(Alliance News) - JPMorgan Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLC on Wednesday said it outperformed its benchmark, as it reported a "strong" performance in its first half of financial 2020.
The stock closed 13% higher at 178.00 pence each on Wednesday in London.
For the six months to the end of January, the investment company delivered total return of 24%, outperforming its benchmark - the Numis Small Cap plus AIM excluding Investment Companies Index - which delivered 8.9%. Net asset value per share stood at 321.5p, reflecting a 37% increase from 234.1p reported in the comparative period the year prior.
No interim dividend was declared for the period.
The improved performance was attributed to "strong performance" from the UK small and mid cap indices, helped by the removal of Brexit uncertainty following a Conservative victory in the December UK general election. Investments in Games Workshop Group PLC, Judges Scientific PLC, Avon Rubber PLC, Dunelm Group PLC and Team 17 Group PLC produced "very strong" results, the trust's investment managers said.
Looking ahead, JPMorgan said it has a positive outlook dependent on the outcome of the EU withdrawal negotiations, the progress of trade talks with the US, Japan and other countries, and the extent to which the Covid-19 outbreak may hurt the global economy.
"If this pandemic is contained in a timely manner then, given the extraordinary measures of support we have seen from the government, we would expect a very strong bounce back in markets, and the UK, and in particular the harder hit smaller companies, should participate. If, however, the rest of the world does not recover from the Covid-19 impact at the rate that China appears to have, then all markets, including the UK, will continue to struggle," JPMorgan said.
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com
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