Diverse Income Trust PLC - invests in small- and medium-sized UK listed companies - On Thursday says net asset value per share increases by 15% year-on-year to 111.81 pence in its half-year that ended November 30 from 97.10p. However, this is 5.5% down on 118.31p at the end of its last financial year on May 31, 2021. NAV total return in the period is a loss of 3.8%, swung from a return of 37% in the six months immediately prior. This is behind the return from the wider UK market, with the Numis All-Share Index up by 1.1% over the same period. The index is used as a comparator by the company.
Swings to a loss of £16.1m on total pretax returns from positive pretax returns of £37.2m a year before. Diverse Income Trust only slightly increases first-half dividends to two payments of 1.80p each, up from two of 1.75p in the first half last year. This is despite a 24% year-on-year rise in revenue per share of 2.20p from 1.77p, as the board takes a ‘prudent’ approach, expecting the outcome for the current year to be similar to the previous year.
‘The net asset value slipped back 5.5% as investors took a more cautious view of companies’ recovery prospects. This was due to the adverse pressures from cost inflation, supply disruptions and the uncertainty created by the seasonal rise in Covid cases and, at the end of the period, the arrival of the Omicron variant of the virus,’ explains Chair Andrew Bell.
Current stock price: 113.76 pence down 0.2% on Friday
12-month change: up 9.4%
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