LONDON (Alliance News) - Lowland Investment Company PLC Tuesday said its net asset value total return was 8.7% in the six months ended March 31, compared with the FTSE All-Share Index total return of 4.8%.
In a statement, Lowland said its exposure to industrial companies has been beneficial, with some manufacturing companies being the most significant contributors over the longer term. The weighting to insurers has also helped, according to Lowland, both in terms of capital performance over the long term, but also in terms of dividend increases. Hiscox Ltd, for instance, has paid a large special dividend for the past two years.
Between March 31 and May 16, Lowland's NAV, including income, fell by 1.3%, while the FTSE All-Share Index rose by 3.0%. Some of Lowland's medium and smaller company holdings have fallen back due to investors rotating funds out of areas where there has been substantial share price appreciation into areas which have been more subdued in share price terms.
"This may continue for some time; however in the medium term a successful equity investment is one which grows its earnings and dividends over time rather than any particular size or type of company. The focus will remain on finding these winning companies and holding them," Lowland said in a statement.
"Given the increase in the underlying dividends paid by the companies in the portfolio, the board has increased the quarterly dividend to 9.0 pence. The first two quarterly dividends paid this year have come to 18.0p, compared with 16.5p for the corresponding period last year. This is an increase of 9.1%," Lowland said.
| 3 years | 5 years | 10 years |
Net Asset Value Total Return | 71.6% | 303.0% | 237.6% |
FTSE All-Share Index Total Return | 28.8% | 113.3% | 128.7% |
Lowland shares were Tuesday quoted at 1,421.00 pence, down 0.2%.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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Lowland Inv. (LWI)