Annual results from Janus Henderson flagship City of London and Supermarket Income, interims from AVI Japan Opportunity, BH Macro and M&G Global Credit Income, confirmation from Riverstone Energy that it has $250m to return to shareholders and a new co-manager at JPMorgan Global Growth & Income.
Janus Henderson flagship City of London (CTY) beat the FTSE All-Share by 5.6% in the year to 30 June with a total underlying return of 16.8% compared to the UK benchmark’s 11.2% total return, its annual report shows. Job Curtis and David Smith, managers of the £2.5bn UK equity income trust, said AstraZeneca, NatWest and Imperial Brands were their best stocks although they missed out making more for shareholders by not owning Rolls Royce and Standard Chartered, and their inclusion of US drugs giant Merck also weighed on returns. Growth in dividends from banks enabled a 3.4% rise in earnings to 21.6p per share, covering 21.3p in dividends, whose 3.4% increase was the consecutive 59th year the payout had advanced, another record for the investment trust sector. Chair Sir Laurie Magnus said CTY’s growth in net asset value (NAV) had also beaten the All-Share index over three, five and 10 years.
Riverstone Energy (RSE) confirms it sold all of its stake in Permian Resources yesterday at $13.46 per share, a 1.75% discount to the closing price on 13 September. It will receive a total of $135m before taxes and expenses which added to the proceeds from the previous day’s sale of Whitecap Resources will leave it with $250m, most of which it will return to shareholders as part of its managed wind-down approved by shareholders last month.
Supermarket Income (SUPR) says the 12 months to 30 June was a “transformational” year with a £403m joint venture with Blue Owl Capital freeing up £200m of capital to invest in acquisitions and the internalisation of its fund management team saving an expected £4m a year. EPRA earnings per share dipped 2% to 6p from 6.1p from a temporary cash drag as the £980m company redeploys proceeds from the Blue Owl transaction with cover for the 7.8%-yielder’s dividends easing to 98% from 101%. For the current 2026 financial year it is targeting minimum dividends of 6.18p per share, up from 6.12p which was a 1% rise on the 6.06p paid in 2024. On a like-for-like basis the portfolio of stores rose 1.9% during the year with net tangible assets edging 0.1p to 87.1p per share. Borrowing fell with 31% loan to value down from 37% a year ago providing capacity for growth in a resilient UK grocery market that saw sales rise 5.4% in the year to July.
AVI Japan Opportunity (AJOT) had a successful first half for its activist approach to smaller cash-laden Japanese smaller companies, notching up an underlying 11.7% sterling return in the six months to 30 June that beat the MSCI Japan Small Cap index gain of 6.5%. The 5.1% outperformance came as Japan’s regulators stepped up pressure on companies to enhance corporate value and AJOT’s manager AVI launched public campaigns against Rohto Pharmaceutical and software company Wacom. Since launch in October 2018 the trust has generated a total return on net assets of 89.7%, well ahead of the benchmark’s 31.5%. Demand for the shares saw them end the period on a 1.3% premium above net asset value. An interim dividend of 1.6p and a special dividend of 0.6p per share have been declared. Chair Norman Crighton said: “AVI continues to identify compelling opportunities in Japan’s under-researched small to mid-cap space, employing its constructive engagement strategy to unlock substantial corporate value.”
BH Macro (BHMG), the £1.3bn Brevan Howard hedge fund, had a flat first half with dollar weakness the main factor in its dollar and sterling share classes seeing declines in net asset value of 0.59% and 0.28%. The board remains “uncomfortable” with the share price discount that has narrowed below the 8% level that triggered continuation votes for both share classes earlier this year. The managers say the next catalyst for the US rates market will depend on the Federal Reserve and that the market will monitor the Fed’s succession planning “since it may have big implications for rates markets”. They add: “Unless the labour market falters, rate cuts could be delayed to the likely displeasure of the president who believes rates should be substantially lower and who would seemingly like to install a new Fed chair as soon as possible.”
M&G Credit Income (MGCI), the £182m 8.5%-yielding loan and bond fund, underperformed in the first half of the year with an underlying total investment return of 3% that trailed the 4.3% of its ‘SONIA+4%’ benchmark. Lead manager Adam English said his team had taken a more defensive stance as credit spreads – the gap between yields on loans and benchmark government bonds – narrowed to almost 20-year lows. “Current levels of market exuberance feel over done and in our opinion investors aversion to bad news is leading to complacency,” he said. The shares stand on a 1.6% premium in response to investor demand.
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI) says Sam Witherow, a portfolio manager in JP Morgan’s international equity group, will join its team to work with Helge Skibeli and James Cook. He replaces Tim Woodhouse who it was announced in July would step down as co-manager of the £3.2bn global equity income trust this month. Witherow joined JP Morgan as a graduate trainee in 20078 and has worked with Skibeli on other funds for over six years.
Biotech Growth (BIOG) has appointed public health and diseases expert Professor Dame Jenny Harries to its board as an independent non-executive director. Professor Harries served as chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) from its inception in 2021. Before that she played a pivotal role in the UK government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic as deputy chief medical officer for England.
Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT (GV20) says it is making good progress on the sale of the venture capital trust’s remaining solar assets, with completion now expected in the fourth quarter of this year.
