Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 6788H

Merchants Trust PLC

21 May 2014

 



The Merchants Trust PLC

Interim Management Statement

For the quarter ended 30 April 2014

This interim management statement relates to the quarter from 1 February 2014 to 30 April 2014 and contains information for that period unless otherwise stated. This statement is produced to provide information in accordance with the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

Investment objective

The objective of The Merchants Trust is to provide an above average level of income and income growth together with long term growth of capital through a policy of investing mainly in higher yielding UK FTSE 100 companies.

Portfolio

Top ten holdings at 30 April 2014

	£		%
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL 'B'		62,566,743	9.31
GLAXOSMITHKLINE		50,723,335	7.55
BP		42,668,955	6.35
HSBC		41,572,144	6.18
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO		29,011,746	4.32
BAE SYSTEMS		24,387,552	3.63
BHP BILLITON		22,484,597	3.34
SSE		21,488,400	3.20
UBM		20,551,431	3.06
INMARSAT		19,673,368	2.93
Total Gross Assets	672,190,459

Material events and transactions

The following events have occurred since 1 February 2014.

Dividends

The third quarterly dividend for the year ended 31 January 2014 of 5.9p per Ordinary Share, was paid on 26 February 2014 to shareholders on the register on 31 January 2014.

Share Capital

The number of ordinary shares in issue at the beginning of the period was 103,663,464. The Company's share capital increased through nine separate share issues totalling 1,200,000 shares. The number of ordinary shares in issue at the end of the period was 104,863,464.

Since 30 April 2014 the following events have occurred:

Dividends

The final dividend for the year ended 31 January 2014 of 5.9p per Ordinary Share will be paid on 23 May 2014 to shareholders on the register on 25 April 2014.

Financial Performance to 30 April 2014

			% change
	3mths	6mths		1yr	3yrs		5yrs	10yrs
Share price*	4.6	1.8		20.0	42.0		143.3	160.3
Net Asset Value*	4.6	2.0		12.5	40.3		136.5	139.5
Benchmark# *	5.4	2.5		9.3	25.0		91.4	116.8

* Total return with net dividends reinvested and net of fees.

# FTSE 100 Total Return

Source: Datastream

Financial position at 30 April 2014 and 19 May 2014

			30 April		19 May
Total assets1			£664,418,096		£665,992,113
Net assets			£550,136,325		£553,653,105
Share price			508.00p		502.00p
NAV (debt at par value)2			524.62p		527.98p
Discount3			3.2%		4.9%
Net gearing4			19.0%		18.8%
Yield			4.6%		4.7%
NAV (debt at market value)5			500.40p		501.90p
Premium6			1.5%		0.0%

¹Total assets are stated net of current liabilities and cum-income.

² The cum-income NAV. Capital and income net asset values are calculated and announced daily.

³ The discount/premium is the difference between the share price and the NAV (with debt at par value) per share expressed as a percentage of the NAV per share.

⁴ Net gearing is borrowings net of cash and current assets.

⁵ The cum-income NAV.

⁶ The discount/premium  is the difference between the share price and the NAV (with debt at market value) per share expressed as a percentage of the NAV per share.

Company Information

Launch date	1889
EPIC	MRCH
Year end	31 January
Report and Accounts	Final posted April, Half-yearly posted September
AGM	May
Dividends paid	February, May, August and November
Price Information	Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph,  www.merchantstrust.co.uk

Investor information

Further up to date information, including Net Asset Values and share prices, and the latest available fact sheets and portfolio information, is provided on the Manager's website, which can be accessed via  www.merchantstrust.co.uk  or  www.allianzgi.co.uk/invtrusts .  Information can also be obtained from the Investor Services' helpline on 0800 389 4696.

21 May 2014

 

END

 

 

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