Monthly Update

RNS Number : 9228U

British Empire Sec & Gen Tst PLC

20 May 2008

 



BRITISH EMPIRE SECURITIES AND GENERAL TRUST PLC

Performance Commentary

This investment management report relates to performance figures as at 30 April 2008.

Over the month NAV was up 1.7%1. This compares to an increase of 5.2%2 in the benchmark and an increase of 6.3%1 and 5.7%1 for the FTSE All Share and MSCI World (£) indices respectively.

Financial year to date, net asset value fell 4.7%1 compared to a decrease of 2.8%2 for the Datastream index, 3.6%1 for the MSCI World (£) and 4.5%1 for the FTSE All Share.

Over three years NAV is up 61.6%1 while the FTSE All Share is up 42.7%1.

Manager's Comment

Over the month, British Empire's NAV performance bore little relation to the major indices. That can happen if one pursues a strategy in which stocks are selected based upon their fundamental attractiveness rather than their inclusion in an index. Over a long term investment horizon, we are becoming increasingly confident of the outlook for our portfolio as the downturn and volatility in the market has created opportunities to buy good quality assets through listed companies at prices well below our assessment of their value.

Statistics

	Value	% 1 mo	% 1 yr	% 3 yr	% 5 yr
Price (£) 1	485.0	1.9	3.6	62.3	216.1
Net Asset Value 1	477.2	1.7	-1.6	56.5	167.3
Net Asset Value Total Return 1		1.7	-0.5	61.6	179.6
Benchmark 2 (£)		5.2	0.8	52.9	103.7
Annual returns (%)	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003
Price 1	-2.8	0.3	51.7	36.0	41.6
MSCI World 1	7.7	5.8	23.0	7.2	20.6

1 Source: Fundamental Data

2 Datastream Global Growth Investment Trust Index (TR) Source: Thomson Financial

Top 10 Equity Holdings

%

Investor AB	4.49
Sofina	4.37
Jardine Strategic	3.72
Jardine Matheson	3.21
GBL	3.02
Electra Private Equity	2.67
Vivendi	2.56
Lundbergforetagen	2.36
Paris Orléan	2.36
Tupras Turkiye	2.30

Capital Structure

Ordinary Shares	160,080,089
10 3/8% Debenture Stock 2011	£8,514,940
8 1/8% Debenture Stock 2023	£15,000,000
Equities Index Unsecured Loan Stock 2013	2,730,231

NB - The Equities Index Unsecured Loan Stock is only updated annually

Gross Assets/Gearing

Gross Assets	£801 mil.
Debt	£27.6 mil.
Actual Gearing (debt less cash divided by net asset value)	-13.1%

Fund Codes

Bloomberg	Reuters Ticker / ISIN
BTEM	GB0001335081

Geographical Breakdown	%
Continental Europe	32.3
Japan	11.6
Canada / US	5.8
Asia Pacific	10.1
UK	20.2
Liquidity	16.4
EMEA	3.6

All figures as at 30 April 2008 unless otherwise stated. All sources Asset Value Investors Ltd unless otherwise stated. British Empire Securities & General Trust Plc is managed by Asset Value Investors Ltd. The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well as up; they can be affected by exchange rate movements between currencies and it is possible that investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the shares. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Investments in emerging markets carries a greater degree of risk, in particular the volatility of the markets and the local custody and registration arrangements, which may be less developed than in more mature markets. There is no guarantee that the market price of shares in Investment Trusts will fully reflect their underlying Net Asset Value (NAV). This Investment Trust should be considered only as part of a balanced portfolio, of which it should not form a disproportionate part. Under no circumstances should this information be considered as an offer, or solicitation, to deal in investments. Issued by Asset Value Investors Ltd., which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

British Empire Securities and General Trust plc, 52 St James's Street, London, SW1A 1JT, United Kingdom. Registered in England & Wales No 28203

 

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