Investors are in for a treat in time for Christmas as Scottish Investment Trust (SCIN) is recommending a bigger dividend hike than anticipated.
In the year to 31 October, the investment trust delivered a total return of 12.8% and net asset value per share (NAV) growth of 11%.
The investment trust adopts a contrarian approach by investing in undervalued ‘unfashionable’ firm which are overlooked by other investors who prefer to invest with the crowd.
Among its top holdings are retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS), pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB).
Scottish Investment Trust plans to pay out a final dividend of 14.5p per share, helping to boost the total regular dividend by 48.1%. This represents the 34th consecutive increase in the annual dividend.
The downside for investors after this 'step change' in the ordinary dividend is the trust is less likely to pay future special dividends and will not necessarily distribute income generated in excess of the dividend.
This helps explain why the share price is only up 0.3% at 853p.
