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(Alliance News) - F&C Investment Trust PLC said on Monday its net asset value total return in the first half of the year was the company's strongest during that period for more than 20 years, but it still was outperformed by its FTSE All-World Index benchmark.
F&C Investment Trust had a net asset value total return of 14% during the six months to June 30, but this was short of the 16% return from the FTSE All-World Index. The trust noted that financial markets around the globe recovered from "sharp falls" in the latter part of 2018.
In the same period last year, net asset value total return was 3.7%, ahead of the FTSE All-World Index which had a total return of 2.1%.
F&C Investment Trust's net asset value per share rose 5.4% to 732.73 pence on June 30 from 695.35p last year.
The company lifted its interim dividend for the period by 7.4% to 2.9 pence per share from 2.7p in the same period of 2018. F&C Investment Trust said it intends to deliver a "real rise" in its annual dividend again in 2019, which would make it the 49th successive year that it has hiked its annual dividend.
Chair Simon Fraser, who will be replaced by Beatrice Hollond in December, said: "The political and economic backdrop can be expected to remain uncertain, particularly for the UK given the unclear outcome of the Brexit negotiations. As ever, there will be opportunities for F&C.
"As a closed-ended listed investment company, we are not constrained by asset sales to meet redemptions. Our share capital structure gives us the flexibility to take a longer term view and stay invested while taking advantage of illiquidity throughout normal and volatile markets."
Shares in F&C Investment Trust were up 0.4% at 725.74 pence each in London on Monday morning.