Investment Company News

20 Nov 2014

Good progress at New River Retail

NRR : Good progress at New River Retail New River Retail’s EPRA net asset value rose by 14% over the six months to the end of September 2014. Earnings per share rose from 6.5p to 6.8p and they upped the dividend to 8.5p from 6p (they have also started paying quarterly dividends). Occupancy across the […]

20 Nov 2014

Everything on track at John Laing Environmental

JLEN : Everything on track at John Laing Environmental John Laing Environmental Assets has published its first set of figures since it listed in March, covering the period up to the end of September 2014. They raised £160m and invested all of that into seven environmental infrastructure assets on nine sites. The initial net asset […]

19 Nov 2014

Big Yellow expanding in Oxford and Cambridge

BYG : Big Yellow expanding in Oxford and Cambridge Big Yellow has announced its interim figures for the six months ended 30 September 2014. Big Yellow’s net asset value rose from 436.3p to 461.9p and its interim dividend was raised from 10.1p to 13.0p. Year on year occupancy increased from 70.5% to 75.2% and they drove […]

19 Nov 2014

Fidelity China boosted by Alibaba

FCSS : Fidelity China boosted by Alibaba Fidelity China Special Situations beat the MSCI China Index by 6.7% over the six months ended 30 September 2014, returning 16.8% vs. 10.1% for the Index. The company’s shares returned 14.3% as the discount widened a little – from 9.6% to 11.7%. Fairly high levels of gearing boosted […]

19 Nov 2014

Foreign & Colonial to redeem its debenture

FRCL : Foreign & Colonial to redeem its debenture Foreign & Colonial has £110m of debenture stock outstanding that was issued in 1989 and falls due for repayment on 31 December 2014. The Board have announced today that this will be redeemed at par on 31 December. This is good news for ordinary shareholders as […]

19 Nov 2014

Good first half for HICL driven by imminent disposal

HICL : Good first half for HICL driven by imminent disposal HICL Infrastructure’s interims for the six months ended 30 September show a decent increase in the net asset value over the period. The net assets value rose by 7.4% to 130.5p and the dividend was increased to 3.62p from 3.5p the previous year – they […]

18 Nov 2014

Black Sea Property requisition

BKSA : Black Sea Property requisition The Board of Black Sea Property has published a response to a requisition it has received requesting that it not wind up, recommence investing in Bulgarian property and appoint a new fund manager. The response is quite detailed so we have reproduced it in full below. Dear Shareholders, Fitel Nominees, […]

18 Nov 2014

Above market growth in asset value for British Land

BLND : Above market growth in asset value for British Land British Land’s interim report for the six months ended 30 September 2014 shows 11.8% growth in its net asset value to 769p with property values up 7.2% and total returns on property of 9.8% for the period. Underlying profits were 6.2% ahead at £155m, with […]

18 Nov 2014

Schroder Income Growth change to investment policy

SCF : Schroder Income Growth change to investment policy Schroder Income Growth’s annual report for the year that ended on 31 August 2014 is out. they upped the dividend by 3.1% (well ahead of the 1.5% increase in the CPI – inflation beating dividend increases are part of Schroder Income Growth’s objective). The total return […]

18 Nov 2014

Securities Trust of Scotland underperforms in first half

STS : Securities Trust of Scotland underperforms in first half Securities Trust of Scotland lagged its benchmark (MSCI World High Dividend Yield Index) by 2.4% over the six months that ended on 30 September 2014 – making a 2.6% total return on net assets. The Chairman said stock selection was the predominant reason behind underperformance, particularly within the […]