Schroder Asian Regulatory News (ATR)

SCHRODER ASIAN TOTAL RETURN INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC

HALF YEAR REPORT 2025

Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company plc (the "Company") hereby submits its Half Year Report for the six months ended 30 June 2025 as required by the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule 4.2.

Key Highlights:

· During the six months to 30 June 2025, the Company's NAV total return was -2.4%. The share price total return was -1.6%, as the discount narrowed, reflecting improved sentiment towards Asian equities and the Company.

· The Company has maintained a consistently strong long-term track record, with its NAV total return outperforming the Reference Index over the three-, five- and ten-year periods to 30 June 2025. There has also been a notable recovery in relative performance since the end of June.

· The shares traded at an average discount of 4.1% during the review period, remaining well within the target range. The Company is notably overweight, relative to its Reference Index, in Australian and Singaporean stocks, markets which offer attractive yields and, selectively, reasonable valuations in steady growth businesses.

· The Company continues to use CFDs in addition to the loan facility, as a flexible and more cost-effective means of borrowing.

Sarah MacAulay, Chair, Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company plc commented:

"The consistently strong long-term track record of the Company is notable. The NAV total return has outperformed the Reference Index over 3, 5 and 10 years."

The Half Year Report is also being published in hard copy format and an electronic copy of that document will shortly be available to download from the Company's web pages at www.schroders.co.uk/satric.

The Company has submitted a copy of its Half Year Report to the National Storage Mechanism and it will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

Enquiries:

Schroder Investment Management Limited

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HALF YEAR REPORT FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2025

CHAIR'S STATEMENT

PERFORMANCE During the six-month period ended 30 June 2025, the Company's net asset value (NAV) produced a negative total return of -2.4%, lagging the Reference Index (MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex-Japan), which delivered a total return of 4.3%. The share price total return was -1.6% as the discount tightened reflecting an improving sentiment towards both Asian equities and the Company.

Although the period under review has been challenging, the consistently strong long-term track record of the Company is notable. The NAV total return has outperformed the Reference Index over the three-, five- and ten-year periods to 30 June 2025. In addition, there has been a marked recovery in relative performance since the end of June: the NAV has increased by 10.9% while the Reference Index has increased by 6.7% for the period 1 July 2025 to date.

Further details on performance during the period, including the impact of an underweight allocation to Korea and stock selection in China during both markets' strong performance, and sterling's appreciation against Asian currencies, are provided in the Portfolio Managers' Report.

DISCOUNT MANAGEMENT The share price traded at an average discount of 4.1% during the period under review, well within the target range, and the Company remains one of the highest rated trusts in its sector. The sector average discount was 10.3% during the same period. Whilst the Company did not buy back shares during the period to 30 June 2025, the Board continues to monitor the discount closely, in line with the Company's target of maintaining a discount of no more than 5% in normal market conditions.

GEARING The Portfolio Managers continued to actively utilise gearing during the period, as part of their wider derivative strategy. Gearing levels stood at 6.7% of total assets at the end of the period, down from 8.5% at the start. Average net debt over the six-month period was 5.9% of NAV, with around 47% of that debt financed through contracts for difference (CFDs). As noted in the Annual Report, the Company has started to use CFDs in addition to the loan facility as a flexible and more cost-effective means of borrowing. Consequently, the Company has renewed its revolving credit facility at the lower level of £23.5 million in July 2025, down from £50 million.

The Company's gearing has made a net positive contribution to returns over the period and is an important differentiating feature of the investment trust structure. Gearing should be viewed in the context of the use of derivative hedging instruments as described in the Investment Manager's Review.

OUTLOOK Our Portfolio Managers continue to concentrate on the Company's current positioning in the four key investment areas in Asia. Their key overweight (versus the Reference Index) is in the historically more defensive Australian and Singaporean stock markets, where they find attractive yields and, selectively, reasonable valuations for steady growth businesses. Good stock selection across all markets will remain key, facilitated by the extensive Asian investment experience of our two Portfolio Managers and the support from Schroders' regional research team of 44 analysts who carry out over 2,700 company visits per year. The Board has confidence in the ability of our Portfolio Managers to continue to find exciting investment ideas across the region and to deliver strong long-term returns to shareholders.

SARAH MACAULAY Chair10 September 2025

INVESTMENT MANAGER'S REVIEW

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS' REPORT

The Company's Reference Index, the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index, ended the first half of the year moderately higher, however this masks a very volatile period for Asian stock markets. The market volatility was particularly pronounced in April 2025 when we saw a large drop in markets following "Liberation Day" when President Trump announced his broad-based tariff plans. The subsequent effective reversal of much of the proposals then led to a strong market rally. The significant appreciation of sterling masks the fact that most Asian stock markets were materially higher over the period in local currency and US dollar terms.

Within Asia, there was a marked divergence in performance across both countries and sectors. The smaller Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stock markets were flat or down over the period, with Indonesia and Thailand both falling sharply as rising political uncertainty is increasingly weighing on business and consumer confidence. In India, the market edged up in local currency terms as positive domestic investor flows continued to provide support despite downgrades to earnings forecasts from the perennially bullish Indian stockbroking community. The Australian and Singapore stock markets both posted moderate gains, with bank stocks driving gains in Australia as investors looked for higher yielding names. Taiwanese stocks were volatile over the period. The stock market is heavily weighted in export and technology related stocks so was hit hard in the April trade/tariff related sell off. In June 2025, better news on artificial intelligence (AI) related capital expenditure then led to a rebound meaning the market ended the period flat.

The best performing stock markets over the period were Korea and China. The Korean stock market rose 27% in the first half, with the bulk of the gains coming following the election of Lee Jae Myung on 3 June 2025. New President Lee immediately announced plans to try to boost consumer wealth and confidence by targeting the stock market via a Japanese style "Value-up" programme. This has created a rather speculative fervour amongst both domestic and foreign investors. Defence stocks and heavy industrial stocks in Korea also performed well on the back of hopes of new order wins as Europe looks to rearm.

The Chinese stock market also did well over the period but this masks some divergent trends. Internet stocks like Alibaba, JD.COM and Meituan all jumped in February on AI-related fervour following the release by DeepSeek of its open-source low-cost large language model (LLM). The stocks then gave up most of their gains in June 2025 following the announcement of a large-scale price war in food delivery and quick commerce. Meanwhile many domestic stocks continued to suffer as weak consumption and deflationary forces mean many are effectively running hard to stay flat. The big outperformers over the period paradoxically were the financial stocks. We say paradoxically as rising corporate losses and deflation are normally a poor backdrop for financials, however with Chinese long bond yields collapsing to 1.6% a dash for yield by domestic funds in China meant high yielding stocks like banks performed strongly. In the second section on positioning, we discuss why we think this strategy is questionable.

In relative performance terms, it was a disappointing period for the Company with the NAV producing a total return of -2.4% over the period, lagging the Reference Index which rose to 4.3%. In absolute terms, the c.10% appreciation in sterling over the period against local currencies held back returns. The relative underperformance however primarily came from two areas - firstly the Company's large underweight position in the Korean stock market and secondly from stock selection in China. We go on to discuss the reasons for this and the Company's current positioning in the section below.

FIRST HALF OF 2025 PERFORMANCE AND CURRENT POSITIONING Looking at Korea first, the Company has very limited stock exposure in Korea so with the market outperforming the negative impact on the Company's relative performance has primarily been an issue of asset allocation (i.e. not owning the domestic part of the market at all) rather than stock selection. The Korean market has done well this year primarily on "Value-up" hopes, which reached new levels following the election of the new President. Your Portfolio Managers spent some time discussing Korea over the period and whether "this time is different". Your Portfolio Managers have heard the Korean reform story multiple times over the last 30 years and each time our hopes have been dashed. Having looked at President Lee's actual policies and his background as a left-wing populist, we decided that whilst some of the announced measures were positive, they were not significant enough to change our overall caution on many Korean stocks. Why is this?

The domestic stocks are likely to be held back by an economy that faces several significant headwinds, whether it is high levels of consumer debt, a demographic time bomb, or huge gender inequality which means half of the shrinking workforce is unable to contribute fully to the economy (see charts in the Half Year Report).

The structural challenges faced by the economy mean that Korean gross domestic product (GDP) growth is sluggish and, in our view, likely to remain so, unless the government adopts markedly different policies to encourage greater female participation in the workforce and significant immigration - neither of which we see as likely. The sluggish domestic economy can be seen in weak retail sales figures and advertising spend (shrinking); we thus struggle to see why chasing internet stocks, e-commerce or retail names in Korea makes long-term sense, particularly at current valuation levels.

The sluggish domestic economy also leaves us cautious on the Korean banking sector where, after strong moves in the sector, we now see downside risks. As Chart 3 in the Half Year Report shows, net interest margins (NIM) remain low for the sector reflecting low loan demand and strong competition. Banks however have maintained their return on assets (RoA) by cutting non-performing loan (NPL) coverage in the face of rising bad debts. This, combined with hopes of "Value-up", has led to a rerating of the banks. We would concede that Korean banks have improved their payout ratios and stopped undertaking mispriced mergers and acquisitions (M&A) so the rerating from historic low levels (which we missed) is justified. However, we are cautious on prospective returns from Korean banks because they remain low RoA and low growth and therefore the dividends look potentially unsustainable.

Within the Korean stock market, there are some good export related stocks, including industry leaders like SK Hynix, Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai HD Electric and Samsung Biologics but a significant part of the market faces the threat of irrational competition from aggressive and increasingly competitive Chinese companies, whether this is the auto names (Hyundai, Kia), electronics sector (Samsung Electronics, LG), steel sector (Posco) or battery sector (LGES, Samsung SDI).

The structural challenges faced by many Korean companies such as a sluggish domestic economy, the threat of aggressive Chinese competition and poor corporate governance, are the reasons why the stock market has historically traded at low multiples. Value-up programmes should in theory improve corporate governance but as Chart 4 in the Half Year Report shows, the reason the stock market was out of favour was the low and falling return on equity (RoE). Post the current rebound, the market is now anticipating a significant improvement in return on equity. For many stocks, we think the risks of disappointment are now high as the reasons for low returns are not just about poor governance.

China/Hong Kong was actually a positive contributor to the Company's performance in the second quarter, however a very difficult first quarter performance in China/Hong Kong meant it remained the biggest negative overall contributor to the Company's performance in the first half of 2025. The big issue for performance is that the Chinese market currently appears to be in a barbell when it comes to investment flows. What do we mean by this? The main Chinese stock market for overseas investors consists of China stocks listed in Hong Kong (the vast bulk of MSCI China). Increasingly as the Southbound Connect flows grow (mainland investors buying Hong Kong listed China stocks) the Chinese market has become dominated by mainland investors. The barbell reflects two types of mainland investors, firstly ones who need high dividend yields (mainland insurers buying as government bond yields are now negligible in China) and secondly, more retail orientated investors who prefer themes and momentum (over worrying about matters like long-term sustainable returns). This barbell approach has proved painful for your Portfolio Managers as we tend to focus on the middle of the barbell i.e. none of the stocks mentioned above.

The first part of the barbell has been the most painful and perplexing for your Portfolio Managers. One of the best performing parts of the Chinese market year to date has been the financials. In particular the banks, which have outperformed despite chronic deflation, anaemic loan growth and worsening signs of asset quality as the property sector continues to fall and more companies fall into losses due to chronic overcapacity.

Despite very clear evidence of widespread stress (remember every Chinese property company has defaulted on their offshore debt and no Chinese property company has defaulted on their onshore debt), banks continue to declare falling NPLs which is the only way they can maintain flat profits (all state banks effectively announce the same profitability numbers each year). This is clearly unsustainable longer-term, making this a sector we would continue to avoid.

The other end of the barbell (the thematic stocks) we will admit has also been frustrating and one where, on reflection, your Portfolio Managers could perhaps have done better or at least been more open to ideas. The stocks we are referring to have now effectively been named as "new consumption" stocks by Chinese stockbrokers. These are stocks considered "in vogue" or "on trend" with the constantly and rapidly changing Chinese consumer. If you get these right, you can make a lot of money as demonstrated by Chart 8 in the Half Year Report which shows the performance of some of the new consumption names in the second quarter.

The problem your Portfolio Managers have had is trying to analyse the likely longevity of these new brands in a world of key opinion leaders (KOLs) and the "next best thing". It is extremely hard to believe that Pop Mart's Labubu dolls, that have currently gone viral, will be popular (or perhaps even remembered) in three years' time. At least on the flip side, the Company has avoided the "old China" consumer stocks like beer, dairy, baijiu, traditional luxury brands and mainstream cosmetics all of which have done poorly. This is a difficult sector. Once a stock loses momentum, as it is often bought on a thematic, it can fall precipitously. Your Portfolio Managers in truth are not in a position to predict which Chinese brands are going to go viral next (nor is anyone!). Rather than chasing these often short-lived themes, our focus remains very much on cutting through the hype and investing in the strongest franchises with defensible moats and long-term growth runways, guided by the insights of our research analyst team on the ground.

The other sector in China which has contributed to underperformance is the electric vehicle (EV) makers, with Xiaomi and BYD being two of the biggest drags on performance in the first half of the year. In this space we are more confident our long-term structurally cautious stance will prove correct. Xiaomi was the biggest negative in the second quarter. For readers not familiar with Xiaomi, it is historically a nimble, innovative designer of lower-end Android phones and consumer electronic products like food mixers and robot vacuum cleaners. Pretty much overnight (well in January 2024) Xiaomi launched its first car from nowhere, causing the stock to shoot up.

What does this tell us? If a consumer electronics company like Xiaomi can launch a credible and popular car quickly, with no accumulated knowledge of the auto industry, we think this tells us the barriers to entry for launching an EV are now low. Most parts are off-the-shelf, whether it's Contemporary Amperex Technology batteries, inverters and motors from Inovance, lighting systems from Xingyu, electronics from Desay. What Xiaomi did cleverly was make the car attractive, hype up its software and branding and thus create a viral, "halo" effect - perhaps much like the "new consumption" stocks above. The problem is like any stock (or person) that ever had a "halo", it rarely lasts.

The second problem in the EV space is of course the endless automobile overcapacity in China where, despite strong sales due to ongoing subsidies, capacity utilisation is estimated by Bloomberg to be running around 60%. We think intense competition, combined with an already well penetrated market, will lead to earnings disappointments in the sector. As Chart 9 in the Half Year Report perhaps highlights, these are products like Android phones that are increasingly difficult to differentiate (the price being determined by features rather than necessarily branding). We have minimal auto exposure in the Company outside our investment in battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, which we view as a long-term winner given its strong intellectual property (IP).

So, in conclusion we have missed some opportunities in China and accept we need to be razor focused on trends on the ground if we are to invest in domestic names (and also to ensure current holdings are still resonating with fickle consumers). We remain comfortable with the key stocks we own in the social media and gaming sectors, and also comfortable with our travel-related names, albeit watching carefully that the current price war in instant shopping and food delivery (subsidies now effectively meaning you can have a free bubble tea) doesn't spread to other verticals.

A final comment on positioning in the Company as we enter the second half of the year. Chart 10 in the Half Year Report shows the Company's current positioning in the four key investment areas in Asia. The Company for reasons explained above, is lowly weighted in Korea, we still have c.25% in Hong Kong/China albeit this is materially below the Reference Index. The key overweight (versus the Reference Index) is in the historically more defensive Australian and Singapore stockmarkets where we find attractive yields and, selectively, reasonable valuations for steady growth businesses. On the hedging side, the short-term models remain neutral to positive on markets, whereas the longer-term models based on valuations are decidedly more cautious on prospective returns on India and China in particular. The Company has a small position in puts in India, and we will look for opportunities to buy puts on China and India if pricing moves to more attractive levels.

ROBIN PARBROOK AND LEE KING FUEI Portfolio Managers SCHRODER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED 10 September 2025

INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

AS AT 30 JUNE 2025

Investments are classified by the Manager in the region or country of their main business operations or listing. The portfolio exposure indicates the impact on market price movements resulting from the ownership of shares and derivative instruments.

Fair value represents the true value of the portfolio, which is reflected on the balance sheet. In the case of holding a CFD, the fair value reflects the profit or loss generated by the CFD since its inception, based on the movement of the underlying share price. However, when the Company solely holds shares, both the fair value and the portfolio exposure align.

Highlighted stocks in the Half Year Report are the twenty largest investments, which by value account for 58.5% (30 June 2024: 58.7% and 31 December 2024: 55.5%).

1 Portfolio exposure is expressed as a percentage of total investments and financial derivative instruments.

2 Listed in the UK.

3 Listed in Hong Kong (SAR).

4 Listed in the USA.

5 Comprises the following:

6 The options give downside protection to 0.56% total investments.

7 Comprises a single contract to purchase USD27.46 million for CNH200 million, for settlement on 16 July 2025. The contract is valued at fair value, being the cost of closing out the contract at the balance sheet date.

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES The principal risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business fall into the following categories: macro factors, including the geopolitical/economic environment and climate change; investment objective and promotion; investment strategy and performance; key person; ESG considerations; gearing/liquidity; compliance with regulations; oversight of service providers; information technology resilience and security; and financial. The Board also considers the development of artificial intelligence to be an emerging risk. A detailed explanation of the risks and uncertainties in each of these categories can be found on pages 52 to 55 of the Company's published Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.

In the view of the Board, the Company's principal risks and uncertainties have not changed during the six months ended 30 June 2025. However, the Board considers that the severity of some of the risks has increased. While assessing the financial statements, the Board undertook a review of the principal and emerging risks and noted that, following the election of President Trump, geopolitical risk has increased. Most notably due to the unfolding global trade wars arising from the evolving tariff regime implemented by the Trump administration and subsequent uncertainties around its execution. These matters will be closely monitored and reported on in the next Annual Report, as appropriate.

GOING CONCERN Having assessed the principal risks and uncertainties, and the other matters discussed in connection with the viability statement as set out on page 56 of the published Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2024, the Directors consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing these financial statements.

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS There have been no transactions with related parties that have materially affected the financial position or the performance of the Company during the six months ended 30 June 2025.

DIRECTORS' RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT In respect of the Half Year Report for the six months ended 30 June 2025, we confirm that, to the best of our knowledge:

- this condensed set of financial statements has been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, specifically adhering to Financial Reporting Standard 104 "Interim Financial Reporting" and the Statement of Recommended Practice, "Financial Statements of Investment Companies and Venture Capital Trusts" issued in July 2022. It provides a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit and loss of the Company as at 30 June 2025, as required by the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule 4.2.4R; and

- the Half Year Report includes a fair review of the information concerning related party transactions as required by Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule 4.2.8R.

The Half Year Report has not been reviewed or audited by the Company's auditor.

The Half Year Report for the six months ended 30 June 2025 was approved by the Board and the above Responsibility Statement has been signed on its behalf.

SARAH MACAULAY Chair

FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD 10 September 2025

INCOME STATEMENT

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2025 (UNAUDITED)

The "Total" column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the Company. The "Revenue" and "Capital" columns represent supplementary information prepared under guidance issued by the The Association of Investment Companies. The Company has no other items of other comprehensive income, and therefore the net return/(loss) after taxation is also the total comprehensive income/ (loss) for the period.

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the period.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2025 (UNAUDITED)

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2024 (UNAUDITED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (UNAUDITED)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AT 30 JUNE 2025 (UNAUDITED)

Registered in England and Wales

Company registration number: 02153093

CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2025 (UNAUDITED)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2025

1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS The information contained within the financial statements in this Half Year Report has not been audited or reviewed by the Company's independent auditor.

The figures and financial information for the year ended 31 December 2024 are extracted from the latest published financial statements of the Company and do not constitute statutory financial statements for that year. Those financial statements have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and included the report of the auditor which was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

BASIS OF ACCOUNTING The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, in particular with Financial Reporting Standard 104 "Interim Financial Reporting" and with the Statement of Recommended Practice "Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies and Venture Capital Trusts" issued by The Association of Investment Companies in July 2022.

All of the Company's operations are of a continuing nature.

The accounting policies applied to these accounts are consistent with those applied in the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024, with the exception of the loan non-utilisation fees which have been reallocated from expenses to finance costs. As the figure is immaterial, the prior periods have not been restated.

3. TAXATION

The Company's effective corporation tax rate is nil, as deductible expenses exceed taxable income.

The overseas capital gains tax relates to the deferred tax liability on unrealised gains on Indian investments held at the period end.

4. (LOSS)/RETURN PER SHARE

5. DIVIDEND PAID

No interim dividend has been declared in respect of the six months ended 30 June 2025 (2024: nil).

6. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

The Directors consider that the carrying amount of creditors falling due within one year approximates to their fair value.

The bank loan comprises of USD15.2 million drawn down on the Company's £23.5 million, 364 day multicurrency credit facility with The Bank of Nova Scotia, London Branch, expiring July 2026. The facility is secured and subject to covenants and restrictions which are customary for a facility of this nature, all of which have been complied with during the period. The facility is reviewed annually, at which point the Directors can decide to restate and renew the facility for a further year.

7. CALLED-UP SHARE CAPITAL

Changes in called-up share capital during the period were as follows:

Changes in the number of shares in issue during the period were as follows:

8. NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE

9. RECONCILIATION OF TOTAL RETURN ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES BEFORE FINANCE COSTS AND TAXATION TO NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

10. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS MEASURED AT FAIR VALUE The Company's financial instruments within the scope of FRS 102 that are held at fair value include its investment portfolio and derivative financial instruments.

FRS 102 requires that these financial instruments are categorised into a hierarchy consisting of the following three levels below:

Level 1 - valued using unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets.

Level 2 - valued using observable inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1.

Level 3 - valued using inputs that are unobservable.

The following table sets out the fair value measurements using the FRS102 hierarchy above:

11. EVENTS AFTER THE REPORTING PERIOD The Directors have evaluated the period since the half year date and have not noted any significant events requiring disclosure after the end of the reporting period to the date of this Half Year Report.