Fidelity European Trust PLC on Friday said it outperformed its benchmark in 2021 due to strong recovery in 2021 and lifted its payout to shareholders.
The Tadworth, England-based investment trust’s net asset value per share at December 31 rose 21% year-on-year to 358.68 pence from 296.57p.
Fidelity European’s total NAV return for 2021 was 24%, outperforming its benchmark, the FTSE World Europe, which only returned 17%.
The company’s share price stood at 340.50p as at December 31, up 19% compared to 286.00p on the same date in 2020. Shares were up 0.3% at 301.49 pence each on Friday morning in London.
The investor in continental European equities attributed the results a strong recovery 2021, helped by higher vaccination rates, earnings upgrades and improving investor sentiment.
As a result, Fidelity European Trust proposed a final dividend of 4.18 pence, bringing its total dividend to 6.83p. This represents an increase of 5.1% on the total dividend of 6.50 pence paid in the prior year.
The investment trust noted that the Ukrainian crisis and accompanying Western sanctions on Russia threaten to inhibit economic growth in Europe as a whole.
‘While one‘s first thoughts in such circumstances are for the suffering of the Ukrainian people, it happens to be true that Ukraine is a major world supplier of a wide range of agricultural and mineral commodities. More limited supply of these could exacerbate inflationary pressures worldwide, as could unpredictable Russian oil and gas exports. This makes for a cautionary background.’
Nevertheless, the firm emphasised that it had no direct investments in Russia and Ukraine.
Fidelity European Trust’s overall outlook for this year was optimistic, as vaccination and booster rates are increasing and treatments for those affected are improving.
‘This should help economies continue to reopen in a manner where people and businesses become accustomed to operating as normal with Covid. In particular, Europe has a strong export sector and is therefore poised to benefit from the global recovery.’
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