(Alliance News) - Henderson European Focus Trust PLC on Monday said it lagged its benchmark in the full year despite an improvement in net asset value.
The investment firm reported NAV per share as at September 30 of 1,390.86p, up 1.8% from 1,366.57p a year ago.
Henderson's NAV total return for the period was 4.3%, while its benchmark, the FTSE World Europe ex UK index on a total return basis in sterling terms, returned 6.4%.
The company's mid-market price per share was 1,245.00p, resulting in share price total return of 3.1%. The discount to NAV ended the year at 10.5% compared with 9.3% at the end of the prior year.
The stock closed 0.1% higher in London on Monday at 1,268.18p a share.
Henderson recommended a final dividend of 21.7p per share, taking the total payout for the year to 31.3p, up 1.0% over the last year's distribution.
"We cannot control markets, nor predict with accuracy how they will move, but with a good manager and determined focus on active management in a well-structured closed-ended company, we believe that we can continue to serve our shareholders well over the longer term, which has been our aim for the sixteen years I've been proud to serve on the board of Henderson," said Chair Rodney Dennis.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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