Law Debenture beat the FTSE All-Share Index over the first half of 2015 but the share price weakened. The NAV total return was 3.8% vs. 3% for the index and the share price return was -1.6%. The interim dividend has been increased from 4.7p to 5.2p.
The report says the stocks that added the most value over the period included house-builders, Redrow and Bellway, and textile rental company, Johnson Service Group. One of the largest detractors was Velocys, which fell as a result of the fall in the oil price making the adoption of their gas to liquid technology less attractive than expected.
Within the independent fiduciary business, revenue, net of cost of sales, which represents legal costs recharged to clients, increased by 1.4% over the corresponding period last year. Administration costs increased by 2.2% which included exit costs from their agency solutions business. Profit before tax fell by 1.0%.
LWDB : Law Deb’s share price weak in H1