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(Alliance News) - Henderson Opportunities Trust PLC on Friday said its net asset value dropped further in its recently ended financial year, as well as underperforming against its benchmark.
For its financial year ended October 31, the trust recorded a further drop in its net assets to GBP91.8 million, a 2.8% decrease from GBP94.4 million for financial 2018. For comparison, for financial 2017, its net assets stood at GBP101.6 million.
Henderson Opportunities Trust's net asset value per share at the end of October 2019 stood at 1,161.8 pence, down from 1,179.4p recorded at the same period the prior year. For financial 2019, its NAV stood at 1,269.9p
The company's NAV total return for the period was 0.2% compared to its benchmark, the FTSE All-Share Index's which returned 6.8% in the same period.
Henderson however, declared an increased dividend of 26.0p, up 24% from last year's 21.0p payout.
Henderson's performance was attributed to weak performance in smaller companies, which make up a large part of the trust's portfolio. The company also said its sizeable investments in LoopUp and Blue Prism stocks hurt its overall performance.
"It was a difficult financial year for smaller companies. There was a significant dislocation between small company performance and the rest of the UK market - while the FTSE 100 rose 6.5% and the FTSE 250 rose 9.1%, the AIM All-Share Index fell 7.5% and the FTSE SmallCap Index finished approximately flat at -0.2%. This detracted from performance given the company's substantial weighting in small and AIM-quoted companies, said Chair Peter Jones.
Looking ahead, Jones added: "The general election in December brought greater clarity in regard to the domestic political outlook and this has been well received by investors with UK-focused stocks being the main beneficiaries. The start to the current financial year has been encouraging with SmallCap valuations showing improvement and, if this trend continues, the company's portfolio should benefit significantly".
The stock was trading 1.9% lower at 1,055.00 pence each on Friday afternoon in London.
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com
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