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Temple Bar Investment Trust makes historic cut to dividend as performance falters
StockMarketWire.com
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Equities investor Temple Bar Investment Trust cut its dividend for the first time in decades after it posted a negative annual performance that missed its benchmark
The company's net asset value total return per share for the year through December was negative 28%.
That compared to a 9.8% fall on the FTSE All Share Index over the same time period.
Temple Bar paid four interim dividends during 2020 totalling 38.5p per share and said it didn't intend to pay a final dividend, meaning the total payout for 2020 had fallen 25% year-on-year.
'Up until 2020 the company had raised its dividend every year for 36 years and there had been no cut in the annual payment for over 50 years,' it said.
'Unfortunately, as previously announced, this record was impossible to maintain in the period under review.'
'A consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic was that the majority of our investee companies either significantly reduced the level of their dividend payments or made no payment at all.'
'This resulted in income generated from the portfolio plummeting from £39.7 million to £12.7 million, a fall of 68%.'
Chairman Arthur Copple said UK equities appear still to be 'extremely modestly valued', with the potential for a major upward re-rating should the economy recover.
'In any event, I can assure shareholders that both the board and the investment manager will work as hard as they can to ensure the best possible outcome for shareholders no matter what the market conditions,' Copple said.
Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
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