Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 8792F

Foreign & Colonial Eurotrust PLC

20 January 2010

 



Date:          20 January 2010

Contact:    Paras Anand     

                     F&C Management Limited    

                     020 7628 8000    

Foreign & Colonial Eurotrust PLC

Interim Management Statement

for the quarter ended 31 December 2009

Objective

The objective of the Company is to achieve long-term growth through a diversified portfolio of Continental European securities.

Summary of results

Capital return Attributable to equity shareholders	31 December 2009	30 September 2009	% Change
Net assets	£284.77m	£290.16m	-1.9
Net asset value ("NAV") per share	624.11p	634.18p	-1.6
Share price	531.00p	554.00p	-4.2

Performance

Your Company's NAV per share (adjusted to reflect the combined dividend of 13.6 pence per share which went ex dividend on 23 December 2009) fell by 1.6% during the quarter ended 31 December 2009, compared with a rise of 0.2% in the FTSE World Europe Index, excluding the UK and adjusted to sterling (the "Benchmark"). The Company's share price fell by 4.2% from 554p to 531p. The discount widened slightly from 12.6% to 14.9%. During the quarter the Company bought back and cancelled 125,000 shares at a cost of £677,000. 

Change of Manager

As announced on 10 December 2009, following a disappointing investment performance in recent years, the Board conducted a review of the Company's investment management arrangements and invited a wide range of prospective investment managers, in addition to F&C Management Limited, to submit proposals for the future management of the Company's assets. After this review, the Board has appointed Edinburgh Partners Limited as the new manager with effect from 1 February 2010.  

Edinburgh Partners Limited is an independent fund manager with approximately £6bn currently under management, of which £202m is in the Edinburgh Partners European Opportunities Fund, a fund with a similar investment mandate to that of the Company and an excellent record of performance since its launch in 2004. Edinburgh Partners is the manager of two other investment trusts, EP Global Opportunities Trust plc and Anglo & Overseas plc. Edinburgh Partners' investment team is led by Dr Sandy Nairn, and Dale Robertson will be the Company's portfolio manager. Subject to the approval by shareholders at the AGM of new articles of association, the name of the Company will change to The European Investment Trust plc with effect from 1 February 2010.

Ten largest equity holdings at 31 December 2009
31 December	30 September	Company	Sector (Country)	% of total
2009	2009			investments
1	6	Novartis	Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology (Switzerland)	4.9
2	2	BNP Paribas	Banks (France)	4.4
3	9	Unilever	Food producers (Netherlands)	4.0
4	5	Nokia	Technology hardware & equipment (Finland)	3.8
5	4	Siemens	General industrial (Germany)	3.7
6	1	Credit Suisse	Banks (Switzerland)	3.5
7	7	Roche	Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology (Switzerland)	3.4
8	3	UBS	Banks (Switzerland)	3.3
9	10	Svenska  Handelsbanken	Banks (Sweden)	3.1
10	21	G4S	Support services (Denmark)	3.0
			Total	37.1

Industrial classification of investments

	31 December 2009 % of total investments	30 September 2009 % of total investments
Financials	24.6	29.5
Consumer goods	19.1	16.0
Industrials	15.8	15.7
Healthcare	12.6	9.2
Technology	9.4	9.9
Consumer services	6.8	6.6
Oil & gas	5.6	6.8
Basic materials	4.1	3.3
Telecommunications	2.0	2.5
Travel & leisure	-	0.5

Annual general meeting

The Directors announce that all resolutions proposed at the annual general meeting held earlier today were duly passed. A copy of the resolutions concerning special business passed has been submitted to the UK Listing Authority and will be available for inspection at the UK Listing Authority's Document Viewing Facility, which is situated at: Financial Services Authority, 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS, telephone [phone].

Further Information

Further information, including monthly factsheets and daily net asset values published since the end of the quarter, can be found on the www.foreignandcolonialeurotrust.com website.

Other than as detailed above, the Board is not aware of any significant events or transactions that have occurred between 31 December 2009 and the date of publication of this statement which would have a material impact on the financial position of the Company.  

Disclaimer

This interim management statement has been prepared solely to provide information to meet the requirements of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

By order of the Board

F&C Management Limited, Secretary

Exchange House, Primrose Street, London EC2A 2NY

20 January 2010

 

END

 

 

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