Interim Management Statement
The European Investment Trust plc
Interim Management Statement
for the quarter ended 31 December 2012
The Board of The European Investment Trust plc (`the Company') announces its
Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 October 2012 to 31 December
2012. This statement is required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and
Transparency Rules and should not be relied upon for any other purpose.
Objective
The objective of the Company is to achieve long-term capital growth through a
diversified portfolio of Continental European securities.
Financial Summary 31 December 30 September %
2012 2012 Change
Net assets £273.24m £256.72m 6.4
Net asset value ("NAV") per share 649.51p 610.24p 6.4
Share price 549.00p 508.00p 8.1
Share price discount to net asset value 15.5% 16.8%
Investment Manager's review
Performance
During the quarter ended 31 December 2012, the net asset value ("NAV") per
share of the Company increased from 610.24p to 649.51p, resulting in a total
return of 6.4%. This compares with a total return of 7.9% in the FTSE All-World
Europe ex UK Index in sterling. The Company's share price increased by 8.1%
from 508p to 549p in the three month period and as a consequence, the share
price discount to NAV narrowed from 16.8% to 15.5%.
Review of markets
In the final quarter of 2012, European equity markets delivered good returns,
benefiting from the progress made by European governments in dealing with
fiscal imbalances and the encouraging statements made by the European Central
Bank which provided reassurance to investors. There was also optimism that the
two other key macroeconomic concerns, namely Chinese growth and the US fiscal
position, would prove to be less troublesome than initially feared.
Portfolio strategy
Although not occurring in a uniform manner, it is our belief that, by
frontloading the economic medicine needed, the peripheral economies of Europe,
including Italy, Spain and Ireland, are slowly but surely putting their
economies back on a sounder footing. Accordingly, we have continued to increase
the portfolio weighting in these countries and, as at 31 December 2012, almost
30% of the portfolio was listed on the stock exchanges of Italy, Spain and
Ireland. On a three to five year time horizon we consider many of these
investments to be amongst the most mispriced in Europe, with correspondingly
the greatest potential upside.
Outlook
We believe that the three primary economic fears of investors in 2011 and 2012,
namely, the future of the Euro, Chinese growth and the US fiscal cliff, will
recede in 2013. Whilst these economic issues have improved, they have not been
fully resolved and there may be periodic bouts of fear. Nevertheless, we
believe that the probability of an event which would destabilise the world
economy may have lessened. A more `normal' investment environment should
accompany this and European equities look to be offering reasonable value,
especially when compared to other international markets.
Portfolio of investments as at 31 December 2012
Ranking Company Sector Country % of
Net Assets
1 Ryanair Consumer Services Ireland 3.5
2 Sanofi Health Care France 3.3
3 Swatch Consumer Goods Switzerland 3.2
4 DCC Industrials Ireland 3.1
5 Mediaset Espana Consumer Services Spain 3.0
6 Gerresheimer Health Care Germany 3.0
7 SAP Technology Germany 2.9
8 ENI Oil & gas Italy 2.8
9 Wirecard Industrials Germany 2.8
10 Intesa Sanpaolo Financials Italy 2.8
11 Belgacom Telecommunications Belgium 2.8
12 Orkla Industrials Norway 2.7
13 A.P. Moller-Maersk Industrials Denmark 2.7
14 Kabel Deutschland Consumer Services Germany 2.7
15 Michelin Consumer Goods France 2.6
16 Safran Industrials France 2.6
17 CAF Industrials Spain 2.5
18 Saipem Oil & gas Italy 2.5
19 France Telecom Telecommunications France 2.5
20 Danske Bank Financials Denmark 2.5
21 Piaggio Consumer Goods Italy 2.5
22 Indra Sistemas Technology Spain 2.4
23 Prysmian Industrials Italy 2.4
24 ABB Industrials Switzerland 2.4
25 Ipsos Consumer Services France 2.4
26 Gazprom Oil & Gas Russia 2.4
27 BBVA Financials Spain 2.4
28 Vivendi Consumer Services France 2.3
29 Total Oil & Gas France 2.3
30 Ahold Consumer Services Netherlands 2.3
31 Ziggo Telecommunications Netherlands 2.3
32 D'leteren Consumer Services Belgium 2.2
33 Heineken Consumer Goods Netherlands 2.1
34 Novartis Health Care Switzerland 2.1
35 Nutreco Consumer Goods Netherlands 2.1
36 Metro Consumer Services Germany 2.1
37 Swedbank Financials Sweden 2.0
38 Imtech Industrials Netherlands 2.0
39 GEA Industrials Germany 1.9
40 Kuka Industrials Germany 0.4
Total equity investments 99.5
Cash and other net assets 0.5
100.0
Sector distribution
31 December 2012
% of Net Assets
Industrials 25.5
Consumer Services 20.5
Consumer Goods 12.5
Oil & Gas 10.0
Financials 9.7
Health Care 8.4
Telecommunications 7.6
Technology 5.3
Cash and other net 0.5
assets
100.0
Geographical distribution
31 December 2012
% of Net Assets
France 18.0
Germany 15.8
Italy 13.0
Netherlands 10.8
Spain 10.3
Switzerland 7.7
Ireland 6.6
Denmark 5.2
Belgium 5.0
Norway 2.7
Russia 2.4
Sweden 2.0
Cash and other net 0.5
assets
100.0
Further Information
Further information, including monthly factsheets and daily net asset values
published since the end of the quarter, can be found on the Company's website:
www.theeuropeaninvestmenttrust.com and the Edinburgh Partners' website:
www.edinburghpartners.com.
Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Other than as detailed above, the Board is not aware of any significant events
or transactions that have occurred between 31 December 2012 and the date of
publication of this statement which would have a material impact on the
financial position of the Company.
22 January 2013
Enquiries:
Dale Robertson
Kenneth Greig
Edinburgh Partners Limited, 27-31 Melville Street, Edinburgh EH3 7JF
Tel: 0131 270 3800
Registered Office of the Company:
Beaufort House, 51 New North Road, Exeter EX4 4EP
Neither the contents of The European Investment Trust plc's website nor the
contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the website (or any other
website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
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