Jupiter European Opportunities Trust PLC : Inte...

Jupiter European Opportunities Trust PLC

Interim Management Review for the three months ended 29 February 2012

The Board of Jupiter European Opportunities Trust PLC (the "Company") is pleased to announce its interim management review for the quarter ended 29 February 2012.  

During the period from 1 December 2011 to 29 February 2012, the Company's net asset value per share excluding income and expenses rose by 14.9 per cent. to 304.16p, which compares with a rise of 8.5 per cent. for the Company's benchmark, the FTSE World Europe ex UK Total Return Index, over the same period.  Shareholders may care to note that the FTSE Europe including UK Total Return Index returned 8.1 per cent. for the same period under review.

Investment Manager's Report for the Quarter Ended 29 February 2012

Global equity markets staged a strong recovery during the quarter under review as defensively-positioned investors came to see the European Central Bank's €1trillion Long-Term Refinancing Operation as a game changer. Its actions eased the threat of a credit crunch, allowing European banks to refinance sovereign debts and strengthen their balance sheets. Investors were also buoyed by supportive US economic data and indications that China was easing fiscal policy.

Your company's relatively good performance was primarily due to stock picking. Johnson Matthey performed strongly after announcing a gain in market share for its catalyst technologies. Novo Nordisk also made good progress. However, shares in Novozymes performed poorly after a customer of that company established a joint venture with a competitor. The performance of your Company was also helped by an increase in borrowings over the period. At the quarter end, total borrowings amounted to £61,000,000.

Portfolio activity was modest during the quarter. We added to positions in Grenkeleasing, Syngenta and Aggreko. We sold our holding in Smith & Nephew for portfolio management reasons.

We remain positive on the outlook for equities. Companies have shown themselves capable of generating profitable growth despite the difficult economic backdrop. We can be certain that some companies will be winners from the ongoing crisis in the eurozone and we remain optimistic that we can identify a number of them.

Alexander Darwall
Fund Manager, Jupiter Asset Management Limited

Total Assets as at 29 February 2012: £242,022,503

Shares in Issue on 29 February 2012: 79,569,523

	Net Asset Value per share excluding income/expenses(p)	Net Asset Value per share including income/expenses(p)	Market Price (p)	Discount
Ordinary Shares	304.16	299.23	277.00	(9)%

Portfolio Distribution on 29 February 2012 Percentage of Total Assets plus short term loans/overdraft

Country	%
United Kingdom	33
Denmark	15
Germany	11
France	11
The Netherlands	9
Switzerland	7
Norway	6
Sweden	3
Others	3
Cash and fixed interest	2
	100

The Company had no exposure to other UK listed investment companies on 29 February 2012.

Top Ten Holdings on 29 February 2012

Company	Country of Listing	Percentage of Portfolio
Experian	United Kingdom	7.0
Novozymes	Denmark	6.0
Croda International	United Kingdom	5.9
Syngenta	Switzerland	5.9
Novo-Nordisk	Denmark	5.7
Johnson Matthey	United Kingdom	5.5
Intertek Group	United Kingdom	4.9
Provident Financial	United Kingdom	4.0
Elsevier	The Netherlands	3.8
Koninklijke Vopak	The Netherlands	3.5
		____
		52.2

Comparative Performance to 29 February 2012

	1 Month %	3 Months %	1 Year %	3 Years %	5 Years %	Since Launch %	Since Last Annual Report %
Total Assets*	11.2	14.9	1.1	133.4	52.9	180.0	(4.0)
FTSE World Europe ex UK Index	5.7	8.5	(9.7)	53.9	4.5	39.2	(12.8)
Ordinary Share NAV	11.2	14.9	1.1	133.4	52.9	221.3	(4.0)
Ordinary Share Price	13.2	18.2	0.7	171.6	43.0	172.9	(4.5)

*Adjusted for changes to share capital and amounts borrowed.

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMPANY

The objective of the Company is to invest in securities of European companies and in sectors or geographical areas which are considered by the investment manager to offer good prospects for capital growth, taking into account economic trends and business development.

INVESTMENT POLICY

The Investment Manager adopts a stock picking approach in the belief that a thorough analysis and understanding of a company is the best way to identify long-term superior earnings prospects. This understanding begins with identifying those companies where the ownership structure and incumbent management are conducive to the realisation of the aim of achieving superior long-term earnings growth. The Investment Manager will seek to identify companies which enjoy certain key business characteristics including some or all of the following:

- a strong management record and team, and the confidence that the Investment Manager has in that management's ability to explain and account for its actions;

- proprietary technology and other factors which indicate a sustainable competitive advantage;

- a reasonable expectation that demand for that company's products or services will enhance long-term growth; and

- an understanding that structural changes are likely to benefit that company's prospects rather than have a negative impact on them.

It is expected that your Company will have some exposure to most of the major sectors of the European economy.  There may be sectors which do not enjoy the business characteristics described above and in such circumstances the Investment Manager will seek to identify companies that are nonetheless expected to generate superior earnings growth within that sector.

In analysing potential investments, the Investment Manager will employ differing valuation techniques depending on their relevance to the business characteristics of that particular company. However, the underlying feature will be the sustainability and growth of free cash-flow in the long-term.

Material Events

During the period under review there were no material events.

Availability of Monthly Fact Sheets

Monthly fact sheets for the Company are available for download from www.jupiteronline.co.uk and by post or fax on request from the company secretarial department.

The Company's Ordinary shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and the prices are published in the Financial Times and The Times under `Investment Companies'.

The Net Asset Values of the Company's ordinary shares are calculated weekly and can be viewed on the London Stock Exchange website at www.londonstockexchange.com (under the heading 'Market News').

For further information, please contact:

Richard Pavry
Director of Investment Trusts
Jupiter Asset Management Limited
[e-mail]  
020 7314 4822

Jenny Thompson
Company Secretarial Department
Jupiter Asset Management Limited
[e-mail]
020 7314 5565

The Company's Registered office is at 1 Grosvenor Place, London SW1X 7JJ.

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.

---

This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.

The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.

Source: Jupiter European Opportunities Trust PLC via Thomson Reuters ONE

HUG#1602103