Shires Income increases its dividend to shareholders by 2% – During the year ended 31 March 2018, Shires Income‘s NAV per share increased by 3.3% on a total return basis, compared to a total return from the benchmark, the FTSE All-Share Index, of 1.2%. The share price total return was 12.2%, as the discount to NAV closed near to the value of its share price.
Dividend
The company reported that it’s revenue return for the year was 13.69p per share, compared to 13.08p per share for the previous year. The majority of companies in the portfolio grew their dividends and there were a number of special dividends received during the year, which reflected another year of respectable corporate earnings growth.
As a result of the revenue return, the board proposed a final dividend of 4.00p per share (2017 – 3.75p), which will be paid on 27 July 2018 to Shareholders on the register on 6 July 2018. This final dividend brings total dividends for the year to 13.00p per share (2017 – 12.75p).
Performance
The company’s out-performance came mainly from its preference shares, which generated a total return of 12.2%, while the equity portfolio produced a total return of 1.4%. The company’s holding of preference shares was approximately 27.5% of the portfolio at 31st March.
Within the equity portfolio, the portfolio‘s exposure to smaller companies, through its holding in Aberdeen Smaller Companies Income Trust delivered the largest contribution to performance. In the year, the strengthening of sterling combined with rising markets has led to another year of smaller companies outperforming large cap and Aberdeen Smaller Companies Income took advantage of these trends.
SHRS : Shires Income increases its dividend to shareholders by 2%