Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust PLC on Monday said profit was down while it net asset value per share was up, although it did not perform as well as its comparator benchmark.

The London-based investment trust focusing on global healthcare said pretax profit in the financial year that ended September 30 was £22.1 million, down 65% from £63.4 million a year earlier. This was largely due to gains on investments held at fair value fell by 64% to £23.0 million from £64.2 million.

Net asset value per share on September 30 was 333.83 pence, up 5.0% from 318.07p a year earlier. Polar Capital Global Healthcare’s financial 2022 total return was 5.6%, meaning it underperformed compared to the benchmark MSCI ACWI Health Care Index total return of 6.9%.

Shares in Polar Capital Global Healthcare traded flat at 324.52p in London on Monday morning.

Polar Capital Global Healthcare said industry fundamentals and valuations remained strong and attractive, adding it was very optimistic in outlook for its global healthcare portfolio.

‘The healthcare industry continues to undergo material, structural changes as it looks to use innovative products, technologies and services to meet the ever-growing demands of an ageing global population. It is those structural changes that are creating some exciting and robust growth opportunities. In the near-term, a substantial increase in utilisation could be the catalyst for positive revenue and earnings revisions as healthcare systems globally work their way through ever-growing surgery backlogs,’ said Investment Managers James Douglas and Gareth Powell.

It declared a total dividend for the financial year of 2.10p, up 5.0% from 2.00p a year ago.

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