stock.
Consequently, the trust will be delisting its shares from the NZX Main Board with effect from March 21; they will be automatically transferred to the UK register.
Finally, City Of London was "delighted to announce" on Friday that Sally Lake, group finance director of FTSE 100 specialist insurance firm Beazley PLC, will join its board as an independent non-executive director with effect from August 1.
Lake, who first joined Beazley in early 2006 and rose to her current role in May 2019, announced her intention to step down and leave the company back in August last year.
Looking ahead, City Of London expects the last two years' "tightening monetary policy" to spark "a further reduction in the rate of inflation".
Magnus continued: "A significant slowdown in economic activity, however, appears unlikely as consumers continue to draw down excess savings from the Covid lockdowns and employment statistics remain relatively buoyant." Moreover, "UK equities remain attractively valued relative to overseas equivalents."
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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