Final Results

RNS Number : 3003X

Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust PLC

03 December 2010

 



EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

Results for the year to 31 October 2010

Over the year the Company's share price rose by 24.6% and net asset value per share increased by 21.5%.  For comparison the MSCI All Countries World Index (in sterling terms) rose by 15.3%.

Baillie Gifford & Co has been managing Edinburgh Worldwide for seven years and over that period, in total return terms, the share price has risen by 129.6%, net asset value per share by 105.5% and the Comparative Index by 71.0%.

·	The Company continues to be run as a concentrated portfolio of companies which are believed to offer good growth prospects for the long term.  Turnover of equity investments in the period remained low at 18.0%.  Seven new holdings were bought, funded by nine complete sales and the maturity proceeds of the Bay Haven bond.
·	Despite macro issues, the majority of companies held, particularly those exposed to technology, luxury goods and consumption in developing nations, are announcing encouraging operational results.
·	Revenue earnings per share were 1.86p (2009: 3.71p), down 49.9%.  This was due to a lower level of dividend payments from underlying holdings and the maturing of the Bay Haven bond.  A final dividend of 1.50p is being recommended to give a total for the year of 2.00p.
·	The Managers continue to find what they view as attractive long term investment opportunities.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Edinburgh Worldwide aims to achieve long term capital growth by investing in listed companies throughout the world.  The Trust has total assets of £177.7 million (before deduction of loans of £24.8 million) as at 31 October 2010. 

Edinburgh Worldwide is managed by Baillie Gifford & Co, the Edinburgh based fund management group with around £68 billion under management and advice as at 2 December 2010.

The value of an investment and any income from it is not guaranteed and may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount invested. This is because the share price is determined by the changing conditions in the relevant stockmarkets in which the Company invests and by the supply and demand for the Company's shares. Investment in investment trusts should be regarded as medium to long-term. You can find up to date performance information about Edinburgh Worldwide on the Edinburgh Worldwide page of the Managers' website at www.edinburghworldwide.co.uk

For further information please contact:

Mark Urquhart, Manager,                                                                                            

Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust plc                                           0131 275 2070

Anzelm Cydzik,

Baillie Gifford & Co                                                                              0131 275 3276

Roland Cross, Director,

Broadgate Mainland                                                                             020 7726 6111

 

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

Chairman's Statement

Performance

In the year to 31 October 2010 net asset value per share increased by 21.5% and the share price by 24.6%.  The MSCI All Countries World Index (in sterling terms), rose by 15.3% during this period.  Equity gearing was maintained throughout the year and was 13.6% at the year end.  The Company's discount ended the year at 11.9% having started it at 14.0%.

The strategy continues to be for the Managers to select shares on a global basis, unconstrained by any requirement to match an index, with a concentrated portfolio of approximately 40 equity holdings.  The portfolio is comprised of holdings that are believed to have long term attractions, typically over at least five years, and will be geared to maximise the potential returns. Over the seven years that Baillie Gifford & Co has been managing the Company's assets, in total return terms, net asset value per share has increased by 105.5%, the share price by 129.6% and the MSCI All Countries World Index by 71.0%.

Performance Fee

Having outperformed the MSCI All Countries World Index this year and last, the underperformance of two year's ago has been recouped and the relative high water mark passed.  Therefore, a performance fee is due to the Managers for the first time in three years.  

Earnings and Dividend

The Company's objective remains that of capital growth and any income received from the underlying holdings is subsidiary to this objective.  The net revenue return for the year was 1.86p (2009: 3.71p) down 49.9%.  As highlighted in last year's report, there was doubt as to whether the high level of income received in 2009 would be maintained; this has proved to be the case.  The reduction in revenue return is due to a lower level of dividends received from the Company's underlying holdings and the maturing of the Bay Haven bond.  An unchanged final dividend of 1.50p is being recommended, making the total for the year 2.00p.  Last year's total dividend of 3.00p included a special dividend of 1.00p due to the high level of income in that year.

The Company's registrars operate a Dividend Reinvestment Plan which can be used to buy additional shares.

Investment Background and Outlook

Although markets in aggregate are higher than a year ago, the climb has not been smooth, with notable periods of volatility across asset classes and geographies.  Most European banks appear to be in a much healthier state than in recent years, in large part thanks to their respective taxpayers.  However, sovereign debt issues in Europe remain, with the parlous state of Ireland's finances and chatter that Portugal might have to depart from the Euro of concern to some.  However, it is far from clear that the current travails of the European periphery will have large effects on the larger European or rapidly growing so-called 'Emerging' economies; Germany's economy is five times the size of that of Portugal, Greece and Ireland combined and is a far clearer beneficiary of a weak Euro as evidenced by GDP growth of nearly 10%.  Meanwhile elsewhere, GDP growth on an annualised level of 8-9% is being achieved in Brazil, China and India.  The recent efforts in China to slow certain areas of the economy are sensible, and further incremental tightening measures are likely during the first half of 2011.  The US economy, by contrast, despite performing better than anticipated, is deemed by the Federal Reserve to require further stimulus and a second round of quantitative easing has been announced.

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

Chairman's Statement (Con't)

The Managers expect ongoing notable disparities in global economic growth, stemming from the misplaced lending practices of many Western nations over recent years.  Being able to identify the companies best placed to take advantage of this is the key focus of the Managers.

The Board

For some time your Board has been considering how to pass the baton to the next generation of directors at the appropriate time, a process started with the appointment of Jake Leslie Melville. We are now delighted that Helen James and Donald Cameron have agreed to join us, both of whom have all the characteristics we need for a balanced board in the future. It will mean that temporarily we will have seven members, but over the next few years that will reduce as some of us retire.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at Baillie Gifford's offices in Edinburgh at 12 noon on Thursday 3 February 2011.  The Company will again seek to renew its share buyback and treasury share powers.  

Mark Urquhart, the Partner at Baillie Gifford who manages your portfolio, will make a presentation and answer any questions.  Your Board will also be available to respond to any questions that you may wish to put to it.  I hope that you will be able to attend.

David A Coltman

Chairman

Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

Manager's Overview

We reiterate every year that our objective in managing Edinburgh Worldwide is to run a concentrated portfolio of companies with good growth prospects for the long term. In this context, whilst it is pleasing that the last year has seen a decent margin of outperformance against our comparative index, it is far more important to us that the performance over the seven years of Baillie Gifford's management of the Company has been satisfactory as highlighted in the Chairman's Statement. Our task over the next year and far beyond remains to continue to attempt to navigate the inevitable short term noise of equity markets towards our focus on providing long term shareholder reward through selecting the best investments.

In this long term context, the last twelve months have felt like a good test of our resolve as the demarcation of prospects following the financial crisis has become starker. Nowhere is this bifurcation more apparent than in Europe - at times it has felt as if the self-imposed debt problems of two of the continent's smallest economies - Greece & Ireland - have mesmerised market participants so much that they ignore the fact Germany - by far Europe's largest and most important economy - is growing at the fastest pace in two decades since reunification. Elsewhere Brazil, India, Turkey and, inevitably, China have shown rates of growth which Western politicians can only dream of but many are dismissed as chimerical by commentators mired in the local difficulties of the UK or US.

The core worry of pessimists lies in the risk of 'double dip' recession where cuts in public spending are not replaced by private demand sending economies back toward recession. This scenario could then be exacerbated by rising interest rates to combat inflationary pressures. As ever, we think that one must be aware of the very different starting points of economies. Our core belief remains that the next few years will see some very different macroeconomic outcomes as those economies most exposed to the debt crisis pay for their folly which accelerates many of the tectonic shifts already underway in the global economy.   

This is not meant to be dismissive of the problems which many indebted nations face but is an attempt to place them in a balanced global context. For instance, there already have been very tough consequences of the very poor lending decisions made in Dublin and there is undoubtedly more austerity to come with or without a bailout. Whilst hugely depressing for the Irish populace and straining on that nation's finances, there is little obvious connection to the consumption decisions of those in Berlin yet alone Mumbai or Shanghai. Running a global portfolio affords us the great luxury of navigating around those countries and companies with the largest problems.

Away from the macro debates and prognostications, and far more important to us as stock-pickers, there has been good encouragement from the operational results of businesses that we own. Three areas stand out over the last twelve months: technology; luxury goods; and consumption in developing nations. In technology examples of strong growth include Apple - where the recently launched iPad device has seen the company's fastest ever adoption curve; Amazon - which is raising capex to open more fulfillment centres to keep up with booming demand and seeing a huge second business in cloud computing rapidly grow; eBay where the prospects of the payments business - PayPal - continue to brighten; and Baidu where the withdrawal of Google from the Chinese search market has led to a deluge of new clients at lower acquisition costs.

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

Manager's Overview (Con't)

Luxury consumption continues to show very strong growth from Hermes, at the very highest end, to PPR's collection of assets including Gucci & Bottega Veneta and Whole Foods Market has staged a very strong recovery in the US.

In terms of strong consumption growth we remain happy to invest in Garanti Bank (a Turkish holding purchased this year during Greek wobbles), HDFC in India and Itau Unibanco in Brazil and avoid those financial institutions closer to the epicentre of the crisis where we fully expect to see further actions on tighter regulation, remuneration and even breaking up of institutions. We also think businesses such as New Oriental and VanceInfo Technologies provide exciting ways of gaining exposure to rising spending in Chinese education and technology outsourcing respectively. 

The number of equity holdings stood at 39 at the year end which compares to 41 as at October 2009 and equity portfolio turnover continued to be low at 18.0%. We would again reiterate that we pay no heed to country or sector weights in constructing the portfolio - it is comprised purely of companies where we are genuinely enthusiastic about their growth prospects for the next decade.

Notable new holdings purchased during the year include CFAO - an African distribution business; Intuitive Surgical which makes surgical robots; FLIR Systems where we think its infra-red military technology has many potential commercial applications and Inditex - the Spanish-based retailer which we think has tremendous global potential. These purchases were funded by sales which included Berkshire Hathaway, Canon, Iron Mountain, Lukoil, Porsche and Walgreen.

We remain excited by the prospects of the businesses that we own and believe that patient investors will be rewarded for strong operational performance over the long term. It remains our strong belief that by trying to separate the long term value of businesses from the inevitable short term noise of events that we can create a portfolio which rewards our shareholders with outperformance over long term periods of measurement.

Mark A. Urquhart

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

 

The following is the unaudited preliminary statement for the year to 31 October 2010 which was approved by the Board on 2 December 2010. The Board of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust plc is recommending to the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held on 3 February 2011 the payment of a final dividend of 1.50p, making a total of 2.00p per ordinary share (3.00p last year) for the year ended 31 October 2010.

INCOME STATEMENT

	For the year ended 31 October 2010 (unaudited)				For the year ended 31 October 2009 (audited)
	Revenue £'000	Capital £'000	Total £'000		Revenue £'000	Capital £'000	Total £'000
Gains on investments	-	29,831	29,831		-	43,445	43,445
Currency losses	-	(1,122)	(1,122)		-	(1,825)	(1,825)
Income (note 2)	1,931	-	1,931		3,088	-	3,088
Investment management fee	(250)	(784)	(1,034)		(179)	(538)	(717)
VAT recovered (note 3)	25	127	152		-	-	-
Other administrative expenses	(440)	-	(440)		(422)	-	(422)
Net return before finance costs and taxation	1,266	28,052	29,318		2,487	41,082	43,569
Finance costs of borrowings	(130)	(390)	(520)		(96)	(286)	(382)
Net return on ordinary activities before taxation	1,136	27,662	28,798		2,391	40,796	43,187
Tax on ordinary activities	(226)	-	(226)		(575)	266	(309)
Net return on ordinary activities after taxation	910	27,662	28,572		1,816	41,062	42,878
Net return per ordinary share (note 5)	1.86p	56.45p	58.31p		3.71p	83.78p	87.49p

The total column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the Company.

All revenue and capital items in this statement derive from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued during the year.

A Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses is not required as all gains and losses of the Company have been reflected in the above statement.

 EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

BALANCE SHEET

		At 31 October 2010 (unaudited)		At 31 October 2009 (audited)
		£'000		£'000
FIXED ASSETS Investments held at fair value through profit or loss		173,763		143,655
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors		314		2,988
Cash and short term deposits		4,053		5,042
		4,367		8,030
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year (note 6)		(25,217)		(25,874)
NET CURRENT LIABILITIES		(20,850)		(17,844)
TOTAL NET ASSETS		152,913		125,811
CAPITAL AND RESERVES
Called-up share capital		2,450		2,450
Share premium		82,180		82,180
Special reserve		35,220		35,220
Capital reserve		30,784		3,122
Revenue reserve		2,279		2,839
SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS		152,913		125,811
NET ASSET VALUE PER ORDINARY SHARE		312.04p		256.73p
ORDINARY SHARES IN ISSUE		49,004,319		49,004,319

 

DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS

(unaudited)

 

		At 31 October 2010              %				At 31 October 2009 %
Equities:	Continental Europe	27.5			30.5
	North America	33.3			27.9
	Japan	1.9			3.6
	Asia Pacific	17.6			13.0
	Emerging Markets	17.5			20.0
Total equities		97.8			95.0
US$ denominated bonds		-			1.2
Net liquid assets		2.2			3.8
Total assets (before deduction of loan)		100.0			100.0

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

 

RECONCILIATION OF MOVEMENTS IN SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS

For the year ended 31 October 2010 (unaudited)

	Called-up share capital £'000	Share premium £'000	Special reserve £'000	Capital reserve* £'000	Revenue reserve £'000	Total shareholders' funds £'000
Shareholders' funds at 1 November 2009	2,450	82,180	35,220	3,122	2,839	125,811
Net return on ordinary activities after taxation	-	-	-	27,662	910	28,572
Dividends paid during the year (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(1,470)	(1,470)
Shareholders' funds at 31 October 2010	2,450	82,180	35,220	30,784	2,279	152,913

For the year ended 31 October 2009 (audited)

	Called-up share capital £'000	Share premium £'000	Special reserve £'000	Capital reserve* £'000	Revenue reserve £'000	Total shareholders' funds £'000
Shareholders' funds at 1 November 2008	2,450	82,180	35,220	(37,940)	2,346	84,256
Net return on ordinary activities after taxation	-	-	-	41,062	1,816	42,878
Dividends paid during the year (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(1,323)	(1,323)
Shareholders' funds at 31 October 2009	2,450	82,180	35,220	3,122	2,839	125,811

*      The capital reserve balance at 31 October 2010 includes investment holding gains of £63,694,000 (2009 - gains of £40,879,000).

 

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

CASH FLOW STATEMENT
	For the year ended 31 October 2010 (unaudited)			For the year ended 31 October 2009 (audited)
	£'000	£'000		£'000	£'000
NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES (note 9)		716			1,957
SERVICING OF FINANCE
Interest paid	(547)			(364)
NET CASH OUTFLOW FROM SERVICING OF FINANCE		(547)			(364)
TAXATION
Overseas tax incurred	(238)			(288)
TOTAL TAX PAID		(238 )			(288)
FINANCIAL INVESTMENT
Acquisitions of investments	(32,507)			(14,517)
Disposals of investments	32,877			18,052
Realised currency gain	157			197
NET CASH INFLOW FROM FINANCIAL INVESTMENT		527			3,732
EQUITY DIVIDENDS PAID (note 4)		(1,470)			(1,323)
FINANCING
Bank loans repaid	(292,651)			(285,455)
Bank loans drawn down	292,674			285,334
NET CASH INFLOW/ (OUTFLOW) FROM FINANCING		23			(121)
(DECREASE)/ INCREASE IN CASH		(989)			3,593
RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW TO MOVEMENT IN NET DEBT
(Decrease)/increase in cash in the period		(989)			3,593
Net cash (inflow)/outflow from bank loans		(23)			121
Exchange movement on bank loans		(1,279)			(2,022)
MOVEMENT IN NET DEBT IN THE YEAR		(2,291)			1,692
NET DEBT AT 1 NOVEMBER		(18,459)			(20,151)
NET DEBT AT 31 OCTOBER		(20,750)			(18,459)

                                                             

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

PORTFOLIO AND EQUITY PERFORMANCE at 31 October 2010 (unaudited)
Name	Business	Fair value £'000	% of total assets	Performance†		Fair value 2009 £'000
				Absolute %	Relative %
Equities
Amazon.com	Online Retailer	12,188	6.9	43.3	21.2	8,503
Baidu	Chinese online search engine	10,383	5.8	201.8	155.3	1,605
Atlas Copco	Industrial compressors and   mining equipment	8,921	5.0	59.2	34.6	8,696
Vale (or CVRD)	Mining	8,329	4.7	30.1	10.1	6,395
Petrobras	Oil exploration and production	7,725	4.3	(22.2)	(34.2)	10,149
Apple	Computing and media   equipment	7,264	4.1	64.6	39.2	4,414
eBay	Internet auction and payments	6,944	3.9	38.2	16.9	2,192
PPR	Luxury brand conglomerate	6,155	3.5	58.0	33.7	2,689
Google	Web-based search engine	5,965	3.4	17.9	(0.3)	5,060
Deere	Farm and construction  machinery	5,595	3.1	76.6	49.4	3,219
Sandvik	Tools and mining equipment	5,079	2.9	37.0	15.9	4,826
Novozymes	Enzyme manufacturer	4,803	2.7	49.9	26.8	3,230
Tencent	Chinese social network	4,783	2.7	34.0	13.3	2,885
Banco Santander	Retail and commercial bank	4,621	2.6	(13.9)	(27.2)	5,072
First Solar	Designs and manufactures solar   modules	4,236	2.4	16.4	(1.6)	3,545
New Oriental Education and   Technology	English-language schools	4,086	2.3	58.3	33.9	2,004
Housing Development   Finance Corporation	Indian mortgage provider	3,999	2.3	42.7	20.7	2,836
ABB	Power systems and automation	3,998	2.2	16.8	(1.2)	3,513
Whole Foods Market	Organic food stores	3,736	2.1	27.8	8.1	2,924
Nintendo	Gaming consoles and software	3,465	1.9	6.2	(10.1)	3,324
Gazprom	Gas exploration and production	3,457	1.9	(5.3)	(19.9)	4,823
VanceInfo	Chinese IT outsourcing	3,398	1.9	36.0*	26.2*	-
L'Oréal	Personal care	3,315	1.9	19.7	1.2	3,622
Garanti Bankasi	Turkish bank	3,245	1.8	26.3*	24.5*	-
FLIR Systems	Infrared sensors	3,165	1.8	(8.8)*	(15.0)*	-
Intuitive Surgical	Robotic surgery	3,026	1.7	(11.7)*	(17.7)*	-
Itau Unibanco	Brazilian retail and commercial   bank	2,985	1.7	35.2	14.4	2,257
Straumann	Dental implants	2,948	1.7	(9.8)	(23.7)	3,304
Teva Pharmaceuticals	Generic drugs manufacturer	2,930	1.6	7.2	(9.3)	2,761
CFAO	African distribution	2,650	1.5	16.0*	4.3*	-
BYD	Battery technology and cars	2,639	1.5	(32.3)	(42.8)	4,658
Hermès	Luxury goods	2,613	1.5	57.9	33.6	1,595
ALL America Latina   Logistica	Brazilian railroads	2,605	1.5	0.3*	2.3*	1,658
Monsanto	Agricultural biotechnology	2,533	1.4	(7.3)	(21.5)	2,035
VCA Antech	Animal hospitals and veterinary   diagnostics	2,332	1.3	(10.5)	(24.3)	2,605
Inditex	Fashion retail	2,190	1.2	22.8*	13.2*	-
Medassets	Hospital management software	2,127	1.2	(10.4)*	(19.1)*	-
Li Ning	Chinese sportswear	1,957	1.1	9.1	(7.7)	1,225
Vestas Windsystems	Wind turbines	1,373	0.8	(53.8)	(60.9)	2,967
Total Equities		173,763	97.8

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

PORTFOLIO AND EQUITY PERFORMANCE

at 31 October 2010

(unaudited) (Ctd)

Name	Business		Fair value £'000	% of total assets	Performance†		Fair value 2009 £'000
					Absolute %	Relative %
Net Liquid Assets			3,953	2.2
Total Assets at Fair Value (before deduction of loan)			177,716	100.0

† Absolute and relative performance has been calculated on a total return basis over the period 1 November

2009 to 31 October 2010.   For investments held for part of the year the return is for the period they were held.

Absolute performance is in sterling terms; relative performance is against MSCI All Countries World Index in   

sterling terms.

* Figures relate to part-period returns.

Source: Baillie Gifford & Co, StatPro

 

Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

 

 

 

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

NOTES

(unaudited)

1.	The financial statements for the year to 31 October 2010 have been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies set out in the Company's Annual Financial Statements at 31 October 2009. In accordance with The Financial Reporting Council's guidance on going concern and liquidity risk issued in 2009, the Directors have undertaken a rigorous review of the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The Company's assets, the majority of which are investments in quoted securities which are readily realisable, exceed its liabilities significantly. All borrowings require the prior approval of the Board. Gearing levels and compliance with borrowing covenants are reviewed by the Board on a regular basis. After making enquiries, the financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis as it is the Directors' opinion that the Company will continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The Directors consider the Company's functional currency to be sterling as the Company's shareholders are predominantly based in the UK and the Company is subject to the UK's regulatory environment.
					2010					2009
					£'000					£'000
2.	Income
	Income from investments				1,919					3,070
	Deposit interest				12					18
					1,931					3,088
3.	VAT Recovered
	In 2007 the European Court of Justice ruled that investment trust management fees should be exempt from VAT. HMRC accepted the Managers' repayment claims for the periods from 2003 to 2007. £257,000 of VAT together with £22,000 of interest was received by the Managers on behalf of the Company in respect of these periods and was recognised in the year to 31 October 2008.   During the year £152,000 of VAT was recovered relating to the periods from 2001 to 2003. In accordance with AIC guidance, recovered VAT has been allocated between revenue and capital on the same basis as the VAT expense was originally charged.
		2010		2009			2010 £'000					2009 £'000
4.	Ordinary dividends
	Amounts recognised as distributions in the period:
	Previous year's final (paid 9 February 2010)	1.50p		1.50p			735					735
	Previous year's special (paid 9 February 2010)	1.00p		0.70p			490					343
	Interim (paid 22 July 2010)	0.50p		0.50p			245					245
		3.00p		2.70p			1,470					1,323
	We also set out below the total dividends paid and proposed in respect of the financial year, which is the basis on which the requirements of section 1158 of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010 (formerly section 842 of ICTA 1988) are considered.  The revenue available for distribution by way of dividend for the year is £910,000 (2009 - £1,816,000).

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

NOTES

(unaudited)  (Ctd)

		2010		2009			2010 £'000			2009 £'000
4.	Ordinary dividends (Ctd)
	Dividends paid and proposed in the period:
	Interim dividend per ordinary share (paid 22 July 2010)	0.50p		0.50p			245			245
	Proposed final dividend per ordinary share (payable 9 February 2011)	1.50p		1.50p			735			735
		2.00p		2.00p			980			980
	Proposed special dividend per ordinary share	-		1.00p			-			490
		2.00p		3.00p			980			1470
	If approved the final dividend will be paid on 9 February 2011 to all shareholders on the register at the close of business on 14 January 2011.  The ex-dividend date is 12 January 2011. The registrars, Computershare Investor Services plc, offer a dividend reinvestment plan. The final date for the receipt of elections for the dividend reinvestment plan is 21 January 2011.
					2010				2009
					£'000				£'000
5.	Net return per ordinary share
	Revenue return				1.86p				3.71p
	Capital return				56.45p				83.78p
	Revenue return per ordinary share is based on the net return on ordinary activities after taxation of £910,000 (2009 - £1,816,000), and on 49,004,319 ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during each year. Capital return per ordinary share is based on the net capital gain for the financial year of £27,662,000 (2009 - gain of £41,062,000), and on 49,004,319 ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during each year. There are no dilutive or potentially dilutive shares in issue.
6. 6	Creditors include US$11.3m, €8.7m, CHF10.5m and ¥450m drawn down under a 1 year multi-currency facility with Lloyds TSB Scotland plc (2009 - US$9.1m, €7.0m, CHF10.5m and ¥820m).
7.	The Company incurred transaction costs on purchases of £23,000 (2009 - £23,000) and on sales of £27,000 (2009 - £23,000).
8. 7	At the Annual General Meeting on 4 February 2010 the Company renewed its authority to purchase shares in the market, in respect of 7,345,747 ordinary shares (equivalent to 14.99% of its issued share capital at that date).  No shares were bought back during the year to 31 October 2010 or 2009.  At 31 October 2010 the Company had authority to buy back 7,345,747 ordinary shares.

EDINBURGH WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

NOTES

(unaudited)  (Ctd)

		2010		2009
		£'000		£'000
9.	Reconciliation of net return before finance costs and taxation to net cash inflow from operating activities
	Net return on ordinary activities before finance costs and taxation	29,318		43,569
	Gains on investments	(29,831)		(43,445)
	Currency losses	1,122		1,825
	Other non-cash movements	(47)		(44)
	Decrease in accrued income	138		6
	Increase in debtors	(75)		(21)
	Increase in creditors	91		67
	Net cash inflow from operating activities	716		1,957
10.	The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the year ended 31 October 2010. The financial information for 2009 is derived from the statutory accounts for 2009 which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The Auditors have reported on the 2009 accounts, their report was unqualified and did not contain a statement under section 495 to 497 of the Companies Act 2006.  The statutory accounts for 2010 are unaudited and will be finalised on the basis of the financial information presented in this preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting.
11.	The Report and Accounts will be available on the Edinburgh Worldwide page of the Managers' website www.edinburghworldwide.co.uk on or around 22 December 2010.
12.	None of the views expressed in this document should be construed as advice to buy or sell a particular investment.

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

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