Perpetual Income & Growth has published its annual accounts for the year that ended on 31 March 2014. Over that period Perpetual Income & Growth outperformed its benchmark (the FTSE All-Share Index) by some margin, delivering a total return on net assets of 18.8% at the portfolio level and 19.4% including the effects of marking its debt to market values. This compares to an 8.8% return on the index. The return that shareholders got was 21.1% as the trust’s rating improved – leaving it standing at a 1.5% discount to NAV at 31 March.
The dividends declared for the year totalled 11.8p vs. 11.2p for the previous year and this excludes a one-off special dividend of 1.9p.
The fund replaced its long-term debt (costing 6.125% per annum) with new 15 year debt costing 4.37% and the fund expanded by £28m as subscription shareholders exercised their shares. The Chairman says they are in the process of reviewing the management fee.
The statement mentions a number of holdings as contributors to Perpetual Income & Growth’s outperformance including Thomas Cook, AstraZeneca, BT and Beazely. These gains were offset by losses on holdings in stocks like SSE, Centrica and Rolls Royce.
