Final Results

RNS Number : 0994A

JPMorgan American IT PLC

26 March 2012

 



LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT

JPMORGAN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

FINAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2011

Chairman's Statement

-     US large Cap stocks provide a relatively safe haven in a difficult year for equity markets

-     Slight NAV underperformance vs. benchmark index, primarily because of the cost of gearing, but our strong long-term record is intact

-     The Company's Ordinary shares moved to a consistent premium to net asset value and new shares were issued

Investment Performance

Over the year to 31st December 2011, your Company produced a total return on net assets of 0.5% in sterling terms, underperforming the total return of the S&P 500 Index (our benchmark) of 2.6%. The Company's share price total return of 3.9% outperformed the Index, reflecting the Company's move from a discount of 0.3% to a premium at the year end of 3.3%. Over the longer term, as can be seen from the charts and data in the Annual Report, the Company's relative performance record remains strong, particularly since 2002 when the current manager took over responsibility and various risk and gearing controls were introduced.

Performance attribution data shows that the larger companies portfolio outperformed the benchmark by 0.1%, while the smaller companies portfolio underperformed by 0.3%, but the major negative contribution came from the gearing/cash effect which penalised our returns by 2.1%. In hindsight the portfolio was positioned too cautiously in September and October 2011 when the markets rallied by over 10% in a few weeks.

In a year when most market participants were concentrating on macroeconomic issues and perhaps less on company fundamentals, in general stocks moved more in line with each other than usual and the most defensive sectors outperformed. It is perhaps unsurprising that our large cap portfolio only just beat its benchmark index.

Although we are disappointed in the NAV underperformance of our benchmark, we continue to support the manager in his overall investment approach. Full details of the activities of the investment managers are set out in their report below.

Sterling began 2011 at a rate of 1.57 to the Dollar and weakened marginally over the year, ending at 1.55. This weakness has meant that returns to UK based investors were enhanced by around 0.7%. In order to protect against currency fluctuations in respect of the Company's £50 million debenture, a currency hedge has been maintained since its issue in 2001.

Revenue Account and Dividends

Net revenue after taxation for the year was £4,989,000 (2010: £4,517,000) and earnings per share, calculated using the weighted average number of shares in issue over the course of the year, were 11.20p (2010: 10.56p). Revenue rose as cash rich companies increased their payout ratios and financial stocks began to reintroduce dividend payments.

The Company's dividend policy has been to distribute all, or substantially all, of the available income in each year. The Board is proposing to maintain last year's dividend of 11p per share and, in doing so, to draw around £93,000 from revenue reserves. Shareholders should note that income streams can vary significantly, and the Company's dividend payouts are likely to reflect those variations. After accounting for the payment of the proposed final dividend, this leaves a balance in the revenue reserves of £9.7 million (equivalent to 21.0p per share or 1.9 times our current dividend). The dividend will be paid on 8th May 2012 to shareholders on the register on 10th April 2012.

Gearing

The Board of Directors sets the overall gearing strategy and guidelines and reviews these at each meeting. The investment management team manages the gearing levels actively within these agreed guidelines. At present, there is an upper limit of 20% of shareholders' funds and this can only be increased with Board consent. The £50 million debenture provides the potential to gear up to around 12.5%. As at the year end, the Company's net gearing level (offsetting cash and near cash against our debenture) was 97.2% of shareholders' funds, having ranged between 92% and 104% during the year.

Management of the Discount/Premium

During the year, the Company's share price moved from a discount to net asset value ('NAV') of 0.3%, calculated with debt at fair value after deducting the proposed dividend, to a premium of 3.3%.

The consistent level of premium, particularly in the second half of the year, enabled the Company to issue new ordinary shares to the market at prices in excess of the prevailing NAV. In total, 3,353,098 new ordinary shares were issued at an average price of 846.6p per share for a total gross consideration of £28.4 million. These issuances added 0.1% to performance. Subsequent to the year end, the Company has issued a further 1,244,045 shares for a gross consideration of £11.4 million.

While the Company did not repurchase any shares during the year, the Board believes that such a facility is an important tool in the management of discount volatility. Having issued shares at a premium recently, the Board is conscious of the need to avoid the discount widening significantly. As such, the Board will use its share buy back powers to repurchase shares when necessary.

A resolution to renew the authority to allow the Company to repurchase up to 14.99% of its share capital will be submitted to the Annual General Meeting.

Investment Manager

The Company's objective is to achieve capital growth from North American investments by outperformance of the Company's benchmark. Your Board has once again thoroughly reviewed the capabilities of the Investment Manager in order to assess whether J.P.Morgan Asset Management remains the manager of the Company's assets. In addition to scheduled Board Meetings, your Directors have undertaken additional strategy and investment meetings with the named investment managers, conducted comparisons with an appropriate peer group both in the UK and the US (with regard to performance, fee rates and costs of management) and spent time reviewing the investment management operation whilst in New York for a Board Meeting. We have concluded that the ongoing appointment of the existing Investment Manager is in the continuing interests of shareholders.

Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive ('AIFM')

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final advice on implementing the measures of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (the Directive).

How the UK Financial Services Authority chooses to implement the Directive, and therefore the implications for your Company, is currently the subject of consultation and discussion within the investment company industry. Your Board in conjunction with the Association of Investment Companies ('the AIC') and JPMorgan Asset Management is monitoring developments closely.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ('FATCA')

The United States has introduced provisions commonly referred to as 'FATCA', which introduce reporting requirements for foreign financial institutions ('FFI's') in respect of financial information. Under current proposals your Company may be deemed to be an FFI and therefore be required to identify and report on shareholders who are US persons or entities with substantial US ownership. Compliance with these regulations in their current format is likely to be very difficult to achieve and in the extreme could affect the viability of any collective investment vehicle investing in US equities and other securities. JPMorgan Asset Management and the AIC, are actively lobbying the US and UK authorities for clarification on these issues.

The Board

Your Board has put in place procedures to ensure that the Company complies fully with the Association of Investment Companies ('AIC') Code on Corporate Governance.™

The Board has resolved that, in accordance with corporate governance best practice, all Directors will seek reappointment at each future Annual General Meeting. Accordingly, Sarah Bates, Kate Bolsover, James Fox and James Williams, all being eligible, offer themselves for reappointment at this year's AGM.

As I announced in my statement last year, I will retire from the Board at the conclusion of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. Sarah Bates will take over as Chairman at that time.

We also hope to be able to announce the appointment of a further director at the AGM.

The Nomination and Remuneration Committee has reviewed the fees paid to Directors. No increase has been recommended for the forthcoming year. Details of the fee levels can be found in the Directors remuneration.

Outlook

Our Manager has set out his views on the US outlook in his report below. We do recognise that there are many macro issues still worrying the markets in the short term. However, your Board shares the Manager's belief that the US market is attractively priced for those investors willing to invest for the longer term in US equities.

This is my last of nine reports as Chairman of your Company. It has not always been plain sailing, but it has always been stimulating and interesting. As I step down, I wish my colleagues, both on the Board and at JPMorgan, and shareholders continued success in the years ahead. I have every confidence that the Board will be ably led by Sarah Bates and that the future management of the Company is in safe hands.

Hamish Buchan

Chairman                                                                                                                                 26th March 2012

Investment Manager's Report

Market Review

Simply put, 2011 was a year in which investors lost their appetite for taking risk, amidst plenty of evidence that the debt crisis that has dominated the past few years is still very much with us. The causes of this all-pervasive risk aversion are not very hard to identify; the effects of the disasters of 2008 are still impacting economic growth around the world and the addition of the European sovereign debt crisis are giving investors plenty of reasons to be cautious. Against this backdrop, investors in the US stock market actually fared relatively well compared with most other major markets with the major large capitalisation indices creeping into positive territory; these returns looked much better than the 15-20% losses suffered in many European, Asian and Latin American markets.

Within the US market, growth again beat value, as has been the outcome since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2007. But the most notable trend was the persistent outperformance of companies seen as more likely to do well in a tough economic environment. The health care and consumer staple sectors recorded double digit gains for the year, with tobacco stocks especially in demand. As long term Treasury Bond yields fell to unprecedentedly low levels, dividends were especially sought after in a world starved of income. The utility sector for example gained 20% and across the market companies with a high yield considerably outperformed their peers with a less generous approach to paying dividends. At the other end of the scale, investors continued to shy away from companies likely to struggle in a more difficult economy, especially those with high financial leverage. A special level of distaste was reserved for the financial sector, where many companies combine both economic sensitivity and high leverage, all compounded by the continued uncertainty over the eventual impact of the many new regulations enacted over the past four years and the, perhaps, unintended consequences of a zero interest rate policy from the Federal Reserve. For the year, the financial sector lost another 17% and is now over 60% below the pre-crisis highs, with even sharper declines in some of the investment banks. Basic industry companies also performed poorly, with growing doubts over the continuing strength of the Chinese economy weighing on steel, aluminium and copper stocks, although the much bigger energy sector actually made modest progress.

The Company's net asset value total return rose by 0.5%, a 2.1 percentage points underperformance against our benchmark, the S&P 500 Index.

Overall Asset Allocation and Performance

The investment management team is responsible for managing the allocation between the large and the small cap portfolios, together with the levels of cash and gearing. In 2011, the Company's gearing ranged between 92% and 104% of shareholders' funds, with the level at the year end being 97%. The level of gearing has been adjusted at regular intervals within the gearing guidelines laid down by the Board to reflect the outlook on risk and return for both equities and bonds. We maintained a relatively low level of gearing throughout most of 2011 due to our concerns over the challenging economic and political backdrop. Our cautious stance was, however, a negative factor in that the Company held a relatively high cash weighting in September and October 2011 when the market recovered sharply which contributed to the 2.1 percentage points of underperformance.

The weighting in the smaller companies portfolio ranged between 3.0% and 5.6% of the Company's total assets less current liabilities and ended the year at 3.2%. We believe that our ability to move between the two segments enhances returns to shareholders and helps to balance our overall risk.

Attribution data for 2011, shows that there was a small positive contribution from the larger companies portfolio and a small negative contribution from the smaller companies portfolio.

Large Companies Portfolio

Our investment methodology continues to focus on investing in high quality, reasonably valued companies. This style leads us to invest in companies that exhibit good growth characteristics with growing earnings, strong cash flows and reasonable valuations.

The large companies portfolio generated a small positive return for the period under review. In terms of where we were successful in the period under review, the portfolio's energy and materials & processing exposures added the most value. Within energy, overweight positions in Williams and Exxon Mobil added the most value as their earnings surged thanks to higher oil prices and improved refining margins. Within the materials & processing sector, a lack of exposure to the commodity names such as Freeport-McMoRan, Alcoa and US Steel, helped performance as investors rotated away from the more cyclical stocks. MasterCard was the top contributor within the portfolio overall as the card issuer's share price rose following strong earnings growth from increased credit and debit card spending.

Sector Weightings of the Large Cap Portfolio versus S&P 500 as at 31st December 2011

	Large
	Company		Overweight/
	Portfolio	S&P 500	Underweight
Sector	%	%	%
Technology	21.7	17.1	4.6
Health Care	15.2	11.7	3.5
Energy	14.5	12.3	2.2
Financial Services	11.8	14.6	-2.8
Consumer Discretionary	11.8	12.5	-0.7
Consumer Staples	9.4	10.1	-0.7
Producer Durables	7.8	11.0	-3.2
Utilities	6.6	6.9	-0.3
Materials & Processing	1.2	3.8	-2.6

Source: Wilshire. Based on the Russell Global Sector Classification

The largest detractor from performance was weak stock selection, with the portfolio's consumer discretionary and producer durables holdings inflicting the most damage. Within consumer discretionary, our exposure to General Motors proved disappointing. The car manufacturer's earnings were hindered by the European sovereign debt crisis as it negatively impacted global sales. We like General Motors due to its leverage to cyclical/secular factors, as well as its strong balance sheet. Regarding our performance in the producer durables sector, our exposure to Oshkosh for part of the period was the biggest detractor within the sector as well as the portfolio overall. Shares of the manufacturer of speciality vehicles declined on concerns about future defence spending. We sold our position during the period under review.

The table below shows the largest positive and negative stock contributors to portfolio performance in 2011:

	Price
		Performance	Contribution
Stock	Action	%	%
Positive Contributors
MasterCard	D	66.7	0.6
Williams	I	37.1	0.5
IBM	D	27.4	0.4
J P Morgan Chase & Co#		-20.0	0.3
Philip Morris	I	39.8	0.3
Negative Contributors
Oshkosh*	S	-41.3	-0.5
Bank of America*	D	-58.1	-0.3
MetLife	I	-28.3	-0.2
McDonalds*		34.7	-0.2
CenturyLink	I	-13.1	-0.2

I = Position increased;  D = Position decreased;  S = Position sold.

*Not held or underweighted in the portfolio at year end

#Not held as Company barred from having an investment in this security

Source: Wilshire. Contribution figures are based on stock selection relative to the total contribution return, in US$

Smaller Companies Portfolio

For the first time since 2007 smaller companies did not outperform larger companies and our exposure therefore detracted from overall performance against our benchmark.

In analysing the performance of the smaller companies portfolio against the Russell 2000 Index, the market rewarded stocks of higher quality with slower expected growth and our bias towards faster growing stocks served as a headwind. Stock selection, primarily in the consumer discretionary sector, hindered relative performance the most. In particular, our exposure to OfficeMax, for some of the period under review, hindered performance. The office products retailer's share price tumbled, after declining sales to large business customers and lower store traffic led to a much bigger than expected decline in its first quarter profits. We sold our position during the period under review.

In terms of where we added value, stock selection in the technology and health care sectors was positive. Amongst individual stocks, HealthSpring, was the top contributor. To expand its Medicare and senior care business, Cigna announced its acquisition of HealthSpring at a 37% premium. HealthSpring has been a strong contributor to quarterly and yearly performance, however, we sold our shares as the share price neared Cigna's offer price.

We remain positioned for a continuation of the muted economic recovery currently underway in the US and remain focused on companies in the small cap portfolio that we think are high quality and have the greatest potential to grow in this environment.  Fundamentals still look very attractive with strong secular growth drivers in place, along with the potential for the added tailwind of a cyclical recovery.

Outlook

Will investors recover their appetite for risk taking in 2012? We think that with many attractive valuations, there is a strong incentive to position portfolios for a better year. We still face a now familiar tension between healthy corporate fundamentals and a lengthy list of intractable macro issues hanging over the market outlook. Significantly these are led by the on-going European sovereign debt problems and a possible slowdown in China. But economic activity in the US appears to be picking up and although consensus forecasts for this year have slipped somewhat since last summer, most of the corporate sector is still fundamentally in excellent financial shape. Profit margins are already very high, although there is still room for recovery in places, with financials and housing related companies being the most obvious examples. So our research suggests that profits should continue to rise, albeit at a much slower level in 2012. Meanwhile, dividend payments are rising strongly, as payout ratios are still quite modest by longer term standards, and companies are responding to the clear desire from investors for yield. Most importantly, we think that markets are very much priced in favour of those willing to take risk. With a price earnings multiple of 12 and a risk premium over 10 Year Treasury Bonds of around 7%, almost twice the average for the past 25 years, there is a very strong incentive to be patient through what may still be more difficult times ahead.

As has been the case for most of 2011 and the early part of 2012 the environment will likely continue to be a daily battle between improving fundamentals and the constant barrage of macro news that can negatively impact investor confidence. While confidence surveys have turned higher in recent months, investor sentiment remains quite low. We expect the markets to remain volatile and would use any meaningful market weakness to increase our equity exposure. As long term equity investors, we believe low valuations and poor investor sentiment could be a potentially powerful combination for equity markets.

Garrett Fish

Investment Manager                                                                                                                26th March 2012

Principal Risks

With the assistance of the Manager, the Board has drawn up a risk matrix, which identifies the key risks to the Company. These key risks fall broadly under the following categories:

•     Investment and Strategy: An inappropriate investment strategy, for example asset allocation or the level of gearing, may lead to underperformance against the Company's benchmark index and peer companies, resulting in the Company's shares trading on a wider discount. The Board manages these risks by diversification of investments through its investment restrictions and guidelines which are monitored and reported by the Manager. JPMAM provides the Directors with timely and accurate management information, including performance data and attribution analyses, revenue estimates, liquidity reports and shareholder analyses. The Board monitors the implementation and results of the investment process with the Investment Managers, who attend all Board meetings, and reviews data which show statistical measures of the Company's risk profile. The Investment Managers employ the Company's gearing within a strategic range set by the Board. The Board holds a separate meeting devoted to strategy each year.

•     Market: Market risk arises from uncertainty about the future prices of the Company's investments. It represents the potential loss that the Company might suffer through holding investments in the face of negative market movements. The Board considers asset allocation, stock selection and levels of gearing on a regular basis and has set investment restrictions and guidelines, which are monitored and reported on by JPMAM. The Board monitors the implementation and results of the investment process with the Manager.

•     Accounting, Legal and Regulatory: In order to qualify as an investment trust, the Company must comply with Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 ('Section 1158'). Were the Company to breach Section 1158, it might lose investment trust status and, as a consequence, gains within the Company's portfolio could be subject to Capital Gains Tax. The Section 1158 qualification criteria are continually monitored by JPMAM and the results reported to the Board each month. The Company must also comply with the provisions of the Companies Act and, since its shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, the UKLA Listing Rules and Disclosure & Transparency Rules ('DTRs'). A breach of the Companies Act could result in the Company and/or the Directors being fined or the subject of criminal proceedings. Breach of the UKLA Listing Rules or DTRs could result in the Company's shares being suspended from listing which in turn would breach Section 1158. The Board relies on the services of its Company Secretary, JPMAM, and its professional advisers to ensure compliance with The Companies Act and the UKLA Listing Rules and DTRs.

•     Corporate Governance and Shareholder Relations: Details of the Company's compliance with Corporate Governance best practice, including information on relations with shareholders, are set out in the Corporate Governance report within the Annual Report.

•     Operational: Disruption to, or failure of, JPMAM's accounting, dealing or payments systems or the custodian's records could prevent accurate reporting and monitoring of the Company's financial position. Details of how the Board monitors the services provided by JPMAM and its associates and the key elements designed to provide effective internal control are included within the Internal Control section of the Corporate Governance report within the Annual Report.

•     Financial: The financial risks arising from the Company's financial instruments include market price risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk and credit risk. Further details are disclosed in note 22 within the Annual Report.

Directors' Responsibilities

The Directors each confirm to the best of their knowledge that:

(a) the financial statements, prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and Applicable Law), give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company; and

(b) the Annual Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that it face.

Hamish Buchan

Chairman

26th March 2012

Income Statement

for the year ended 31st December 2011

		2011			2010
		Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Gains on investments held at fair value   through profit or loss		-	1,260	1,260	-	57,239	57,239
Net foreign currency gains/(losses)*		-	951	951	-	(1,136)	(1,136)
Income from investments		7,682	-	7,682	7,023	-	7,023
Other interest receivable and similar income		18	-	18	14	-	14
Gross return		7,700	2,211	9,911	7,037	56,103	63,140
Management fee		(432)	(1,727)	(2,159)	(379)	(1,516)	(1,895)
Performance fee writeback		-	-	-	-	36	36
Other administrative expenses		(497)	-	(497)	(448)	-	(448)
Net return on ordinary activities before   finance costs and taxation		6,771	484	7,255	6,210	54,623	60,833
Finance costs		(694)	(2,775)	(3,469)	(697)	(2,789)	(3,486)
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities   before  taxation		6,077	(2,291)	3,786	5,513	51,834	57,347
Taxation		(1,088)	-	(1,088)	(996)	-	(996)
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities   after taxation		4,989	(2,291)	2,698	4,517	51,834	56,351
Return/(loss) per share  (Note 3)		11.20p	(5.14)p	6.06p	10.56p	121.14p	131.70p

*Includes gains and losses on forward foreign currency contracts which are used to hedge the currency risk in respect of the geared portion of the portfolio.

The dividend proposed in respect of the year ended 31st December 2011 amounts to 11.0p (2010: 11.0p) per share, costing £5,082,000 (2010: £4,714,000). Details of dividends paid and proposed are given in note 2.

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

The 'Total' column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the Company and the 'Revenue' and 'Capital' columns represent supplementary information prepared under guidance issued by the Association of Investment Companies. The Total column represents all the information that is required to be disclosed in a Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses ('STRGL'). For this reason a STRGL has not been presented.

Reconciliation of Movements in Shareholders' Funds

	Called up		Capital
	share	Share	redemption	Capital	Revenue
	capital	premium	reserve	reserves	reserve	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
At 31st December 2009	10,682	18,906	8,151	269,018	14,709	321,466
Issue of ordinary shares to the market	31	872	-	-	-	903
Net return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	51,834	4,517	56,351
Dividends appropriated in the year	-	-	-	-	(4,700)	(4,700)
At 31st December 2010	10,713	19,778	8,151	320,852	14,526	374,020
Issue of ordinary shares to the market	838	27,550	-	-	-	28,388
Net (loss)/return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	(2,291)	4,989	2,698
Dividends appropriated in the year	-	-	-	-	(4,727)	(4,727)
At 31st December 2011	11,551	47,328	8,151	318,561	14,788	400,379

Balance Sheet

at 31st December 2011

		2011	2010
	Notes	£'000	£'000
Fixed assets	10
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss		389,086	389,743
Investment in liquidity fund held at fair value through profit or loss		36,156	29,831
		425,242	419,574
Current assets	11
Derivative financial instruments		507	3,314
Debtors		486	1,628
Cash and short term deposits		24,835	30
		25,828	4,972
Current liabilities	12
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year		(294)	(744)
Derivative financial instruments		(586)	-
Net current assets		24,948	4,228
Total assets less current liabilities		450,190	423,802
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year	13	(49,811)	(49,782)
Provisions for liabilities and charges	14	-	-
Net assets		400,379	374,020
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital	15	11,551	10,713
Share premium	16	47,328	19,778
Capital redemption reserve	16	8,151	8,151
Capital reserves	16	318,561	320,852
Revenue reserve	16	14,788	14,526
Total equity shareholders' funds		400,379	374,020
Net asset value per share (Note 4)	17	866.5p	872.8p

The Company's registration number is 15543.

Cash Flow Statement

for the year ended 31st December 2011

		2011	2010
		£'000	£'000
Net cash inflow from operating activities		3,482	3,400
Returns on investments and servicing of finance
Interest		(3,440)	(3,438)
Taxation
Overseas tax recovered		1	-
Capital expenditure and financial investment
Purchases of equity investments		(109,891)	(110,725)
Purchases of liquidity fund		(50,056)	(87,349)
Sales of equity investments		112,652	134,683
Sales of liquidity fund		44,059	66,587
Other capital charges		(7)	(10)
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from capital expenditure and financial investment		(3,243)	3,186
Dividend paid		(4,727)	(4,700)
Net cash outflow before financing		(7,927)	(1,552)
Financing
Issue of ordinary shares to the market		28,388	903
Net cash inflow from financing		28,388	903
Increase/(decrease) in cash in the year		20,461	(649)

Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31st December 2011

1.          Basis of accounting

            The accounts are prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice ('UK GAAP') and with the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies and Venture Capital Trusts' (the 'SORP') issued by the Association of Investment Companies in January 2009. All of the Company's operations are of a continuing nature.

            The policies applied in these accounts are consistent with those applied in the preceding year.

2.         Dividends paid and proposed

	2011	2010
	£'000	£'000
2010 Final dividend paid of 11.0p (2009: 11.0p)	4,727	4,700
2011 Final dividend proposed of 11.0p (2010: 11.0p)	5,082	4,714

The final dividend proposed in respect of the year ended 31st December 2010 amounted to £4,714,000. However, the actual payment amounted to £4,727,000 due to shares issued after the Balance Sheet date but prior to the share register Record Date.

The final dividend has been proposed in respect of the year ended 31st December 2011 and is subject to approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. In accordance with the accounting policy of the Company, this dividend will be reflected in the accounts for the year ending 31st December 2012.

3.         Return/(loss) per share

            The revenue return per ordinary share of 11.20p (2010: 10.56p) is based on the revenue earnings attributable to the ordinary shares of £4,989,000 (2010: £4,517,000) and on the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year of 44,547,344 (2010: 42,788,449).

            The capital loss per ordinary share of 5.14p (2010: 121.14p return) is based on the capital loss attributable to the ordinary shares of £2,291,000 (2010: £51,834,000 return) and on the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year of 44,547,344 (2010: 42,788,449).

            The total return per ordinary share of 6.06p (2010: 131.70p) is based on the total return attributable to the ordinary shares of £2,698,000 (2010: £56,351,000) and on the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year of 44,547,344 (2010: 42,788,449).

4.         Net asset value per share

      The net asset value per share of 866.5p (2010: 872.8p) is based on the net assets attributable to the ordinary shareholders of £400,379,000 (2010: £374,020,000) and on the 46,204,047 (2010: 42,850,949) shares in issue at the year end.

 5.        Status of announcement

2010 Financial Information

The figures and financial information for 2010 are extracted from the published Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2010 and do not constitute the statutory accounts for that year.  The Annual Report and Accounts has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and included the Report of the Independent Auditor which was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

2011 Financial Information

         The figures and financial information for 2011 are extracted from the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2011 and do not constitute the statutory accounts for the year. The Annual Report and Accounts includes the Report of the Independent Auditor which is unqualified and does not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. The Annual Report and Accounts will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course.

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

JPMORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT (UK) LIMITED

ENDS

A copy of the annual report will shortly be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at www.hemscott.com/nsm.do

The annual report will also shortly be available on the Company's website at www.jpmamerican.co.uk where up to date information on the Company, including daily NAV and share prices, factsheets and portfolio information can also be found.

JPMORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT (UK) LIMITED

 

END

 

 

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