THE
DIVERSE INCOME TRUST PLC
HALF-YEARLY
FINANCIAL REPORT
The
Directors present the Half-Yearly Financial Report of the Company
for the period to 30 November
2023.
RESULTS
FOR THE HALF YEAR TO 30 NOVEMBER
2023
Summary
of Results
|
As
at
30
November
2023
|
As
at
30
November
2022
|
As
at
31
May
2023
|
NAV per
ordinary share1
|
85.61p
|
95.45p
|
88.87p
|
Ordinary
share price
|
79.40p
|
91.20p
|
83.40p
|
(Discount)
to NAV1
|
(7.3%)
|
(4.5%)
|
(6.2%)
|
Ordinary
shares in issue
|
318,540,642
|
355,870,647
|
318,540,642
|
|
|
|
|
|
Period
to
30 November
2023
|
Period
to
30
November 2022
|
Period
to
31
May
2023
|
Revenue
return per ordinary share1
|
2.38p
|
2.23p
|
4.05p
|
Ordinary
dividends per ordinary share
|
2.00p
|
1.90p
|
4.05p
|
Ongoing
charges1
2
|
1.14%2
|
1.08%
|
1.09%
|
|
|
|
|
1
Alternative
performance measure.
2
Estimated
as at 30 November 2023. Ongoing
charges are the Company's annualised revenue and capitalised
expenses (excluding finance costs and certain non-recurring items)
expressed as a percentage of the average monthly net assets of the
Company during the year.
CHAIRMAN'S
STATEMENT
This report covers the half year to November
2023, a period of tightening monetary policy, when
inflationary pressures began to wane and investors started to look
forward to the end (or a part reversal) of the monetary tightening
cycle in 2024.
Half-year returns
The Trust's NAV total return was down 1.3% over the half year, in
contrast with the total return of the Deutsche Numis All-Share,
Index, (dominated by returns on the largest stocks) which rose by
1.6%, and that of the Peer Group which rose 0.3%. The share price
total return was -2.2%, owing to a slight widening of the discount,
from 6.2% at the end of May to 7.3% at the period end.
The share prices of smaller companies and AIM stocks remained under
pressure owing to concerns about the risk of recession but also to
the persistent selling of UK equities by domestic investors. The
Deutsche Numis, Smaller Companies + AIM index ex ICs total return
was -3.7%, well behind that of the UK market as a whole.
The Trust's revenue earnings per share over the half year to
November 2023 rose 6.7% to 2.38p,
which compares with 2.23p last year. The Board has already declared
a first interim dividend of 1p per share for the current year
which, together with the second interim dividend of 1p declared
with these results represents a rise from 1.90p to 2.00p in respect
of the period. It is anticipated that, in combination, the four
dividends for the current year will at least match those paid in
the previous year.
Returns
since the Trust was first listed in April
2011
Whilst recent returns have been disappointing, they are atypical of
shareholders' experience since the Company listed in 2011. Over the
twelve years and seven-month period since issue, the Trust's NAV
total return was 171.7%, and its share price total return 144.0%,
which compares to 147.4% for the peer group and 92.5% for the
Deutsche Numis, All-Share Index.
Share Issuance and Redemptions
There are often fewer buyers of investment trusts when markets
decline, in addition to which regulatory and other factors have led
to selling of investment companies by some institutional investors
in 2023. As a result, the sector's average discount to NAV widened
from close to zero in 2022 to over 15% for much of autumn 2023, a
level not seen (other than for a few days at the start of the
pandemic) since the depths of the banking crisis in early 2009.
Your Company's shares continued to trade at a relatively steady
discount, which averaged 7.4% across the half year. As the Trust's
NAV started to recover late in the half year (and beyond), its
share price discount narrowed slightly, to 7.3% at the end of
November. Since launch, the trust has traded close to its NAV, at
an average discount of 1%.
As the Trust's daily share price reflects the balance of buyers and
sellers, when there is an imbalance the Trust's share price can
diverge from its NAV. In order to address any persistent imbalances
between buyers and sellers, each year the Trust offers shareholders
a voluntary option to redeem their shares. At the end of
May 2023, 37.3m shares (10.5% of the issued share capital)
were redeemed at NAV. A further opportunity will be offered in
May 2024.
Prospects
There is a well-known pictorial illusion which, depending upon the
viewer's perspective, can look like a duck or a rabbit (Google
"duck or rabbit" to see). For much of the second half of 2023 this
was what faced investors. Inflation rates were falling sharply, and
interest rates had reached a plateau, but was the reason that
higher rates were leading economies towards a recession (the hard
landing fear) or that inflation had been more transitory than was
diagnosed in 2022 so that its elimination did not require a
recession and economies could rebound as it fell?
Either way, expectations have grown that interest rates have peaked
in most major economies and will begin to decline in 2024. At the
time of writing, it remains unclear whether this will occur to
revive depressed economies or to reward declines in inflation in
economies experiencing modest or weak growth. One scenario would
argue for defensively hunkering down, the other in favour of
looking forward to better times. Our strategy is adaptable to
either. Diverse Income's manager aims to invest in well-managed,
soundly financed companies which prosper in normal times but are
able to use their cash flows and access to capital markets to gain
strength in tougher conditions.
Partly as a consequence of the long-term structural factors that
have contributed to the derating of the UK market, one particular
feature of the past year has been the opposite directions taken by
the large-capitalisation companies and the rest of the market,
continuing the trend seen in 2022. In late October 2023 the large caps were little changed,
while the mid and smaller capitalization stocks were down 5-10% and
AIM stocks down almost 20%. When a market sustains a prolonged
period of disengagement by investors, almost inevitably the less
liquid parts suffer the most, a particular headwind for our
manager's investment approach, which by design invests across the
size spectrum. The consequence of recent shifts within the market
is that the valuation gap in favour of smaller companies is as
significant as it has been for many years.
More encouragingly, since late October, when there were tangible
signs of the UK's inflation performance improving (alleviating
fears of a further series of interest rate rises), the ensuing
market recovery has been led by smaller and mid-sized companies. If
this trend continues, the Company's exposure to smaller companies
can be expected to become a tailwind and see better rewards in the
coming year, on the back of improved earnings performance (as the
cost and demand hurdles abate) and a greater willingness of
investors to give credit for the fundamental performance of smaller
companies.
Andrew Bell
Chairman
13 February 2024
INVESTMENT
MANAGER'S REPORT
Who are the fund managers that have day-to-day
responsibility for the makeup of the Trust's
portfolio?
The daily portfolio management of the Trust is carried out by
Gervais Williams and Martin Turner.
Gervais
Williams
Gervais joined Miton in March 2011
and is now Head of Equities in Premier Miton. He has been an equity
fund manager since 1985, including 17 years at Gartmore. He was
named Fund Manager of the Year by What Investment? in 2014. Gervais
is also a board member of the Quoted Companies Alliance and a
member of the AIM Advisory Council.
Martin
Turner
Martin
joined Miton in May 2011. Martin and
Gervais have had a close working relationship since 2004, with
complementary expertise that has led them to back a series of
successful companies. Martin qualified as a Chartered Accountant
with Arthur Anderson and had senior
roles and extensive experience at Merrill Lynch and Collins
Stewart.
These are
the two managers who have managed the Trust since the launch, and
thus they are responsible for its outperformance since issue in
April 2011.
The
Investment Management Report is set out in three
sections.
Section
1 - Why do we believe that a multicap income strategy has major
advantages over the longer-term?
Why
was the Trust set up with an income strategy, given that over the
last three decades some of the best returns have been generated by
capital growth strategies?
Equity
income strategies have delivered perfectly good returns over the
three decades of globalisation. Some regard these returns as
disappointing however, when viewed alongside those of various
capital growth strategies where returns have often been quite
exceptional. During periods when global stock markets appreciate
well, it is usual for some capital growth strategies to generate
returns that outpace other market sectors.
But this
outcome only tells half the story, because over long time periods
the global economy experiences a wider range of circumstances.
There are periods when inflationary pressures are persistent for
example, and when the downside risks of investing in assets funded
with debt can have a disproportionate downside.
In our
view, one of the advantages of an equity income strategy is that it
has the potential to generate perfectly good returns across a wide
range of equity market conditions. We worry that many capital
appreciation strategies don't necessarily work as well through more
unsettled economic conditions. Companies with businesses that make
consistent losses for example, can only succeed if they raise
additional capital regularly. When global stock markets rise
progressively, such issuance can occur at ever higher share prices,
greatly enhancing the returns of early shareholders. But when
global stock markets are weak, consistently loss-making stocks may
be obliged to continue raising capital, even at very distressed
share prices, thereby greatly diluting the returns of the early
shareholders.
When
global stock markets are unsettled, companies that continue to
generate surplus cash, such as equity income stocks, have a
disproportionate advantage. As businesses with excessive debt fail
for example, well-funded businesses can expand into the vacated
markets, enhancing their prospects. At the same time, well-funded
businesses can also acquire over-leveraged but otherwise viable
companies, debt-free from the receiver, often for a nominal sum.
Typically, these acquisitions empower the acquired body of skilled
staff to greatly enhance the prospects of the combined
business.
When the
Diverse Income Trust was issued, its strategy proposed that it
would invest in equity income stocks. It is envisaged that the
portfolio would have scope to generate attractive returns both
during globalisation as well as through more unsettled stock market
conditions.
Given
that megacap stocks have delivered such excellent returns recently,
why was the Trust set up as a multicap
strategy?
When
mainstream stock markets deliver strong returns, a portfolio of
larger quoted companies can generate perfectly good returns.
Furthermore, being largecaps, these portfolios also have abundant
market liquidity, so it is easy for institutional investors to
change their portfolio stance rapidly. When global stock markets
deliver strong returns for a number of decades, these advantages
often encourage investors to narrow their investment universe into
portfolios that comprise largecaps alone.
With
globalisation, the returns on mainstream stock market indices have
been so good for so long that an increasingly large percentage of
investors have chosen to invest passively, with portfolio
weightings determined solely by the scale of the individual stocks
in an index. Within index funds the largest sums of capital are
invested into the largest quoted companies, which tends to enhance
the returns of the very largest megacap stocks. Meanwhile, as
actively managed strategies lose market share and withdraw capital
from a broad capital universe, this leads to persistent selling of
numerous smallcaps that typically depresses their valuations. These
factors have amplified the divergence between megacap and smallcap
returns.
Whilst the
globalisation trend may have been in place for some decades, the
pattern of the global economy does vary considerably over time.
Specifically larger quoted companies might have outperformed over
recent years, but this is not usual. Over the longer-term, smaller
quoted company outperformance is the prevailing trend. Academics
refer to it as the `smallcap effect', where the return of a quoted
company is inversely related to its market capitalisation. The
returns of megacaps are outpaced by largecaps, that themselves are
outpaced by those of smallcaps.
Hence,
when the Diverse Income Trust was issued, its strategy included
smallcap equity income stocks alongside large, given our ambition
to generate attractive returns through unsettled economic
conditions, as well as during the recent period of
globalisation.
Given
that the returns of the UK stock market have been outpaced by
nearly all other global stock markets over recent decades, does a
Trust principally investing in UK equities really have the
potential to outperform global stock markets?
Whilst we
acknowledge that mainstream technology stocks have delivered strong
returns over recent years, we also highlight that at other times
the advantages often lie with portfolios invested in equity income
stocks, especially those that invest in both smallcaps as well as
largecaps.
In our
view, the essential advantages of the UK stock exchange lies in its
contrasting investment universe. Specifically in the past, the UK
stock market has greatly outperformed overseas exchanges, including
that of the US. Furthermore, during these years the best performing
part of the UK stock market was the UK smallcap sector.
So, the
real advantage of the Trust's strategy is that it has the potential
to generate attractive returns across a wide range of market
conditions. Furthermore, a strategy investing in the UK can
outperform global stock markets. That is why the Diverse Income
Trust was launched as a multicap, equity income Trust principally
investing in the UK equities.
Section
2 - Why have the Trust's returns been somewhat disappointing since
April 2021, including over the half
year period?
What
were the principal stock detractors and contributors to portfolio
returns over the half year?
Even when an investment portfolio is outperforming, the prospects
of some portfolio holdings deteriorate. When the longer-term
prospects of the Trust's holdings are significantly impaired, we
have a policy of selling them. We aim to keep the portfolio fully
invested in stocks that have the potential to generate abundant
cash surpluses in future.
As UK smallcap share prices have been weak since April 2021, the share prices of many smallcaps
have not risen as much as might have been expected when they have
announced success. Meanwhile, the share prices of companies that
have failed to hit their targets, have typically suffered more
adversely as well. The outcome is that the returns on many of the
smallcap income stocks in the Trust's portfolio have been much
weaker than anticipated.
This pattern persisted over the half year to November, with the
Trust's three worst detractors being I3 Energy, CMC Markets and
Vanquis. The Trust invested in I3 Energy at 5p in August 2020, and its share price subsequently
appreciated to 30p in early 2022 as the energy price rose. Whilst
substantial profits were taken, with the energy price declining, I3
Energy's share price has fallen back to 10.3p at the end of
November. This holding detracted 1.0% from the portfolio return
over the half year. In the case of CMC Markets, it too had
previously delivered very substantial capital appreciation to the
portfolio, but subsequently stepped up its rate of investment,
whilst its profitability fell due to lower market volatility. The
holding in CMC Markets has also detracted 1.0% over the half year.
In the case of Vanquis, we anticipate that the company is set for a
major recovery after it scaled back its lending activities. The
portfolio invested in anticipation of this recovery, although it
has taken longer to come through than we anticipated. The Vanquis
holding detracted 0.8% in the six months to November. Although the
share prices of all three companies have been weak, we do not
believe that their longer-term prospects have significantly
deteriorated. Therefore, these stocks remain a part of the
portfolio, as we expect their share prices to fully recover in
time.
With the adverse sentiment towards smallcaps, some companies have
agreed a premium takeover. Generally, we are not enthusiastic,
because in our view the share prices of the companies being
acquired could be considerably higher in the coming years, if they
become more fairly valued by investors. A good example is DWF
Group, where its share price had fallen back due to uncertainty
about the outlook for legal businesses. Although it continued to
hit the targets we anticipated, its board decided to recommend a
takeover at a share price that, while higher than earlier this
year, was no higher than the share price at which the Trust
originally invested. Nevertheless, the deal has been accepted by
shareholders, and the Trust's holding added 0.7% to total returns
over the half year.
The cash generation of XPS Pensions and Galliford both exceeded our
expectations over the half year. In the case of XPS, the company
sold its National Pensions Trust subsidiary to SEI, thereby
creating the market leader in the sector. XPS will be paid up to
£42.5m for the disposal but will still continue to earn fees for
administering what will now be a market leader. In the case of
Galliford, a dispute on a past contract was resolved, and the cash
received funded a special dividend, a share buyback and a small
acquisition. Together these two stocks enhanced the total portfolio
returns by 1.6%, although even now we still believe their prospects
are not fairly reflected in their valuations.
Over the last five years, the Trust's NAV total return has
only been 10.4%. Do these relatively disappointing returns reduce
confidence in the longer-term upside potential of the
strategy?
In recent years the share prices of UK-quoted smallcaps have
suffered two periods of weak sentiment that has held back the
Trust's returns.
1. The first extended from September
2018 as investors worried about the Parliamentary gridlock
during the EU negotiations about the UK's leaving terms. Overall,
between September 2018 and
December 2019, the Trust's NAV total
return underperformed the Deutsche Numis All-Share, Index by
5.9%.
2. The second extends from April 2021
and includes the current half year, due to an allocation crescendo
into indexation strategies that has boosted the returns of many
large and megacaps. Furthermore, as local investors have withdrawn
capital from the UK stock market to invest in other assets such as
government bonds, UK smallcap sentiment has been persistently weak.
Between April 2021 and November 2023, the Trust's NAV total return
declined by 14.4%, whereas the Deutsche Numis All-Share, Index
total return was 11.7%.
And yet, since 1955 (the date when detailed UK stock market data
was first compiled), UK quoted smallcaps have significantly
outperformed all other parts of the UK stock market. Granted, these
have been interspersed with some years of relatively poor smallcap
returns, but, overall, the scale of the long term smallcap trend
more than endorses the multicap nature of the Trust's strategy in
our view.
The largest weighting in the Trust's portfolio currently is the
Financial sector. In turn, over the last five years the returns
from the Financial sector have contributed more than any other
industry sector to the Trust's outcome. The best contributors have
typically been largecaps as smallcap share prices have often been
lower than might have expected. Over the last five years for
example, M&G, Intermediate Capital, Legal & General,
Admiral and Aviva have each contributed over 1% to Trust returns
outpacing nearly all other contributors.
Interestingly, the best performer in the Financial sector was still
a smallcap financial - XPS Pensions, which has contributed 2.0% to
returns, even though UK quoted smallcap share prices have been less
buoyant. Other notable contributors were FRP, Plus 500 and MAN
Group that collectively added 2.8% to the Trust's returns over the
same period. Over the last five years, the greatest detractor in
the Financial sector was Vanquis, where the Trust has retained its
holding in anticipation of future recovery. Even so, it alone still
detracted 1.2% from the Trust's returns. Similar patterns have been
seen in other industry sectors within the portfolio.
The bottom line is that we believe that the multicap nature of the
Trust's portfolio has real advantages over strategies that invest
solely in largecap equity income stocks, or even solely in smallcap
equity income stocks. Specifically, we highlight that the Trust's
revenue and dividend record has remained progressive, even though
the Trust's NAV total returns have been held back by adverse
smallcap sentiment over recent years.
Section 3- What are the prospects for the
Trust?
Does the Trust's performance since launch in April 2011 provide reason to be confident about
the Trust's strategy?
The section above highlighted that during the last five years,
there have been two periods when the returns of UK smallcaps have
been weak compared with the returns of the mainstream UK quoted
companies. Whilst the Trust does have a portion of its portfolio
invested in mainstream UK quoted companies, the larger portion is
invested in other equity income stocks including those listed on
the AIM Exchange. With the underperformance of UK quoted smallcaps
over recent years, the Trust's returns have been disappointing
relative to the Peer Group or that of the mainstream UK stock
market indices. Even so, the strategy of the Trust had added so
much return prior to the last five years, that its record since
issue in April 2011 remains
strong.
Between April 2011 and November 2023, DIVI's NAV total return was
171.7%, which compares with the Morningstar Investment Trust UK
Equity Income Peer Group NAV total return of 147.4% and that of the
Deutsche Numis Small Cap Plus AIM Index (excluding Investment
Companies) of 80.6%.
We believe this outcome is reassuring, as it demonstrates that the
multicap nature of the Trust's strategy has real potential, such
that when it outperforms the Peer Group, the scale of that
outperformance can be very significant. Furthermore, smallcap
equity income stocks are typically less closely researched by
professional investors, and so their prospects are not always
reflected in their valuations. Investing in a portfolio of these
has the potential to enhance their natural outperformance due to
their smallcap nature. Hence, despite the Trust's disappointing
returns over the last five years, we believe that its longer term
record illustrates the full upside potential of its
strategy.
What are the prospects for the Trust?
One of the characteristics of globalisation has been its benign
inflationary background. When share prices weakened during economic
downturns, the absence of inflation permitted central banks to
inject additional financial stimulus again and again, in a trend
that persistently enhanced bond valuations. Often there was a
sequential improvement in the valuation of global equity exchanges
as well. Overall, with valuations rising and the global economy
expanding near-continuously, asset returns have been excellent over
the globalisation decades. Whilst this outcome is welcome, we note
that at other times asset market trends and hence the optimal
investment strategy can be very different.
When interest rates rise above inflation, as recently for example,
global growth often suffers a pronounced setback. At such times,
largecaps with their major market positions can really struggle, as
the largecaps can't easily make up for a demand shortfall by
expanding rapidly enough in other areas. In contrast, smallcaps can
be nimble and sometimes make up for a setback, by expanding
elsewhere.
Furthermore, when interest rates and geopolitics are unsettled,
supply within capital-intensive industries typically becomes
inelastic due to the extra build costs and the higher rate of
return required. Thus, if demand is sustained within some
capital-intensive industries, operational assets can deliver some
quite exceptional returns. Following the Ukrainian invasion for
example, energy stocks delivered market-leading returns due to
their capital-intensive nature, whilst the energy shortage itself
further amplified inflationary pressures and interest rate rises
thereafter.
Thus, if economic and geopolitical trends continue as currently, we
believe they will favour the UK stock market because it is
dominated by so many capital-intensive stocks. In addition, the UK
stock market has a much broader universe of quoted smallcaps than
others, that typically outperform when the global economy is
constrained, or recessions are rife. During the persistent
inflationary pressures and recessions between 1965 and 1985 for
example, we note that the UK stock market greatly outperformed the
US exchange. Alongside, one of the best performing parts of one of
the best performing global stock markets were UK
smallcaps!
Since issue, the Trust's broad investment portfolio has already
outperformed the UK peer group and the UK indices. If the
globalisation trend were to persist for a little longer, then we
believe that the Trust will significantly outperform the UK indices
and the Peer Group as before, as UK smallcap share prices sharply
recover.
If the global economy and geopolitics remain unsettled however,
then we believe the Trust's prospects are a lot more upbeat.
Specifically, we anticipate that the UK stock market itself will
outperform others - as it did in past decades. Furthermore, we also
believe the best performing part of the UK exchange will be UK
smallcaps.
In conclusion, it is easy to greatly underestimate the magnitude
and duration of the Trust's potential upside, especially when so
many of its portfolio holdings are standing on such overlooked
valuations currently.
Gervais Williams and
Martin Turner
13 February 2024
PORTFOLIO
INFORMATION
as
at 30 November
2023
Rank Company
|
Sector
&
main
activity
|
Valuation
£'000
|
%
of
net
assets
|
Yield1
%
|
1 XPS
Pensions
|
Financials
|
8,467
|
3.1
|
3.5
|
2 TP
ICAP
|
Financials
|
6,896
|
2.5
|
6.7
|
3 Kenmare
Resources
|
Basic
Materials
|
6,860
|
2.5
|
12.0
|
4 Galliford
Try
|
Industrials
|
5,983
|
2.2
|
10.3
|
5 Tesco
|
Consumer
Staples
|
5,188
|
1.9
|
3.8
|
6 BT
|
Telecommunications
|
4,957
|
1.8
|
6.3
|
7 Legal
& General
|
Financials
|
4,859
|
1.8
|
8.6
|
8 Sainsburys
(J)
|
Consumer
Staples
|
4,798
|
1.8
|
4.6
|
9 Just
|
Financials
|
4,757
|
1.7
|
2.3
|
10 Admiral
|
Financials
|
4,643
|
1.7
|
3.3
|
Top
10 investments
|
|
57,408
|
21.0
|
|
11 AVIVA
|
Financials
|
4,593
|
1.7
|
7.6
|
12 MAN
|
Financials
|
4,561
|
1.7
|
9.5
|
13 Paypoint
|
Industrials
|
4,510
|
1.7
|
8.0
|
14 Phoenix
|
Financials
|
4,472
|
1.6
|
11.2
|
15 Pan
African Resources*
|
Basic
Materials
|
4,407
|
1.6
|
4.6
|
16 Savannah
Energy**+
|
Energy
|
4,407
|
1.6
|
-
|
17 Rio
Tinto
|
Basic
Materials
|
4,354
|
1.6
|
5.9
|
18 Sabre
Insurance
|
Financials
|
4,313
|
1.6
|
1.9
|
19 I3
Energy**
|
Energy
|
4,286
|
1.6
|
9.9
|
20 Diversified
Energy
|
Energy
|
4,167
|
1.5
|
21.1
|
Top
20 investments
|
|
101,478
|
37.2
|
|
21 Drax
|
Utilities
|
3,695
|
1.3
|
5.0
|
22 Plus500
|
Financials
|
3,631
|
1.3
|
5.4
|
23 FRP
Advisory**
|
Industrials
|
3,557
|
1.3
|
3.7
|
24 BAE
Systems
|
Industrials
|
3,535
|
1.3
|
2.7
|
25 Vodafone
|
Telecommunications
|
3,464
|
1.3
|
10.9
|
26 Conduit
Holdings
|
Financials
|
3,452
|
1.3
|
6.1
|
27 Concurrent
Technologies**
|
Technology
|
3,205
|
1.2
|
-
|
28 Accrol
|
Consumer
Staples
|
3,193
|
1.2
|
-
|
29 Mears
|
Industrials
|
3,158
|
1.2
|
4.0
|
30 Hostelworld
|
Consumer
Discretionary
|
3,056
|
1.1
|
-
|
Top
30 investments
|
|
135,424
|
49.7
|
|
31 CMC
Markets
|
Financials
|
3,053
|
1.1
|
5.4
|
32 Yu*
|
Utilities
|
3,041
|
1.1
|
0.5
|
33 National
Grid
|
Utilities
|
3,001
|
1.1
|
5.6
|
34 ME
Group International
|
Consumer
Discretionary
|
2,984
|
1.1
|
4.7
|
35 M&G
|
Financials
|
2,943
|
1.1
|
9.5
|
36 Smurfit
Kappa
|
Industrials
|
2,892
|
1.1
|
4.0
|
37 NewRiver
REIT
|
Real
Estate
|
2,853
|
1.0
|
7.8
|
38 Taylor
Wimpey
|
Consumer
Discretionary
|
2,844
|
1.0
|
7.4
|
39 Shoe
Zone*
|
Consumer
Discretionary
|
2,775
|
1.0
|
4.1
|
40 LondonMetric
Property REIT
|
Real
Estate
|
2,662
|
1.0
|
5.4
|
Top
40 investments
|
|
164,472
|
60.3
|
|
Balance
held in 82 equity investments
9
|
94,117
|
34.5
|
|
Total
equity investments
|
|
258,589
|
94.8
|
|
Fixed
interest investments
|
|
-
|
-
|
|
Total
equity and fixed interest investments
|
258,589
|
94.8
|
|
Listed
Put option
|
|
|
|
|
UKX -
December 2023 5,700 Put
|
|
-
|
-
|
|
Total
investment portfolio
|
|
258,589
|
94.8
|
|
Other
net current assets
|
|
14,125
|
5.2
|
|
Net
assets
|
|
272,714
|
100.0
|
|
* Source: Refinitiv. Based on historical yields and therefore
not representative of future yields. Includes special dividends
where applicable.
**AIM/AQUIS listed.
+ Security currently suspended
Portfolio as at 30 November
2023
Portfolio
exposure by sector (%) - £258.6 million
|
Financials
|
32.5
|
Industrials
|
13.6
|
Energy
|
11.3
|
Basic
Materials
|
11.0
|
Consumer
Discretionary
|
8.0
|
Real
Estate
|
6.1
|
Consumer
Staples
|
5.8
|
Utiltiies
|
3.8
|
Telecoms
|
3.7
|
Technology
|
3.2
|
Healthcare
|
1.0
|
|
|
|
100.0
|
Actual
income by sector (%) - £8.1 million
|
Financials
|
28.9
|
Industrials
|
20.7
|
Energy
|
12.7
|
Basic
Materials
|
11.4
|
Telecoms
|
6.6
|
Consumer
Discretionary
|
5.6
|
Real
Estate
|
4.6
|
Consumer
Staples
|
4.4
|
Utilities
|
4.2
|
Health
Care
|
0.5
|
Technology
|
0.4
|
|
|
|
100.0
|
Source:
Thomson Reuters.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
The
Diverse Income Trust plc's Half-Yearly Financial Report of the
Company for the period to 30 November
2023 will be available today on
www.diverseincometrust.com.
It will
also be submitted shortly in full unedited text to the Financial
Conduct Authority's National Storage Mechanism and will be
available for inspection at
data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism in
accordance with DTR 6.3.5(1A) of the Financial Conduct Authority's
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
ENDS
Neither
the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any
website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any
other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of this
announcement.
LEI:
2138005QFXYHJM551U45