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BlackRock Throgmorton Trust PLC on Thursday reported a net asset value gain in its recent financial year, outperforming its benchmark, but it complained that its share price didn’t keep pace, as market headwinds and investor reallocations weigh on UK small- and mid-cap stocks. The London-based investment trust said NAV total return was 16.3% for the financial year that ended November 30, exceeding the 14.1% return of its benchmark, the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM Index. NAV per share rose to 682.82 pence from 600.72p a year earlier. However, BlackRock Throgmorton said its share price total return was a ‘disappointing’ 5.0%, underperforming its benchmark by 9.1 percentage point. Despite NAV gain, the trust’s share price lagged, widening its discount to NAV to around 13% from 3.6% a year earlier. To address this, the fund undertook significant buybacks, repurchasing 9.4% of its shares in financial 2024, with an additional 6.6% bought back since the year-end, aiming to narrow the discount and better align share price performance with NAV. The board acknowledged that 2024 was a ‘challenging and unusual year’ for UK small- and mid-cap stocks, citing weak demand, wealth manager reallocations away from UK equities, and capital gains tax-driven selling pressure ahead of the April 2024 tax year-end and the UK budget in October. BlackRock Throgmorton increased its final dividend by nearly a quarter to 14.25p per share from 11.45p. This brings the total dividend for the year to 18.00p, up 22% from 14.75p in financial 2023. The board reaffirmed its confidence in Portfolio Manager Dan Whitestone, who it noted has outperformed the benchmark in nine of the past ten years. It believes the trust is ‘well-positioned to return to its position as a sector leader’ once confidence in UK equities rebounds. Shares in BlackRock Throgmorton Trust were down 0.6% at 582.54p midday Thursday in London. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights reserved.
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