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Utilico Emerging Markets Trust PLC on Monday reported a decline in its half-year net asset value, as it grappled with ‘elevated volatility’. The investor in global infrastructure said net asset value fell to 266.00 pence at the September 30 half-year end, down 2.9% from 274.01p in March. It reported a NAV total return per of negative 1.4% for the half-year, well below the MSCI Emerging Markets total return Index which picked up 7.5%. Utilico Emerging Markets swung to a pretax loss of £6.6 million, compared to profit of £29.9 million a year prior. The company upped its dividend by 4.1% on-year 4.475p per share, from 4.300p. The annual dividend is still expected to be 9.125p, a 6.1% increase on the previous year. Utilico Emerging Markets Chair John Rennocks said the firm’s share price discount remained ‘stubbornly high’ at 18.4%, though it had ‘reduced modestly’ after starting the year at 19.3%. Chair John Rennocks said: ‘The half year to 30 September 2024 continued to be challenging with elevated volatility in most markets as uncertainty has dominated. Consequently, UEM delivered a weaker performance.’ Rennocks said all portfolio currencies had trended down against the sterling and noted that the devaluation of Petalite, a Brazilian electric vehicle company which is part of Utilico’s unlisted portfolio, was a significant challenge during the half-year period. He cited Donald Trump’s election win for ‘rising economic tensions’, adding: ‘It is difficult to have strong conviction on the impact of his policies and approach, but we expect volatility to remain elevated and the outcomes for different emerging markets may well be uneven in nature.’ Looking ahead, the chair said: ‘The strong win by Donald Trump in the US elections and his MAGA agenda will mean rising economic tensions globally. It is difficult to have strong conviction on the impact of his policies and approach, but we expect volatility to remain elevated and the outcomes for different emerging markets may well be uneven in nature. We remain confident that our strong management teams across the portfolio will make the right choices and continue to thrive in a challenging environment.’ Utilico Emerging Markets shares were up 0.5% at 208.00 pence each on Monday afternoon in London. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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