Personal Assets Trust net asset value rises amid gold and equity gains

Tue, 02nd Dec 2025 09:21

(Alliance News) - Personal Assets Trust PLC on Tuesday reported a rise in its net asset value and a strengthened bottom-line as gold and equities boosted its portfolio.

The Edinburgh-based investment trust invests a range of securities for capital protection and long-term growth said NAV per share stood at 540.24 pence on October 31, the end of its financial first half, rising 4.9% from 515.22p at April 30.

NAV total return for the recent six months was 5.6%. Its benchmark, the FTSE All-Share Index, rose by 16%

Personal Assets Trust declared a third interim dividend of 1.40p per share. The trust intends to reach a total payout for the year of 5.6p per ordinary share, barring unforeseen circumstances. This would be steady from financial 2025, when the trust additionally paid a special dividend of 1.6p per share.

Return before tax rose 65% to GBP92.5 million from GBP56.1 million in the same period a year ago, as total income increased 59% to GBP98.1 million from GBP61.8 million.

This was driven by a swing to a gain on investments of GBP92.1 million from a loss of GBP21.0 million, which was offset by foreign exchange losses.

Personal Assets Trust said the biggest contributors to returns were equities and gold, which added 3.0% and 2.6% respectively. The only negative contributor was currency, costing 0.1%, the company added.

The company added to holdings in Agilent Technologies Inc, Canadian National Railway Co and Experian PLC, and established three new holdings in Hubbell Inc, London Stock Exchange Group PLC and Alcon Inc.

Holdings in Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp and Verisign Inc were all reduced following strong share price performances.

The trust said it continues to hold defensive assets in yen, gold, liquidity and short-dated index-linked bonds.

Shares in Personal Assets Trust were down 0.2% to 544.00p on Tuesday morning in London.

By Roya Shahidi, Alliance News reporter

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