(Alliance News) - Impax Environmental Markets PLC on Tuesday said it outperformed both of its benchmarks, on the back of a strong start to 2021, and lifted its payout.
The London-based investment trust said its net asset value stood at GBP1.28 billion at the end of 2021, up 17% from GBP1.09 billion on the same date the year before.
The company's net asset value per share amounted to 496.4p as at December 31, reflecting 20% of year-on-year growth, compared to 411.2p.
The net asset value total return per share for the year was 21.3%. This compares favourably to the 19.6% return by the MSCI AC World Index, as well as the 13.1% returned from the FTSE ET100 Index.
IEM credited these results to a strong start to 2021 that enabled the trust to outperform its benchmarks. This also was not offset by the material underperformance of small-and mid-caps in the final quarter, which form the majority of its holdings.
Impax Environmental declared a second interim dividend of 1.5 pence, taking its total dividend to 2.8p, up 22% from 2.3 the year before.
IEM noted that the first quarter of 2022 has seen market volatility, linked to a large extent to fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and "the horrors which have followed since the war started."
IEM warned that this, paired with inflationary pressures, was creating an uncertain economic environment.
Nonetheless, the trust said it was convinced of the long-term growth prospects for its markets and, by extension, the long‑term performance outlook for the company.
Shares were up 0.1% at 466.86 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
By Abby Amoakuh; abbyamoakuh@alliancenews.com
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Impax Asset Management (IEM)