European Assets’ results for the year ended 31 December 2014 show that the fund had a great year. the net asset value total return was 7.7%, the share price return was 8.8% and the dividend was increased by 8.5% in Euro terms, on top of a 27% increase in 2013. By contrast the return on the fund’s benchmark was -1.9%.
Good performance and the high yield have attracted new investors to the fund which expanded by £35.4m.
The manager’s statement makes the point that returns would have been even better were it not for the weak Euro. the biggest contributor to returns was Aer Lingus, which received a bid from IAG, the owners of British Airways. Jazztel, the Spanish broadband supplier, also performed very strongly increasing +50.5% following a bid from Orange. Two other holdings performed well on the back of corporate activity; Exact the Dutch software provider and Nutreco the Dutch animal nutrition business. The worst performer was Tod’s, the luxury shoe brand, which fell by 43.2%.
EAT : European Assets boosted by takeover activity