(Alliance News) - Gabelli Value Plus Trust PLC on Thursday said its annual performance was "disappointing" as the US equity investor lagged its two benchmarks.
At March 31, the trust's net asset value per share, including income, stood at 137.9 pence compared to 129.5p at the same point a year prior - representing a 6.5% increase. Excluding dividend payments, Gabelli Value's NAV per share was up 6.4% over the same period to 137.2p.
The trust's net assets increased 6.3% in the period, ending the financial year at GBP137.5 million compared to GBP129.4 million twelve months earlier.
Gabelli Value - which invests in US equity stocks - proposed a final dividend of 0.75p per share, 25% higher than the 0.60p declared the year before. The trust pays one annual dividend.
The trust's NAV per share total return in the twelve month period was 6.9%, behind both of its benchmarks - the Russell 3000 Value index and S&P 500 - which added 14% and 18%, respectively, in the same period.
"The board is keenly aware that, despite the positive returns achieved by the portfolio since listing, performance has fallen short of the gains in the wider market in part due to technology stocks continuing to attract most investor interest whilst value stocks continue to be de-rated," said Chair Jonathan Davie.
"The recent IPOs in the USA have been dominated by stocks such as Uber making huge losses with little clarity as to when or if profitability can ever be achieved. There will come a time when value stocks become recognised as preferred investment opportunities with their solid earnings and dividend payments which typify many of the companies in our portfolio."
The trust's investment manager, Gabelli Funds, added: "As has been the case for many years now, growth stocks have continued to outperform value stocks. In the first quarter of 2019, growth stocks, as measured by the S&P 500/Citigroup Growth Index, were up 15% on a total return basis. Value stocks, on the other hand, were up by about 12% in the quarter, as measured by the S&P 500/Citigroup Value Index. The good news is that, although value investing has been out of favor for many years now, we feel the market is poised to start favouring value stocks once again and we believe the portfolio is well positioned to benefit when that rotation occurs."
Shares in Gabelli Value were down 0.6% in London on Thursday at 118.30 pence each.