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Bankers Investment Trust PLC on Thursday said it slightly underperformed its benchmark’s total return, but that net asset value increased. Bankers Investment, which aims for capital growth in excess of the FTSE World Index and annual dividend growth ahead of inflation, delivered a positive 5.2% total return for the year that ended on October 31. The FTSE World Index delivered positive 5.7%. For the previous year, Bankers Investment delivered a negative 11.3% total return, significantly underperforming the index which delivered negative 2.8%. Bankers Investment further reported a net asset value, with debt at par, of 108.0 pence per share at October 31, up from 105.1p one year previously. NAV with debt at fair value rose to 111.0p from 105.0p. The stock was up 0.2% at 102.00p on Thursday afternoon in London. The trust declared a dividend of 0.66p per share for the fourth quarter. This increased the total dividend by 10% to 2.56p from 2.33p the year before. For the current financial year, Bankers Investment expects to declare a total dividend of at least 2.69p per share. Chair Simon Miller said the trust now hopes to ‘attract new investors who have yet to learn the benefits of long-term investing’ through a greater marketing and website focus on potential retail investors. ‘Equity markets have been driven higher by a small set of companies supported by investors’ enthusiasm for the transformative power of generative AI,’ Miller continued. ‘In the rush to invest in the US and these few leaders, the vast bulk of quoted companies are trading on undemanding valuations and look attractively priced for patient investors, like ourselves.’ Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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