Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Co PLC on Tuesday said it outperformed its benchmark in 2024 by one percentage point, but kept its dividend unchanged.
The London-based investor, which backs equities and equity-related securities of companies trading in the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, delivered a net asset value total return of 13%, ahead of the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index’s 12% rise.
The company’s NAV per share stood at 509.04 pence as of December 31, up 10% from 461.24p a year earlier.
Schroder Asian Total Return said: ‘The discount at which the company’s share price trades widened slightly during the year from 4.6% at the start of the year to 5.1% at the end of December 2024.
‘The board aims to achieve a discount of no more than 5% in normal market conditions. Consequently, the board made use of its authority to buy back shares to assist in discount management and to reduce share price volatility.’
A total of 3.7 million shares were repurchased by the company during 2024, amounting to 3.8% of the issued share capital for £17.0 million at an average discount of 6.6%
The board has recommended a final dividend of 11.50p per share, unchanged from 2023, though it noted that part of the payout will be funded from reserves due to a 6.3% drop in revenue return per share to 9.61p from 10.26p.
Schroder Asian Total Return also announced it will seek shareholder approval at its April annual general meeting to continue operating as an investment trust for a further three years. The company said it has consistently outperformed its benchmark, marking the ninth year in the last decade of delivering returns ahead of the index.
Chair Sarah MacAulay said: ‘It was a year of two halves for performance, with the majority of the gains made in the first half of the year. Taiwanese technology stocks, particularly those linked to artificial intelligence, fared well and the company’s overweighting to Taiwan was a contributor to outperformance.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, the company’s largest holding known as TSMC, made substantial gains buoyed by demand for its advanced semiconductors and stellar performance from Nvidia Corp in the United States.
Shares in Schroder Asian Total Return were up 1.1% at 472.34 pence in London on Wednesday morning.
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