Murray Income says, over the 6 months ended 31 December 2015, the Company’s net asset value (“NAV”) per share fell by 1.0% on a total return basis outperforming the FTSE All-Share Index which fell by 2.0%. The Company’s share price ended the period at a discount to NAV of 8.0%, compared to 6.9% at 30 June 2015, resulting in a negative total return to shareholders over the period of 2.0%. Two interim dividends of 7p each have been declared in this accounting period.
The manager says there were two main areas of positive relative performance; firstly, the underweight position in the mining sector where the position in BHP Billiton is the only holding, and secondly, the overweight position in software where both Sage and Microsoft performed strongly over the six months. Both companies have been invigorated by relatively new management teams. The standout disappointment during the period was Pearson which issued a profit warning in October 2015, citing slower enrolments and higher textbook returns in North America and weak textbook sales in South Africa. Since the period end the company has outlined a new cost savings plan that has been well received by the market leading to a small recovery in the share price.
MUT : Murray Income beats All-Share in H2 2015