Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 7548X

Monks Investment Trust PLC

20 February 2012

 



The Monks Investment Trust plc

Interim Management Statement - 3 Months to 31 January 2012

Monks' objective is to invest internationally to achieve capital growth, which takes priority over income and dividends.  Monks' policy is to invest principally in a portfolio of international quoted equities. The Company is prepared to move freely between different markets as opportunities arise. Asset classes other than equities may be purchased from time to time including fixed interest holdings, unquoted securities and derivatives. The equity portfolio may be relatively concentrated for a global fund.

Review of the Period		¾  Over the period, the Company's net asset value total return, with borrowings deducted at fair value, was 1.6%, and the share price total return was -1.8% while the FTSE World Index in sterling terms returned 4.9%. ¾  The interim dividend of 0.50p per share was paid on 30 January 2012 to shareholders on the register on 6 January 2012. ¾  During the period, 1.4 million shares were repurchased at a cost of £4.4 million. ¾  An addition was made to the holding in IP Group which, together with strong price performance, saw it enter the Top Ten Equity Holdings. A part sale of Cetip took it out of the Top Ten. The other changes to the Top Ten constituents were due to market movements.
Geographical Analysis				% of total assets			Effective exposure %*
				At 31/01/12	At 31/10/11		At 31/01/12			At 31/10/11
		United Kingdom		20.2	17.9		15.9			13.0
		North America		19.9	18.8		15.3			13.8
		Other Emerging Markets		16.1	17.5		19.7			21.4
		Asia Pacific		13.7	16.3		16.8			19.9
		Continental Europe		13.4	13.8		8.5			8.7
		Bonds		6.6	6.0		8.0			7.3
		Japan		5.8	6.2		10.6			11.6
		Net Liquid Assets		4.3	3.5		5.2			4.3
		Total		100.0	100.0		100.0			100.0
		*  The effective exposure takes into account the exposure of derivative holdings which may differ substantially from their market value. The Company's derivatives holdings include sales of index futures and purchases of index call options.
Total Return Performance (capital and income)			%
			3 Months			1 Year		3 Years	5 Years
		Share Price	(1.8)			(7.7)		50.2	21.4
		NAV (at fair)	1.6			(5.6)		57.7	22.0
		Comparative Index*	4.9			(1.6)		49.9	20.9
		*  Comparative Index: FTSE World Index (in sterling terms). Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream/Baillie Gifford & Co Past performance is not a guide to future performance

Top Ten Equity Holdings‡ (as a % of total assets)				31/01/12 %		31/10/11 %
		Seadrill		3.6		3.2
		Aggreko		2.7		2.2
		IP Group		1.9		1.1
		Odontoprev		1.8		1.7
		Eldorado Gold		1.6		2.0
		National Oilwell Varco		1.5		1.4
		McDonald's		1.4		1.3
		Vale		1.4		1.3
		Dragon Oil		1.3		1.4
		Samsung Electronics		1.3		1.1
		Total		18.5		16.7
		‡      IP Group, McDonald's and Samsung Electronics entered the Top Ten Equity Holdings and Cetip, Digital Garage and Iamgold dropped out.
General Information			31/01/12		31/10/11
		Total assets (before deduction of  borrowings)	£1,119.0m		£1,110.3m
		Total borrowings (at fair value)	£169.9m		£169.6m
		Total borrowings (at par)	£160.0m		£160.0m
		Net asset value per share (after deducting borrowings at fair value)†	367.0p		361.8p
		Net asset value per share (after deducting borrowings at par)†	370.8p		365.5p
		Share price	319.7p		326.0p
		Discount (borrowings at fair value)	12.9%		9.9%
		Discount (borrowings at par)	13.8%		10.8%
		Effective gearing (taking into account sales of equity index futures and purchase of equity index call options, borrowings at fair value)	(7%)		(7%)
		†      These figures have been calculated using the AIC cum income basis (includes current financial year retained income).
		This interim management statement and up to date NAV and Share Price information are available at www.monksinvestmenttrust.co.uk‡ ‡      Neither the contents of the Managers' website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Managers' website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement. For further information, contact: Robert O'Riordan  0131 275 3181 [e-mail]

 

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