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(Alliance News) - JPMorgan European Discovery Trust PLC said on Friday that its net asset value had fallen and its investment loss widened in a difficult year for the market and company.
The investment firm said its NAV per share at March 31 stood at 498.5 pence, down 5.2% from 526.1p the previous year.
The NAV total return was negative 3.8%, underperforming its benchmark index, the MSCI Europe ex UK Small Cap Net Total Return Index, which returned negative 3.2% over the same period.
JPMorgan European Discovery's losses on investments for the year ended March 31 widened to GBP45.5 million from GBP1.0 million the previous year. The company swung to a pretax loss of GBP32.0 million from a profit of GBP4.8 million the previous year.
"This has been a very challenging year for the market and for our company. Global themes of rising inflation, central bank tightening and recession concerns dominated for much of the year," the company explained.
The company proposed a final financial year 2023 dividend of 7.8p per share, up from 5.5p the prior year.
The company said that 2023 looks more encouraging, with Europe appearing to be a more attractive investment location at that start of this new cycle, with a period of relatively peaceful internal politics.
"We believe that inflation has peaked, but will be a bit more persistent than we were accustomed to prior to the pandemic. Against this backdrop, the outlook for European small and mid-cap companies look positive," said Chair Marc van Gelder.
Shares in JPMorgan European Discovery Trust were down 0.2% at 402.35 pence in London on Friday.
By Will Neill, Alliance News reporter
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