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Alliance Trust PLC on Thursday said it swung to an annual loss as it also turned to an investment loss from a gain one year earlier, although it still increased its total dividend payout to shareholders. The Dundee, Scotland-headquartered global equities investor said 2022 pretax loss was £235.9 million, swinging from a £543.3 million profit in 2021. This was due to a swing to an investment loss of £358.7 million compared to a gain of £501.0 million. Net asset value per share dropped 9.3% to 989.00 pence each on December 31 from 1,090.00p a year earlier. Despite this, the company declared a total dividend of 24.00p per share for 2022, up 26% from 19.05p a year ago. Shares in Alliance Trust were down 1.6% to 1,001.98 pence each in London on Thursday morning. Alliance Trust argued there were ‘few places for investors to hide’ in 2022, citing: ‘the return of high inflation after a 40-year absence, the war in Ukraine, higher interest rates and fears of recession, sent most asset prices tumbling’. However, it maintained it delivered an ‘encouraging performance’ against its benchmark index, the MSCI All Country World Index. In 2022, its NAV total return was negative 7.1%, compared to positive 18.6% in 2021. Its benchmark index returned negative 8.1%, compared to positive 19.6% a year earlier. ‘The board is satisfied that the company‘
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