Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 1244R

Martin Currie Global Portfolio Tst

14 November 2012

 



Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust plc

Interim Management Statement

1 August 2012 - 31 October 2012

Manager's commentary

The FTSE World was up 1.9% over the quarter. The most remarkable feature was the recovery in continental Europe, best illustrated by the decline in bond yields in countries like Spain and Italy, but also by the sharp bounce in European equity markets. Other markets rose more modestly, and, in sterling terms, Japan fell. The best-performing global sector in this period was financials, with European financials especially strong. Another outlying sector was technology, which underperformed despite the general 'risk-on' nature of the period. Many of the large-cap US tech stocks, while meeting earnings forecasts in the third quarter, did so with slightly disappointing revenue results, and their share prices were punished accordingly.

The Trust's NAV rose 2.2% over the period. Being underweight in Japan and overweight in Europe was beneficial, and while our underweight in the strongly performing financial sector counted against us, we enjoyed positive stock selection in a number of sectors. In industrials and materials, there were notably good performances from Tecnicas Reunidas and Safran (which are both cyclical and European), Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine Matheson, US-listed chemical company LyondellBasell, and North American gold miner Newmont Mining. Apple's weakness is worthy of comment: it is not so much that its earnings growth is slowing (inevitably, it is), it is simply the fact the company is so widely owned and people have done so well from it that explains its fall from US$700 to US$540 in the last six weeks.

The Trust's activity during the quarter was focused on sales. We sold investment-management firm Man Group after it rallied from a low level - its key fund, AHL, simply cannot achieve any momentum in these markets. We also sold BT, where we feel the upside is limited following its strong performance, and trimmed Monsanto and Tecnicas Reunidas on the same view.

Tom Walker

Profile as at 31 October 2012

Objective: To achieve long-term capital growth in excess of the capital return of the FTSE World index.

Benchmark: FTSE World index

Sector: Global growth

Launch: 1999

Portfolio

Asset class          31 Jul     31 Oct

Equities                98.8%    97.0%

Cash                        1.2%     3.0%

Equity allocation                              31 Jul     31 Oct

North America                                 49.6%    50.3%

Europe                                                 31.3%    30.0%

Asia Pacific ex Japan                       10.2%   10.5%

Emerging Markets                               6.5%    7.0%

Japan                                                        2.4%    2.2%

Top 10 equity holdings (30.0% of total portfolio)

Apple 5.2%

Philip Morris International 3.3%

Royal Dutch Shell 3.1%

Prudential 3.0%

Sempra Energy 2.7%

Seadrill 2.7%

Astra International 2.7%

Pfizer 2.5%

United Technologies 2.4%

McDonalds 2.4%

Number of holdings        62

Number of countries       17

Key facts

Net assets £149.6m

Share price (p) 140.5

Net asset value per share (p) 143.2

Discount (premium) 1.9%

Estimated net yield 2.8%

The NAV stated in our reporting is inclusive of current year revenue.

Performance

Discrete performance over 12 months to 31 October

	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008
Share Price	20.2%	4.0%	14.8%	19.7%	(30.4%)
NAV	11.3%	4.1%	15.8%	21.2%	(33.6%)
Benchmark	9.7%	(0.4%)	17.5%	23.5%	(34.4%)

Cumulative performance over periods to 31 October 2012

One month	Three months	Six months	One year	Three years	Five years
Share Price	3.5%	10.1%	12.5%	20.2%	43.5%	19.5%
NAV	0.4%	2.2%	5.5%	11.3%	34.1%	8.0%
Benchmark	(0.4%)	1.9%	2.7%	9.7%	28.3%	4.0%

Source: Martin Currie and Morningstar. Bid to bid basis with net income reinvested over the periods shown in sterling terms. These figures do not include the costs of buying and selling shares in an investment trust. If these were included, performance figures would be reduced.

Prior to 31 May 2011 the Trust's benchmark was the FTSE All-Share index and the FTSE World index thereafter.  Past performance is not a guide to future returns.

Capital structure

Ordinary shares 104,478,171*

*Source: Martin Currie as at 31 October 2012.

Board of Directors

Neil Gaskell (Chairman)

Gillian Nott

David Kidd

Ben Thomson

Mike Balfour

Key information

Year end  - 31 January

Annual general meeting  - May

Final dividend paid  - June

Interim dividend paid  - October

Annual management fee as at  - 31 January 2012†  - 0.5%

Total expense ratio 31 January 2012*  - 0.9%

Epic code  - MNP

Reuters code  - MNP.L

†Percentage of net assets.

*Percentage of shareholders' funds. Includes annual management and performance fees, where relevant.

Material events and transactions

During the period, we bought back 15,000 shares to be held in treasury.

The company paid an interim dividend of 1.2p on 25 October 2012 to shareholders on the register as at 5 October 2012.

Website

The Trust has its own website at www.martincurrieglobal.com. There you will find further details about the Trust, information on Martin Currie, daily share prices (and associated risks), and you can access regular webcasts by the manager.

Net asset value and dividend history

As at 31 January	Share price	NAV per share	Discount/ (premium)	Dividend per share
2000	89.5p	110.0p	18.6%	1.42p
2001	101.0p	115.7p	12.7%	1.47p
2002	80.5p	89.9p	10.5%	1.50p
2003	57.8p	65.1p	11.2%	1.55p
2004	79.0p	83.0p	4.8%	1.87p
2005	85.0p	91.5p	7.1%	1.99p*
2006	109.0p	116.9p	6.8%	2.20p
2007	117.3p	127.5p	8.0%	2.40p
2008	124.3p	134.8p	7.8%	2.60p
2009	89.8p	93.1p	3.5%	3.50p
2010	113.5p	122.2p	7.1%	3.50p
2011	125.0p	135.5p	7.7%	3.50p
2012	129.0p	139.2p	7.3%	3.70p

*Plus special dividend of 1.61p.

Past performance is not a guide to future returns.

 

END

 

 

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