F&C Capital & Income has published figures for the six months ended 31 March 2016. Over this period on a total return basis, the company’s net asset value per share rose by 4.8% against the FTSE All-Share return of 3.5%. On the same basis, the share price of the company rose 3.8% as the premium to NAV fell from 2.2% to 1.2%. F&C Capital & Income paid a first interim dividend of 2.35 pence per share during the period of the current year, which represents an increase of 2.2% over last year and is declaring, in conjunction with these results, a second payment of 2.35 pence per share, which will be paid on 30 June.
The Chairman says that , in the context of a positive relative return, one or two sectors stand out: an underweight position in banks helped as the sector fell; an underweight position in mining stocks was painful as the sector experienced a rollercoaster ride which saw Glencore, not held by the company, rise by over 70%. More important than sector movements, though, were individual stock returns. In particular, Informa (a publishing and events business), Glanbia (an Irish food business), WPP (advertising and media) and Intermediate Capital (a specialist asset manager) were the biggest contributors over the period, while in addition to Glencore, BG which was taken over and not held, hurt the portfolio.
FCI : F&C Capital & Income beats benchmark in first half