Henderson Smaller Companies published its interim report yesterday. This covers the six month period that ended on 30 November 2014, a period that saw the Numis Smaller Companies ex Investment Companies Index fall by 4.6% in total return terms. Henderson Smaller Companies did well then to manage a fall of 1.2% in NAV total return and a gain of 1.6% in share price terms. The Board have decided to pay an interim dividend of 3.5p per share. The Board say that it is their current intention to at least maintain the final dividend, which was 8.0p for the year ended 31 May 2014.
The manager’s report has a table of the stocks that contributed towards the fund’s performance during the period, led by, house builder, Bellway.
| Top five contributors to relative performance | 6 month return % | Relative contribution % |
| Bellway | +36.5 | +1.1 |
| AA Group | +44.4 | +0.9 |
| Taylor Wimpey | +25.9 | +0.8 |
| Howden Joinery | +23.2 | +0.5 |
| Enquest* | -64.8 | +0.5 |
| Top five detractors from relative performance | 6 month return % | Relative contribution % |
| Afren | -66.1 | -0.8 |
| Premier Oil | -46.9 | -0.5 |
| Thomas Cook | -25.7 | -0.4 |
| Micro Focus* | +37.3 | -0.3 |
| Spectris | -17.0 | -0.3 |
* in benchmark index but not owned by the Company
HSL : Henderson Smaller delivers positive return to shareholders