Edinburgh Worldwide Share News (EWI)

Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust saw its net asset value per share rise in the first half of its financial year as global equities bounced back strongly. The investment trust, which invests in listed companies throughout the world with a view to achieving capital growth, said its net asset value (NAV) per share at the end of April 2009 was 210.66p, up 22.5% on the NAV per share six months earlier, but down on the figure of 298.53p at the end of April 2008.At the end of April 2009 the trust had total net assets of £127m before the deduction of loans of £24m.‘Events since the autumn of 2008 reinforce our view that both the scale of banking devastation and the knock-on effects to government financing will accelerate the underlying changes in global GDP distribution from Western to Eastern economies, said David Coltman, chairman of the company. ‘We reflect this belief both in the shape of our portfolio and with net gearing of 20%,’ Coltman added.An interim dividend of 0.5p has been proposed, unchanged from last year.