THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT ARE NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, ANY MEMBER STATE OF THE EEA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE SAME WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
29 May 2026
The Monks Investment Trust PLC
(the "Company" or "Monks")
Publication of Circular and Notice of General Meeting
to renew the Company's authority to buy back Shares
The Board of Monks announces that the Company has today published a circular (the "Circular"), which contains a notice of a general meeting of the Company at which the Board will seek Shareholder approval to renew the Company's Share buyback authority. The general meeting will be held at 9.00 a.m. on 23 June 2026 at 3 St. Helen's Place, London EC3A 6AB (the "General Meeting").
The Board maintains an active approach to both Share issuance and Share buybacks with the objective of enhancing long term Shareholder value while managing the balance between supply and demand for the Company's Shares and the discount/premium at which the Shares trade. In normal market conditions, the Board aims to restrict any discount to net asset value ("NAV") at which the Shares trade, to mid-single digits. Since January 2022, the Company has undertaken regular Share buybacks while the Shares have been trading at a discount to the NAV per Share, repurchasing 96,602,930 Shares in the period from 10 January 2022 to 26 May 2026.
At the 2025 AGM, Shareholders granted the Company the authority to buy back up to 26,217,332 Shares (the "Existing Authority"). In the period from the 2025 AGM to 26 May 2026, the Company bought back 18,330,289 Shares into treasury, representing approximately 69.9 per cent. of the Existing Authority. The accretive benefit to the Company's NAV (as at close of business on 26 May 2026) as a result of these buybacks is estimated to be approximately 0.39 per cent. of NAV, net of expenses. As at close of business on 26 May 2026, the Company's remaining buyback authority permitted the repurchase of up to a further 7,887,043 Shares (representing approximately 5.0 per cent. of the Company's issued Share capital (excluding Shares held in treasury)).
If recent levels of buyback activity continue, the Board expects that the Existing Authority may be fully utilised ahead of the 2026 AGM and considers it prudent to avoid any interruption to its ability to implement its discount management policy. As a result, in order to provide the Company with sufficient authority to continue to operate its Share buyback programme, the Board is seeking Shareholder approval for the early renewal of its authority to repurchase Shares.
The ability to repurchase Shares on an ad hoc basis is a necessary element of the Board's discount management toolkit and, therefore, the Board believes that renewal of the Company's buyback authority is in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole.
A copy of the Circular will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. The Circular and the Notice of the General Meeting will also be available on the Company's website at www.bailliegifford.com/en/uk/individual-investors/funds/monks-investment-trust.
Unless the context requires otherwise, all defined terms used in this announcement will have the same meaning as described in the Circular.
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For further information please contact: |
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The Monks Investment Trust PLC Randeep Grewal
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Contact via Company Secretary |
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Investec Bank plc (Corporate Broker to Monks) David Yovichic Helen Goldsmith |
+44 (0) 20 7597 4000
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Baillie Gifford & Co Limited (Alternative Investment Fund Manager and Company Secretary) Naomi Cherry |
+44 (0) 131 275 2000 |
Notes
Legal Entity Identifier: 213800MRI1JTUKG5AF64