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Aberdeen Asia Focus PLC on Thursday drew attention to the resilience of Asian economies, as it posted net asset value per share gains in ‘a period of significant volatility’. The trust invests in smaller, listed companies across a range of Asian industries and economies. It reported a NAV total return of 20.3% for the financial year to July 30, outperforming the benchmark MSCI AC Asia Ex Japan Small Cap Index, which returned 7.6% over the same period. Aberdeen Asia Focus reported a total dividend per share for the financial year of 6.43p, down from 7.42p a year prior. However, in the prior year, the trust declared a special dividend of 1.0p, owing to the ‘continuing strength of dividend generation from the portfolio.’ Diluted NAV per share rose 18% to 381.72 pence from 324.26p a year earlier, while the trust’s share price returned 26.6%. This narrowed the trust’s discount to 10.1% at July 31, from 14.3% a year prior. Shares in the trust were down 0.4% on Thursday afternoon at 363.52 pence. On performance, Chair Krishna Shanmuganathan said the outperformance reflects the managers ‘unwavering commitment to investing in quality and resilience with long-term growth prospects amongst Asia’s next generation of market leaders.’ The company said strong performers Precision Tsugami China, which makes high-precision machine tools, contributed positively throughout the period. The trust said it did well ‘on the back of earnings improvements and a solid order pipeline including early orders in robotics and AI’. It added that Choma ATE and Taiwan Union Technology ‘significantly outperformed’, with their share prices up 91% and 57% respectively. ‘In a period of significant volatility, Asian economies have remained resilient. The region’s structural long-term growth drivers, such as urbanisation, digitalisation, consumer market growth, and the green transition, remain intact. We look to the future with confidence,’ added Chair Shanmuganathan. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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