TIDMSAIN
RNS Number : 5135P
Scottish American Investment Co PLC
10 February 2023
RNS Announcement
The Scottish American Investment Company P.L.C.
Legal Entity Identifier: 549300NF03XVC5IFB447
Regulated Information Classification: Additional regulated
information required to be disclosed under the applicable laws and
regulations.
The following is the results announcement for the year to 31
December 2022 which was approved by the Board on 9 February
2023.
3/4 Dividend - The full year dividend, including a recommended
final dividend of 3.67p, is 13.82p per share. This is 9% higher
than the 2021 dividend and is fully covered by earnings. The
recommended dividend will extend the Company's record of dividend
increases to forty nine consecutive years.
3/4 SAINTS aims to grow its dividend ahead of inflation over the
long term. Over the past ten years SAINTS has increased its
dividend at an annualised rate of 3.5%, which compares with UK CPI
of 2.7%.
3/4 Revenues - Income was GBP30.0m (2021 - GBP28.0m) and
earnings per share were 13.82p (2021 - 12.79p).
3/4 Total return* - Net Asset Value total return (capital and
income with borrowings at fair value) for the year was negative
3.7%, ahead of the total return from global equities of negative
7.3%. The share price total return was negative 3.5%. Returns were
assisted by the resilient operational performance of many of the
companies in which SAINTS invests, and also by positive returns
from the Company's infrastructure equity and bond investments.
3/4 SAINTS also aims to deliver attractive returns over the long
term - SAINTS' NAV total return (with borrowings at fair value) has
exceeded that of equities generally over the past three, five and
ten years. SAINTS is also the best performing fund in its Global
Equity Income peer group, in terms of share price total return,
over the past five years.
3/4 Outlook - The Board remain of the view that a long-term
approach based on investing globally for sustainable growth is the
best route to achieving SAINTS' aims. In addition, we are
encouraged that the Managers have continued to find new and
attractive opportunities amidst the recent turmoil. We retain great
confidence in the Managers' approach, and this confidence has been
further strengthened by the experiences of the past year.
* See Glossary of Terms and Alternative Performance Measures at
the end of this announcement.
Source: Refinitiv/Baillie Gifford and relevant underlying index
providers.
SAINTS' objective is to deliver real dividend growth by
increasing capital and growing income. Its policy is to invest
mainly in equity markets, but other investments may be held from
time to time including bonds, property and other asset classes.
The Company is managed by Baillie Gifford, the Edinburgh based
fund management group with around GBP246 billion under management
and advice as at 9 February 2023.
Past performance is not a guide to future performance. SAINTS is
a listed UK company. As a result, the value of its shares and any
income from those shares is not guaranteed and could go down as
well as up. You may not get back the amount you invested. As SAINTS
invests in overseas securities, changes in the rates of exchange
may also cause the value of your investment (and any income it may
pay) to go down or up. You can find up to date performance
information about SAINTS on the SAINTS' page of the Managers'
website saints-it.com . 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.
For further information please contact:
James Dow and Toby Ross, Managers, The Scottish American
Investment Company P.L.C.
Tel: 0131 275 2000
James Budden, Baillie Gifford & Co
Tel: 0131 275 2816 or 07507 201208
Jonathan Atkins, Director, Four Communications
Tel: 0203 920 0555 or 07872 495396
Chairman's Statement
SAINTS' objective is to deliver real dividend growth by
increasing capital and growing income. The Board is recommending a
final dividend which will bring the total dividends for the year to
13.82p per share, an increase of 9% over the previous year. The
Company continues to meet its objective of growing dividends ahead
of inflation over the long term, and the recommended dividend will
also extend the Company's record of raising its dividend to forty
nine consecutive years.
Overview
2022 has been another difficult year for the world, a period in
which equity, bond and property markets have all been weak. As the
challenges from Covid-19 receded those arising from the Russian
invasion of Ukraine increased. The economic recovery from the worst
of the pandemic has been more tentative than expected, in large
part due to resurgent inflation. With hindsight, central banks were
too sanguine about inflationary pressures in 2021, and the energy
price shock arising from the Russian invasion pushed inflation to
levels not seen in 40 years. As a result, central banks have had to
raise interest rates much higher than expected a year ago. The
retreat from globalisation has continued, with trade barriers
increasing as countries seek to protect their supply chains in the
face of greater geopolitical risks. Closer to home, political
missteps eroded confidence though as the year drew to a close there
were signs of greater calm and stability.
On the positive side, industrialised economies have shown
extraordinary adaptability in the face of the energy shock. Oil and
gas prices have fallen recently, creating a more benign outlook for
inflation. And the world economy is set to grow in 2023.
Against this background, I am pleased to report that SAINTS has
continued to perform well. The refinancing of the Company's long
term debt at a rate pre-arranged two years earlier has
significantly reduced borrowing costs, and the Company's earnings
per share have risen at a rate which has enabled the Board to
recommend a very significant increase in the dividend. Furthermore,
SAINTS' NAV total return (with borrowings at fair) has exceeded
that of the global equity market, despite the managers deliberately
eschewing many companies such as those in the energy sector which
have been short term beneficiaries of the war in Ukraine, but which
they do not believe will support the achievement of SAINTS'
objective over time.
More importantly however, given the long-term nature of the
Company's objectives, it is worth emphasising both SAINTS'
successful record of raising its dividend ahead of inflation over
the long term, and the strong total returns it has delivered.
SAINTS 150(th) Anniversary
This year, SAINTS reaches the one hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of its formation in 1873. And, consistent with the
Company's focus on the long term, it is perhaps useful to provide
some historical perspective. In that year, for example, the
Emperors of Russia, Austro-Hungary and Germany formed an alliance
to stand against radical thinking. It might be easier to list what
remains constant rather than what has changed since then, but
amongst other things those three Empires and those of Britain and
Japan have passed into history, as have the Third Reich and the
USSR. There have been two world wars, a cold war, hyperinflation, a
depression and numerous financial crashes, and immeasurable human
suffering, much of it arising from conflict, famine and
disease.
Yet over these one hundred and fifty years the world has made
immense progress, in everything from the advent and spread of
modern democracy, to a dramatic increase in life expectancy and the
many benefits of human and technological progress. The US has grown
to be the world's most powerful country, and it and almost every
other country have industrialised. Of course, progress brings its
own challenges, some of which relate to global and other
inequalities and some to our planet and its climate. But we should
hang on to the fact that economies generally grow. And the key
point for SAINTS is that throughout its history it has been able to
take advantage of opportunities to invest globally in order to
support and benefit from the tailwinds of economic, technological
and even societal progress, and from geopolitical change, and to
weather each storm and setback which has arisen.
It is also worth emphasising that SAINTS is particularly well
equipped to navigate stormy seas, both because of its structure and
also because of its managers' focus on selecting individual
investments to provide dependability and growth. We very much hope
that SAINTS' 150(th) anniversary year will also be its 50(th)
successive year of dividend growth. Indeed, the dividend has not
been reduced year-on-year since 1938. The prudent use of revenue
reserves has been an important part of this success, but so too has
investing in companies and other assets which provide an income
which is resilient in tough times and grows above inflation over
the long term.
To mark SAINTS' 150(th) anniversary, and to help provide the
benefit of perspective which I mentioned above, the Board and
Baillie Gifford have commissioned a short history of SAINTS. We
expect this to be available, in both electronic and hard copy form,
by late May/early June. If you would like to receive a copy, either
by email or in physical form, please request a copy using the
following link: bailliegifford.com/SAINTS150
Dividend and Inflation
The Board recommends a final dividend of 3.67p which will take
the full year dividend to 13.82p per share, 9% higher than the 2021
dividend of 12.675p.
The strong growth in SAINTS' revenues over the past year has
enabled this greatly increased dividend to be covered by earnings.
Whilst significant, the rate of increase does not match the annual
rate of inflation of 10.5% as measured by CPI. It remains the
Company's objective to deliver real dividend growth over the long
term, and over the last ten years the Company's dividends have in
the round increased at a rate (3.5% per annum) which has been well
above the rate of inflation (2.7% per annum).
We would mention also that the Board does not necessarily expect
to exceed or match the level of the previous quarter's dividend in
each successive quarter. It is quite possible, therefore, that not
all dividends next year will match or exceed this year's final
dividend.
Revenues
Earnings per share have risen to 13.82p over the year, an
increase of 8.1%, and investment income has risen to GBP30m. Income
from equities has been helped by operational progress at many of
the Company's investments and by increases in their dividends, as
well as by movements in exchange rates. The sale of four properties
and the purchase of one led to a reduction in rental income.
Both managers (Baillie Gifford and, for the Company's property
investments, OLIM) continue to focus on supporting the
dependability and the future growth of the Company's dividend in
line with its objective.
Total Return Performance
In a challenging year your investment in SAINTS delivered a
share price total return of negative 3.5% and the net asset value
total return (capital and income with borrowing at fair) was
negative 3.7%. Although a positive return would have been
preferable, in the circumstances this is a creditable result.
Although as always we would caution against reading too much into
short term performance, it is worth noting a number of positive
features over the year. Firstly, the share price and net asset
value returns once again exceeded that from global equities which
was negative 7.3% over 2022. And secondly, the performance of
SAINTS' investments in equity, property, infrastructure, and fixed
income investments all compared favourably with that of their
respective asset classes.
The Managers and your Board have a long-term perspective and the
Company's portfolio of investments differs markedly from the
make-up of the global equity index against which performance is
often compared. This differentiated portfolio is necessary and
appropriate in order for SAINTS to deliver a high and growing
income stream, as well as growth in the Company's assets. We would
therefore encourage shareholders to assess your Company's
performance over the long term. SAINTS remains at the top of its
sector in terms of share price total returns over the past five
years and has also outperformed equities as measured by its global
equity benchmark over the past three, five and ten years.
The principal contributors to and detractors from performance
and the changes to the equity, property and bond investments are
explained in more detail in the Managers' Review.
Borrowings and Debt Refinancing
During the course of 2022, the larger part of the Company's
borrowings were refinanced at a rate agreed some two years earlier
and so, in an environment when interest rates have been rising, the
cost of the Company's borrowings has fallen very significantly.
At the start of the year SAINTS' borrowings took the form of a
single GBP80m debenture, and a further GBP15m of borrowing which
had been added in 2021. The debenture dated from a time when the
prevailing interest rates were much higher than today, and bore a
coupon of 8%. The GBP80m debenture matured in April 2022 and, as
previously announced, the Company issued GBP80m of long-term
private placement debt to refinance its long-term borrowings. At
this time, the overall cost of the Company's borrowings, including
the additional GBP15m raised in 2021, fell to just below 3% per
annum. The refinancing of the Company's long-term debt appears well
timed and, in the Board's judgement, the Company is now well placed
to use its borrowings to enhance returns and support its
dividend.
The book value of the total borrowings is GBP94.7m which, at the
year end, was equivalent to approximately 11.2% of shareholders'
funds. The estimated market or fair value of the borrowings was
GBP65.5m, a decrease from the previous year's value of GBP97.4m due
to the general increase in interest rates and bond yields.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
I have already alluded to some of the challenges which the world
is facing and, in this context, it is important to emphasise that
the Board of SAINTS recognises the importance of considering
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors when making
investments, and in acting as a responsible steward of capital. We
consider that Board oversight of such matters is an important part
of our responsibility to shareholders, and the Board has recently
reviewed and strengthened its ESG Policy which is available to view
on the Company's website (saints-it.com).
The Board has been strongly supportive of the Managers'
approach, and of their constructive engagement with the companies
you own over the course of the pandemic, and in their engagement
with holdings and potential holdings in relation to other areas
including climate change. I would encourage shareholders to read
SAINTS' annual Stewardship Report which can also be accessed on the
Company's website (saints-it.com). There is also further detail in
the Managers' Review, which includes a section on investing
sustainably.
Issuance and buybacks
Over the year the Company has raised GBP5.9m from new share
issuance, at a premium to net asset value prevailing from time to
time in order to satisfy investor demand. This is the eighth year
in a row when the Company has been able to issue shares. Such
issuance serves the interests of existing shareholders by enhancing
net asset value, reducing costs per share and helping further to
improve liquidity. No shares were bought back during the year.
The Board
As planned, Peter Moon stepped down from the Board at the
conclusion of last year's AGM. We once again thank him for his many
years of invaluable service, both as a Director and as Chairman. As
previously announced, Bronwyn Curtis took over as Senior
Independent Director when I became Chairman, and Christine
Montgomery joined the Board on 6 April 2022.
Outlook
Equity and bond markets were weak last year, and other markets
including property have also experienced difficulties. As 2023 gets
underway, there are tentative signs of hope triggered by lower
energy prices and reduced interest rate expectations. It is too
soon to know whether the worst is behind us: government finances
remain under pressure and many companies will struggle to grow
their earnings and protect their balance sheets in the face of slow
economic growth. However, with asset prices adjusting, there will
be buying opportunities, and maintaining a focus on the strength
and resilience of individual investments remains as important as
ever.
As a Board, we believe a long-term approach based on investing
globally for sustainable growth is the best route to achieving
SAINTS' aim of growing the dividend ahead of inflation over time.
In addition, we are encouraged that, as is outlined further in the
Managers' Review, they have continued to find new and attractive
opportunities amidst the recent turmoil. We retain great confidence
in the Managers' approach, and this confidence has been further
strengthened by the experiences of the past year.
Proposed Change to Articles of Association
Your Board is proposing certain changes to the Company's
Articles of Association which, amongst other things, will permit
SAINTS to hold virtual or electronic Annual and Extraordinary
General Meetings, as well as physical and hybrid meetings, in the
future. Thankfully the worst of the current pandemic seems to be
behind us, but we believe it would be sensible to ensure that in
similar circumstances the Company would be able to use modern
technology to carry out meetings in a timely fashion, whilst also
allowing shareholders and others who could not attend in person to
take part. A summary of these proposed changes, together with other
changes being proposed as part of an overall update to the
company's constitutional documents, is set out in more detail in
the AGM section of the Directors' Report. For the avoidance of
doubt, the Board's preference will always be to hold physical
general meetings where it is possible to do so.
AGM, Presentation and Drinks
The AGM will be held at 11.30am on Thursday 6 April 2023 at
Baillie Gifford's offices at Calton Square, 1 Greenside Row,
Edinburgh. The meeting will be followed by a presentation from the
managers. Shareholders are cordially invited to attend the meeting
and presentation, and also to join the Board and the Managers for
drinks afterwards in celebration of the Company's first one hundred
and fifty years.
I would remind shareholders that they are able to submit proxy
voting forms before the applicable deadline and also to direct any
questions or comments for the Board in advance of the meeting
through the Company's Managers, either by emailing
trustenquiries@bailliegifford.com or calling 0800 917 2112 (Baillie
Gifford may record your call).
Finally, my fellow Directors and I send you all our very best
wishes for your health and happiness in the year ahead.
Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court
Chairman
9 February 2023
For a definition of terms see Glossary of Terms and Alternative
Performance Measures at the end of this announcement
Source: Refinitiv/Morningstar/Baillie Gifford and relevant
underlying index providers. See disclaimer at the end of this
announcement.
Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Managers' Review
In 2022 the per share earnings of The Scottish American
Investment Company increased by a little over 8%, while the per
share net asset value (NAV total return with borrowings at fair
value) decreased by 3.7%. Since the start of 2004, which is to say
when the present managers were appointed by the Board, the NAV has
compounded at 5.4% per annum, growing shareholders' capital from
181.9p to 495.5p.* Over the same period the NAV total return of the
Company, meaning the capital gain with dividends reinvested, has
been 8.4% per annum.* Dividend growth in 2022 was 9.0%, taking the
compound increase since 2004 to 4.8% per annum, ahead of inflation
over the same period of 2.7%.
In what follows below, we reflect on how SAINTS' portfolio coped
with a slew of shocks during 2022: war in Europe, soaring prices
worldwide, and a sharp rotation in equity markets away from
'growth' towards 'value'. We shed light on some of the individual
holdings that delivered notable positive and negative performance,
and we elaborate on the new investments (and dis-investments) that
we made during the year.
A brief update is also included on our progress in diversifying
the Company's non-equity investments, which took place as SAINTS'
borrowings were refinanced to a lower rate of interest. We then
offer some comments under the broad heading of 'investing
sustainably', something we believe is vital for the long-term
compounding that we seek to deliver in shareholders' capital and
dividends. We finish with our outlook for 2023 and beyond.
For those who would prefer to cut to the chase, the abbreviated
version goes like this: although 2022 felt rather like sailing
through a storm, with waves crashing left and right and visibility
poor, SAINTS' portfolio proved pleasingly robust and charted a
relatively steady course. The strong companies that constitute the
backbone of the portfolio delivered, for the most part, admirably
solid compounding in their revenues and profits. The portfolio also
generated dividend growth that broadly kept pace with inflation,
ensuring shareholders' real income was largely maintained.
The Company's property, infrastructure and fixed income
investments also held up relatively well. SAINTS has been able to
refinance its borrowings, and the Company's overall borrowing cost
has now fallen to 3%, having previously been 8%, which will be a
substantial saving going forward.
Credit for this steady performance should perhaps go more to the
seaworthiness of the ship than the skill of its captains: the
quality of the holdings shone through rather than any change of
course by its managers, given that we made only three new equity
investments during the year. But the bottom line is that SAINTS'
shareholders own a portfolio that proved its mettle in 2022 and
appears well set for the future. The outlook for the global economy
is showing tentative signs of improvement, and as managers we
remain optimistic about delivering steady growth in earnings and
dividends in 2023 and beyond.
Coping with the shocks of 2022
It seems fair to say that the 2020s, as decades go, have so far
proved a little... challenging. It is chastening to recall that as
this decade dawned, many hoped the world was on the cusp of another
"Roaring 20s": repeating the same decade a century earlier when
peace reigned, prosperity boomed, and investments soared in value.
That scenario has not, to put it politely, quite transpired. Each
of the past three years has brought huge challenges to citizens
around the world, including investors seeking capital growth with
dividends. The year 2022 was no exception, thanks to a senseless
war in Europe, the return of double-digit inflation triggering
rapid rises in interest rates, and a stock market that turned its
nose up at growth-oriented companies.
As managers of SAINTS it is our job to build a portfolio that
can thrive through thick and thin, whatever storms it may
encounter. If economic activity is collapsing because of the first
global pandemic in living memory, or if the Chinese economy is
slumping while global energy prices are spiking to extraordinary
levels, it is our job to ensure the Company's portfolio contains
investments that can navigate those adversities successfully.
Happily, this is indeed how the portfolio and most of its
underlying investments performed last year. At the time of writing
we are still receiving the final results for 2022 from the circa 60
holdings in the equity portfolio that form the backbone of the
Company's NAV, but broadly-speaking we can say that it was a year
of solid earnings and dividend growth. The decline in the Company's
NAV was attributable largely to a broad decline in listed equity
valuations, as markets adjusted to higher-than-expected future
interest rates. But fundamentally, the vast majority of SAINTS
holdings continued to perform well operationally, and this is why
they delivered steady earnings and dividend growth.
Growth-oriented companies in general bore the brunt of an
adjustment in the stock market last year to higher interest rates,
with a huge rotation taking place in favour of so-called 'value'
companies. These are companies which typically trade on low
multiples of price to earnings, reflecting their poor long-term
growth prospects, but over short periods they can come into favour.
A good example is the oil & gas business, where SAINTS has no
capital invested. In 2022 many oil & gas companies saw their
share prices marked up significantly, as the war in Ukraine
prompted sanctions on Russian exports, in turn causing energy
prices to spike and profits at oil & gas companies to balloon.
In the long-term, we believe these companies are likely to prove
poor sources of capital and dividend growth for shareholders,
because they are likely to see demand for their products shrink
quite considerably as energy users around the world make stringent
efforts to de-carbonise their operations. Last year, however, many
oil & gas companies saw their share prices increase.
Meanwhile, many companies with attractive long-term growth
prospects fell out of favour. An example is the soft drinks company
Fevertree Drinks, which is a holding in SAINTS' portfolio. As
managers we believe that Fevertree's earnings outside the UK have a
strong chance of growing enormously over the next 5 to 10 years.
But in the past 12 months the price of gas has dramatically
increased the costs of the company's glass bottles, and expenses
have soared too for the containers it uses to ship its products
around the globe while it is still building local facilities in
countries like the US. Its profit margins have therefore fallen and
the stock market has punished its share price.
This is the kind of headwind that a number of SAINTS holdings
had to deal with in 2022. Our investments in Chinese companies are
another example where we saw short-term pain: COVID lockdowns hurt
the earnings of companies such as Anta Sports (the footwear maker)
and Man Wah (the furniture maker) in 2022, and their share prices
fell significantly as the market's risk-aversion increased and time
horizon shrank.
When we look through the list of holdings whose prices have been
marked down by the stock market, however, our belief is that the
vast majority have been impacted by challenges that are likely to
prove short-term. We have already seen energy prices fall in the
past few months, to the point that, remarkably, the European gas
price has now declined below its level before the invasion of
Ukraine. China has started "unlocking" and its government has begun
a stimulus programme.
We would much rather invest shareholders' capital in companies
with good long-term growth prospects, and wait for these storms to
pass, than invest in the likes of oil & gas companies where, to
the best of our judgement, the long-term outlook for growth in
their earnings and dividends is very poor. In the medium-term we
expect interest rates and equity valuations to stabilise, while the
portfolio's earnings should continue to compound higher. Ultimately
this should drive growth in SAINTS NAV and dividends in the years
to come.
While a small number of holdings had a difficult 2022, it is
important to put these in context. As managers we have been struck
more by how, faced with crashing waves and howling winds, the vast
majority of the companies in SAINTS portfolio have continued to
deliver solid earnings and dividend growth. Particular mention
should be made of a few.
Notable positive performers
SAINTS' standout performer last year was Novo Nordisk, the
Denmark-based manufacturer of insulin for diabetics which has also
begun making, more recently, appetite suppressants for patients who
are battling obesity. This has been a very successful investment
for shareholders over the past several years. Revenues have
compounded steadily upwards, driven in part by continued growth in
the number of patients diagnosed with diabetes, a condition which
remains under-treated but where happily detection is increasing
over time. We remain optimistic about seeing continued progress
worldwide in the years ahead. Meanwhile, novel formulations of the
company's insulin products have made life significantly easier for
many of those living with diabetes: for example the company's oral
formulations which spare patients from the burden of constant
injections. This innovation has been rewarded by higher prices,
which again has driven revenue growth.
More recently, the use of the company's semaglutide molecule as
an appetite suppressant has been hailed as a breakthrough treatment
for patients battling obesity. Future earnings growth from this
innovation could be considerable, and shares in the company have
risen accordingly. We are mindful of the higher valuation of the
shares following this strong period of performance, but believe we
are still early in the multi-year opportunity for Novo Nordisk to
change people's lives for the better, while growing the company's
earnings and dividends. In the meantime, we continue to liaise with
the management team to ensure that, despite rocketing demand for
the company's treatments, it is pricing its products honourably
(not gouging) and that it is working as hard as possible to add
safe new capacity to meet patient demand.
Our several investments in consumer staples companies, such as
Pepsico and Coca-Cola, also by-and-large performed well during
2022. Over the past several years these companies have delivered
solid growth but, candidly, the rate of growth has not always been
particularly inspiring. However in 2022, with input costs rising
sharply, for example due to transportation costs, and with
considerable ongoing investments to reduce their packaging impact
and improve their nutritional impact, these companies have been
able to pass on cost inflation to consumers seeking improved
products. Earnings and dividends have continued to compound higher
and their share prices have risen, as the outlook for profit growth
has brightened.
The performance of these holdings illustrates a wider point
about SAINTS portfolio, that is perhaps under-appreciated. As
managers, we make conscious efforts to ensure that we achieve true
diversification when investing shareholders' capital. Not just by
investing in different countries and industries, but also in terms
of different types of growth case, and business model, and assorted
exposures to different macro factors.
We do all this in pursuit of dividend resilience and steady
compounding. We try hard to ensure that we are not "betting the
portfolio" on a narrow range of businesses or styles. We are far
from perfect in this respect - earnings correlations have a nasty
habit of rising toward 100% whenever severe shocks occur - but it
does mean that in highly volatile years such as 2022, SAINTS
portfolio by design includes names which may perform unusually well
while others are slowing. Our consumer staples holdings
just-mentioned, and our two bank holdings United Overseas Bank and
Cullen/Frost Bankers, together with esoteric names such as Edenred
(the vouchers business), Arthur J Gallagher (the insurance broker),
USS (the Japanese car auctions business), and Deutsche Boerse (the
German derivatives exchange) are all testament to this approach.
Many featured in our top 10 performers list for 2022.
New equity investments and dis-investments
During the course of 2022 we made three new equity investments:
Intuit, L'Oréal and Cognex. On the other side of the ledger we made
four dis-investments: Kimberly-Clark de México, Hiscox, Haleon and
CH Robinson.
Intuit makes software for small businesses and consumers. It is
an investment idea that came to us through positive reports we
heard from other companies, who rate the management team highly. On
investigation we too became enthused. The company's core products
are software for small business accounting and consumer tax filing
in the US. Profit growth in the years ahead could be substantial as
the company builds out its product range into areas such as
marketing, payroll, HR, and other adjacencies, giving small
business owners a one-stop shop for managing their affairs. It has
a similar strategy to broaden its consumer offering. We are backing
the management team's vision, their track record of execution, the
attractive financial characteristics of the business, and the
company's commitment to paying a progressive dividend. The share
price fell precipitously in the first half of 2022 and we took this
as a cue to make an initial investment.
L'Oréal makes beauty products. We have long admired the
company's entrepreneurial culture and its commitment to seizing
every new opportunity for innovation. Time and again the management
team have made good strategic calls and executed on them, moving
early into digital marketing and investing in local R&D in
China many years ago. The stable hand of the Bettencourt family and
a commitment to progressive dividend growth, together with an
exemplary balance sheet, also attract us. Again this was a growth
company that fell sharply in the first half of 2022, and we took
this as an opportunity to make an investment.
Cognex makes machine vision products. We are enthused by the
company's growth potential in the decade to come, as organisations
around the world try to automate repetitive, costly tasks such as
checking labels in logistics, and scanning for faults in
manufacturing. Cognex is a pioneer in cameras and software which
can do this work at a fraction of the cost of humans, often with
higher accuracy. We see the potential for very strong demand in the
years ahead as its software gets ever-smarter and becomes capable
of checking an ever-wider assortment of items, in turn growing the
company's customer base. Growth does not require much capital and
the company is committed to growing its dividend alongside
earnings. The management team and entrepreneurial culture again
appear excellent.
All three of these companies fit strongly with SAINTS' objective
of long-term compounding in earnings and dividends, combined with
resilience along the way. The dis-investments we made fell short of
these criteria.
CH Robinson is a long-standing holding where the passage of time
has raised serious concerns about its future growth prospects. Its
core business is broking truck transportation in the US: matching
shippers with truckers. Our investment case had been predicated on
strong customer and shipment growth as its software platform went
from strength-to-strength, displacing a long tail of smaller
competitors who would struggle to keep investing in the technology
needed to provide real-time tracking information, pricing and other
services to customers. What we did not foresee is that a wave of
Silicon Valley start-ups would enter the industry with cheap
financing, writing business at low prices to gain customers while
worrying about profitability later. CH Robinson lost market share,
and an activist investor then gained seats on its board, pushing a
particular agenda. We visited the company in Minnesota last
November but failed to gain conviction that the management's
strategy to out-compete the disruptors would ultimately restore the
company to good rates of growth.
Kimberly-Clark de M éxico is the leading manufacturer of
nappies, tissues and other sanitary products in Mexico. Our
investment case was based on the assumption that rising household
incomes in Mexico would drive growth in spending on the company's
products, both in volume terms and through increased pricing power.
In practice, however, the company has struggled to grow its
earnings due to sustained pressure on its input costs, limited
success in gaining market share and the depreciation of the Mexican
currency. With little prospect that these headwinds will reverse
and better opportunities elsewhere in the portfolio, we
dis-invested.
Haleon is a maker of over-the-counter medicines, and came to us
through a demerger from our holding in GSK. Our view is that the
company, whilst not without merits, owns a series of brands whose
market position is not particularly strong, and whose volume growth
is unlikely to be particularly inspiring.
Hiscox is a provider of insurance for businesses and households.
It has been a longstanding holding, but twice in the past 20 years
it has stopped paying a dividend when there has been a global
shock: in 2001 and again in 2020. After reviewing the company last
year and considering our ongoing conversations with management, we
came to the conclusion that it did not meet the criteria SAINTS
sets in terms of dividend resilience, particularly in times of
economic crises. Arguably it should have dawned on your managers
earlier that a company which insures its customers against losses
in extreme events is unlikely to be a resilient distributor of
dividends whenever those events transpire! We will put that
learning to work as we move forward.
It is, we have to say, a little surprising to us that during the
course of 2022 we made only three new investments. We are not short
of ideas. Growth stocks have fallen out of favour, and we might
have expected to acquire, opportunistically, more stocks whose
price/earnings multiples have been de-rated. But many of the
biggest fallers would not suit SAINTS, either because they do not
pay dividends or because their prospects are too uncertain. In some
other cases, where the fit for SAINTS is better, valuations still
don't look attractive enough for us to bite. We have tried to
remain disciplined in the face of market turmoil, and only bought
new holdings where we see an excellent fit, and long-term returns
that we believe are firmly skewed in shareholders' favour. Intuit,
L'Oréal and Cognex all fall into that category.
Refinancing of borrowings and non-equity investments
Most long-standing shareholders will be aware that SAINTS has
for many years endeavoured to enhance its income and returns
through the use of prudent long-dated borrowings. By taking
advantage of the Company's permanent capital base, structured as an
investment trust, the Board is able to take on modest levels of
debt. The proceeds are then invested in a mixture of non-equity
assets, such as directly-held property and bonds, with yields above
the cost of borrowing. In many cases there is also the potential
for real capital growth, funded by these nominal borrowings.
Typically these investments constitute 10-15% of total assets,
broadly matching the level of gearing.
Until 2022, SAINTS borrowings chiefly took the form of a single
debenture which was arranged in the 1990s. Its coupon was fixed at
8%. This debenture matured in April 2022, but before this
transpired, and before interest rates began their recent climb, the
Board had propitiously arranged replacement debt with a blended
average coupon of around 3%.
Conscious of the value of diversification, the Board also took a
decision at its annual Strategy Day in 2020 which has since proven
well-founded. The Directors instructed the managers to review and
recommend asset classes that could diversify the Company's
non-equity portfolio. Out of that discussion came the agreement
that, alongside the directly-held property and corporate credit
investments, which remain fundamental to the Company's approach,
the managers would also seek diversification by investing prudently
in Emerging Market sovereign bonds and Infrastructure-related
equities. In both asset classes, assuming careful stock selection,
the risk of default should be low and the prospective returns
higher than the cost of borrowing. Additionally the income from
these two asset classes, perhaps even more so than property and
corporate bonds, are likely to prove uncorrelated with the
Company's income from equities, thereby improving the portfolio's
resilience.
In 2022 this strategy proved its worth, as equity and property
valuations came under pressure from rising interest rates, as did
the prices of corporate bonds. Over the course of the year the
Emerging Market sovereign bond and infrastructure investments
turned out to deliver the best-performance of any asset class in
SAINTS portfolio. Both delivered positive total returns.
The sovereign bonds followed a very different path from most of
SAINTS' holdings. Essentially this transpired because emerging
market central banks began hiking interest rates well before Europe
and the US. This underpinned strong emerging market currency
appreciation during 2022, in countries such as Brazil and Mexico,
particularly against Sterling. SAINTS' income from these
investments grew healthily in Sterling terms, and capital values in
Sterling also increased.
The infrastructure investments also had a good year. These are
typically held in the form of equities, but their underlying
cashflows are fundamentally linked to infrastructure revenues. As
managers we take care to ensure these revenues are not economically
sensitive, or at least are likely to remain uncorrelated with the
wider SAINTS portfolio. Examples include the wind farm owner
Greencoat UK Wind, the Italian national grid owner Terna, and the
Chinese tollroad owner Jiangsu Expressway. Across this portfolio of
infrastructure names, cashflows were generally very robust in 2022,
share prices were relatively stable, and dividends were either flat
or growing. Several of these investments, like the emerging market
bonds, showed the benefit of investing outside the UK as there was
a further benefit boost to income from Sterling depreciation.
The Company's long-standing directly held property portfolio
faced a more challenging environment. Underlying performance
remained good, with the portfolio fully-let, but rising interest
rates adversely affected valuations. The portfolio retains a strong
focus on inflation-linked and increasing rents, and this has rarely
seemed more valuable: as a reminder, 57% of SAINTS' rental income
is linked to RPI or CPI, with a further 25% on fixed increases and
18% on upward-only rent reviews. The portfolio also benefited from
some well-judged decisions by the manager, OLIM, to dis-invest from
a number of properties at valuations above book value. The
portfolio's total return over the course of 2022 was -1.7%, ahead
of comparable property indices.
In the long-term, we expect the rate of compounding in earnings,
dividends and capital to be significantly stronger in the Company's
equity portfolio than in its non-equity portfolio. But there are
solid returns available from our non-equity holdings, alongside the
benefits to income and capital from diversification. With these
investments now financed from borrowings at an average cost of just
below 3%, and bearing in mind that SAINTS debt is nominal and will
therefore be heavily eroded by inflation by the time the borrowings
are due to mature in the 2040s, we share the Board's view that this
is an attractive way for SAINTS to make use of the investment trust
structure and enhance returns for shareholders. The results in 2022
demonstrated these benefits.
Investing sustainably
There is a debate raging at the moment. On one side are those
who argue that fund managers should stop messing about by
pontificating on environmental, societal and governance issues that
may or may not surround their investments, and instead focus on the
core task they have been given by their shareholders: to deliver
investment returns. On the other side are those who argue that fund
managers have a duty as asset owners to ensure their investments
are not harming the environment or society, or failing to adhere to
good standards of governance, and indeed must be prepared to divest
when those standards are not met. The acronym ' ESG ' is being
tossed left and right, torn between those who would promote it and
those who would bin it.
As managers of SAINTS, we are very much of the same opinion as
the Board on this matter. Our duty is to pursue the long-term goals
set out and agreed with shareholders in the Company's investment
policy. We are long-term investors, seeking to deliver income and
capital growth ahead of inflation over multi-year periods. That
long-term focus has been foundational to SAINTS' success since it
was established in 1873, and instrumental to the Company's track
record of keeping its dividend at least flat and most often growing
in every year since 1938.
If we were short-term managers, trading in and out of shares
every few months, perhaps we would hold our noses and invest in
companies that are deeply harmful to the environment, or society,
or which exhibit gross failings of governance. We could play the
roulette wheel and gamble that, over such a short holding period,
the chances of getting caught out were low.
But we are not short-term speculators, we are long-term
investors. And over the investment period we pursue, with an
average holding period of 8 years and many of our investments held
for over a decade, it is our responsibility to give careful
scrutiny to our holdings' environmental, societal and governance
opportunities and risks.
Some examples might be helpful to illustrate the point:
investments whose ESG failures would have damaged SAINTS' long-term
NAV and dividend growth but which, thankfully, we steered well
clear of.
In the US, in the early 2000s, it was popular to proclaim a
renaissance in coal mining and to invest in companies such as
Peabody and Arch Coal. But America turned its back on sulphur and
the numerous other air pollutants in coal, pivoting to natural gas
as soon as the opportunity presented itself with the shale boom of
the late 2000s. By 2011, numerous US coal companies had gone
bankrupt, with their shareholders suffering a permanent loss of
capital.
Just as environmental harms skew the odds against sustainable
long-term profits and dividends, so the odds have often been
stacked against companies with deep social harms: such as tobacco
companies, many of which have struggled for years to deliver
attractive growth in earnings and dividends. As for governance,
examples abound of companies that have transgressed and
subsequently failed. In just the past few months we have seen the
implosion of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, where investigators
have already alleged gross failings of governance inside the
company, precipitating bankruptcy and the permanent impairment of
shareholder value.
All of this informs our strong belief (in which we are very much
aligned with SAINTS' Board) that sustainability analysis is
absolutely vital to meeting the Company's investment objectives
over the long-term. This is why, for every SAINTS holding, your
managers complete a thorough analysis of ESG opportunities and
risks. We monitor all of our holdings carefully, and engage
proactively on numerous topics to ensure the long-term compounding
that we seek on behalf of shareholders has every chance of being
delivered. The Board has also adopted and published a clear ESG
policy for us to follow.
We have yet to find any company that is perfect. But we will not
invest in any company where we see significant harms that are not
being addressed ambitiously by the management, or where we do not
trust them to deliver. And we far prefer to invest in companies
where there is strong alignment between the company's products and
operations and its wider stakeholders: such as employees, society
and the planet. For example, we have invested SAINTS' capital in
Albemarle, the leading lithium producer, for several years now. We
believe the market for green metals will continue to expand
dramatically over the decade ahead. We expect the environmental
benefits that lithium enables will lead to strong growth in capital
and dividends.
We try hard to make sure that all of our holdings are
perpetually improving. SAINTS latest Annual Stewardship Report
contains many examples of our engagements with holdings over the
course of the past year. To highlight a couple briefly: we have
encouraged Apple, Microsoft and other software holdings to continue
pushing towards best practice in cybersecurity, privacy, and supply
chain management. And we have voiced our desire for UPS to lean
into electrification and emissions reduction from its transport
fleet.
This is all part-and-parcel of our responsibility as managers to
ensure, wherever possible, the likelihood of continued compounding
in capital value and dividends on behalf of SAINTS shareholders. As
long-term investors, there is no other sustainable path.
Outlook for 2023 and beyond
Few predictions cast at the end of 2019 foresaw the advent of
COVID in early 2020. Few of those who forecast continued economic
despair during the ongoing lockdowns at the end of 2020 foresaw the
enormous rally in equity markets in 2021. And few who
prognosticated at the end of 2021 predicted the war in Ukraine at
the start of 2022, with inflation reaching double-digits and
interest rates spiking higher. As we begin 2023, we remain humble
about our (or indeed anyone's) ability to foresee what is just
around the corner.
What we can say with confidence is that SAINTS owns a portfolio
of assets which has proved itself resilient to some extreme tests
over the past few years. Earnings have grown steadily, as has the
Company's NAV and, despite the shock of a global pandemic which
caused many income-generating investments to stop or slash their
distributions, the recommended final dividend will extend SAINTS'
track record of increases to 49 consecutive years. In 2022, the
Company's earnings and dividend broadly kept pace with inflation,
despite price indices surging higher.
Similarly, as we look to the future, we believe that your
portfolio is well placed to cope with whatever the coming year
holds, be it inflation, recession or recovery. This is because it
is populated by a broadly diversified mix of growth companies:
including companies with strong brands that should enjoy pricing
power in an inflationary environment, such as Apple, and others
that are well placed to benefit from innovation and a growing
competitive advantage, such as Atlas Copco, and still others that
are relatively recession proof, such as Sonic Healthcare.
We made a number of new investments in 2022 which we believe
upgraded the resilience and growth potential of the Company.
Whatever happens in the world at large, we as managers will
continue our search for steady long-term compounding in earnings
and dividends. We believe the portfolio is in good shape, with
strong underlying holdings. The cost of borrowing has fallen, and
the Company's non-equity investments have been diversified further
for enhanced returns and future resilience.
There are no certainties in investing. There can be no guarantee
that SAINTS' capital value and dividends will continue to compound
higher in the decade to come as they have in the decade past. But
we do believe that, whatever winds may blow, and as far as we are
able to ensure as managers, the odds remain skewed strongly in
favour of long-term capital appreciation and dividend growth in the
years ahead for SAINTS shareholders.
James Dow
Toby Ross
Baillie Gifford & Co
9 February 2023
* NAV per share with borrowings at fair value
CPI
Source: Baillie Gifford and Refinitiv
Income Statement
For the year ended For the year ended
31 December 2022 31 December 2021
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
=========================================== ======== ========= ========= ======== ======== ========
(Losses)/gains on investments - securities - (80,091) (80,091) - 127,973 127,973
(Losses)/gains on investments - property - (5,114) (5,114) - 13,679 13,679
Currency gains/(losses) - 192 192 - (21) (21)
Income (note 2) 30,043 - 30,043 27,980 - 27,980
Management fees (980) (2,940) (3,920) (973) (2,920) (3,893)
Other administrative expenses (1,257) - (1,257) (1,252) - (1,252)
=========================================== ======== ========= ========= ======== ======== ========
Net return before finance costs and
taxation 27,806 (87,953) (60,147) 25,755 138,711 164,466
=========================================== ======== ========= ========= ======== ======== ========
Finance costs of borrowings (921) (2,763) (3,684) (1,426) (4,278) (5,704)
=========================================== ======== ========= ========= ======== ======== ========
Net return on ordinary activities before
taxation 26,885 (90,716) (63,831) 24,329 134,433 158,762
=========================================== ======== ========= ========= ======== ======== ========
Tax on ordinary activities (2,540) 790 (1,750) (2,509) 732 (1,777)
=========================================== ======== ========= ========= ======== ======== ========
Net return on ordinary activities after
taxation 24,345 (89,926) (65,581) 21,820 135,165 156,985
=========================================== ======== ========= ========= ======== ======== ========
Net return per ordinary share (note
4) 13.82p (51.04p) (37.22p) 12.79p 79.20p 91.99p
=========================================== ======== ========= ========= ======== ======== ========
The total column of the Income Statement is the profit and loss
account of the Company. The supplementary revenue and capital
columns are prepared under guidance published by the Association of
Investment Companies.
All revenue and capital items in these statements derive from
continuing operations.
A Statement of Comprehensive Income is not required as there is
no other comprehensive income.
The accompanying notes below are an integral part of the
Financial Statements.
Balance Sheet
As at 31 December As at 31 December
2022 2021
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Non-current assets
Investments - securities 869,837 938,357
Investments - property 66,750 74,900
Deferred expenses - 207
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
936,587 1,013,464
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Current assets
Debtors 3,213 3,710
Cash and cash equivalents 4,184 11,263
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
7,397 14,973
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Creditors
Amounts falling due within one year (2,596) (83,327)
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Net current assets/(liabilities) 4,801 (68,354)
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Total assets less current liabilities 941,388 945,110
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Creditors
Amounts falling due after more than
one year (94,714) (14,925)
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Net assets 846,674 930,185
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Capital and reserves
Share capital 44,188 43,900
Share premium account 178,189 172,576
Capital redemption reserve 22,781 22,781
Capital reserve 583,814 673,740
Revenue reserve 17,702 17,188
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Shareholders' funds 846,674 930,185
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Net asset value per ordinary share* 479.0p 529.7p
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
Ordinary shares in issue (note 7) 176,750,943 175,600,943
====================================== ======== =========== ======== ===========
* See Glossary of Terms and Alternative Performance Measures at the end of this announcement.
The accompanying notes below are an integral part of the
Financial Statements.
Statement of Changes in Equity
For the year ended 31 December 2022
Share Capital Capital
Share premium redemption reserve Revenue Shareholders'
capital account reserve * reserve funds
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
================================== ======== ======== =========== ======== ======== =============
Shareholders' funds at 1
January 2022 43,900 172,576 22,781 673,740 17,188 930,185
Shares issued 288 5,613 - - - 5,901
Net return on ordinary activities
after taxation - - - (89,926) 24,345 (65,581)
Dividends paid in the year
(note 5) - - - - (23,831) (23,831)
================================== ======== ======== =========== ======== ======== =============
Shareholders' funds at
31 December 2022 44,188 178,189 22,781 583,814 17,702 846,674
================================== ======== ======== =========== ======== ======== =============
For the year ended 31 December 2021
Share Capital Capital
Share premium redemption reserve Revenue Shareholders'
capital account reserve * reserve funds
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
================================== ======== ======== =========== ======== ========= =============
Shareholders' funds at 1
January 2021 40,649 112,751 22,781 538,575 16,406 731,162
Shares issued 3,251 59,825 - - - 63,076
Net return on ordinary activities
after taxation - - - 135,165 21,820 156,985
Dividends paid in the year
(note 5) - - - - (21,038) (21,038)
================================== ======== ======== =========== ======== ========= =============
Shareholders' funds at
31 December 2021 43,900 172,576 22,781 673,740 17,188 930,185
================================== ======== ======== =========== ======== ========= =============
* The capital reserve as at 31 December 2022 includes unrealised
investment holding gains of GBP280,732,000 (31 December 2021 -
gains of GBP380,179,000)
The accompanying notes below are an integral part of the
Financial Statements.
Cash Flow Statement
For the year For the year
ended ended
31 December 2022 31 December 2021
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
Cash flows from operating activities
Net return on ordinary activities
before taxation (63,831) 158,762
Losses/(gains) on investments - securities 80,091 (127,973)
Losses/(gains) on investments - property 5,114 (13,679)
Currency gains/(losses) (192) 21
Finance costs of borrowings 3,684 5,704
Overseas withholding tax (1,761) (1,764)
Changes in debtors 507 (1,192)
Changes in creditors 382 (698)
Other non-cash changes 239 227
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
Cash from operations 24,233 19,408
Interest paid (4,784) (6,498)
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
Net cash inflow from operating activities 19,449 12,910
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisitions of investments - securities (74,593) (167,997)
Disposals of investments - securities (8,239) (241)
Acquisitions of investments - property 62,783 86,271
Disposals of investments - property 11,275 13,679
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
Net cash outflow from investing activities (8,774) (68,288)
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
Cash flows from financing activities
Equity dividends (23,831) (21,038)
Shares issued 5,901 63,076
Loans notes drawn down 80,000 15,000
Debenture stock repaid (80,000) -
Costs of issuance of loan notes (16) (77)
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financing
activities (17,946) 56,961
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash
equivalents (7,271) 1,583
Exchange movements 192 (21)
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January 11,263 9,701
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 4,184 11,263
=========================================== ========= ======== ========== ========
The accompanying notes below are an integral part of the
Financial Statements.
List of Investments as at 31 December 2022
% of
Value total
Name Business GBP'000 assets
=================================== ========================================= ======== =======
Global Equities
Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical company 40,137 4.3
United Parcel Service Courier services 28,734 3.1
Procter & Gamble Household product manufacturer 28,431 3.0
Pepsico Snack and beverage company 25,908 2.8
Microsoft Computer software 25,182 2.7
Distribution and sales of industrial
Fastenal supplies 24,739 2.6
Distributes air conditioning, heating
Watsco and refrigeration equipment 22,763 2.4
Roche Pharmaceuticals and diagnostics 22,619 2.4
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Semiconductor manufacturer 21,884 2.3
Nestlé Food producer 20,423 2.2
Deutsche Boerse Securities exchange owner/operator 20,191 2.1
Coca Cola Beverage company 19,924 2.1
Sonic Healthcare Laboratory testing 19,409 2.1
Analog Devices Integrated circuits 19,216 2.0
Anta Sports Sportswear manufacturer and retailer 18,409 2.0
Apple Consumer technology 17,819 1.9
Schneider Electric Electrical power products 16,657 1.8
Experian Credit scoring and marketing services 16,287 1.7
McDonald's Fast food restaurants 15,574 1.7
Partners Group Asset management 15,373 1.6
Producer of speciality and fine
Albemarle chemicals 15,110 1.6
Atlas Copco Engineering 15,062 1.6
Online marketplace for classified
Carsales.com car advertisements 14,974 1.6
Edenred Voucher programme outsourcer 14,905 1.6
Information services and solutions
Wolters Kluwer provider 14,742 1.6
Arthur J Gallagher Insurance broker 13,264 1.4
United Overseas Bank Commercial banking 13,168 1.4
Admiral Car insurance 12,642 1.3
B3 S.A. Securities exchange owner/operator 12,358 1.3
Electronic test and measurement
National Instruments systems 12,263 1.3
Intuit Software 11,555 1.2
Cisco Systems Data networking equipment 10,795 1.2
Provides banking services throughout
Cullen/Frost Bankers the state of Texas 10,444 1.1
Starbucks Coffee retailer 10,126 1.1
Hong Kong Exchanges and
Clearing Securities exchange owner/operator 10,004 1.1
Man Wah Sofa designer and manufacturer 9,877 1.1
Rio Tinto Mining 9,626 1.0
Kering Luxury brand conglomerate 8,825 0.9
NetEase Online gaming company 8,787 0.9
L'Oréal Cosmetics 8,752 0.9
Kuehne + Nagel Worldwide freight forwarder 8,582 0.9
Midea Group Appliance manufacturer 8,388 0.9
Cognex Industrial automation 8,303 0.9
Medtronic Medical devices company 7,879 0.8
SAP Business software developer 7,438 0.8
Dolby Laboratories Multimedia software 7,063 0.8
T. Rowe Price Fund manager 7,029 0.7
USS Second-hand car auctioneer 7,014 0.7
Valmet Manufacturer of pulp and paper machinery 6,837 0.7
AVI Staple foods manufacturer 6,777 0.7
Silicon Motion Technology Semiconductor company 6,614 0.7
Want Want Snacks and milk-based products 6,454 0.7
TCI Producer of health-food products 5,917 0.6
Fevertree Drinks Producer of premium mixer drinks 5,666 0.6
Pernod Ricard Global spirits manufacturer 5,635 0.6
Línea Directa Aseguradora Car and home insurance provider 5,537 0.6
Pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer
GlaxoSmithKline healthcare 5,210 0.6
UK retail savings and investment
Hargreaves Lansdown platform 4,814 0.5
Technology provider for the travel
Amadeus IT Group industry 4,103 0.4
=================================== ========================================= ======== =======
Total Global Equities 802,218 85.2
============================================================================== ======== =======
Infrastructure Equities
Greencoat UK Wind UK wind farms 9,937 1.1
Terna Electricity grid operator 5,622 0.6
Jiangsu Expressway Tollroad operator 3,159 0.3
Assura Primary healthcare property group 2,783 0.3
BBGI Global Infrastructure PFI/PPP fund 2,678 0.3
=================================== ========================================= ======== =======
Total Infrastructure Equities 24,179 2.6
============================================================================== ======== =======
Direct Property
=================================== ========================================= ======== =======
Direct Property See table below. 66,750 7.1
=================================== ========================================= ======== =======
Bonds
======== =======
Sterling denominated Paymentsense 8% 2025 2,537 0.3
======== =======
Euro denominated Ivory Coast 6.625% 2048 1,285 0.1
======== =======
US dollar denominated Netflix 5.375% 2029 5,787 0.6
Catalent 5% 2027 3,180 0.3
Tesco 6.15% 2037 2,997 0.3
First Quantum Minerals 6.875% 2026 1,939 0.2
First Quantum Minerals 7.5% 2025 1,933 0.2
Brazil 7.125% 20/01/2037 1,892 0.2
Dominican Republic 5.875% 30/01/2060 1,653 0.2
Mexico 5.75% 12/10/2110 1,588 0.2
Mercadolibre 3.125% 2031 940 0.1
======== =======
21,909 2.3
======== =======
Brazilian real denominated Brazil CPI Linked 15/05/2045 4,896 0.5
======== =======
Dominican peso denominated Dominican Republic 8.9% 15/02/23 1,877 0.2
Dominican Republic 9.75% 05/06/26 772 0.1
======== =======
2,649 0.3
======== =======
Indonesian rupiah denominated Indonesia 9% 15/03/2029 3,338 0.4
Indonesia 7.375% 15/05/2048 2,066 0.2
======== =======
5,404 0.6
======== =======
Mexican peso denominated Mexico IL 4% 15/11/2040 2,849 0.3
======== =======
Peruvian sol denominated Peru 6.15% 12/08/2032 1,911 0.2
=================================== ========================================= ======== =======
Total Bonds 43,440 4.6
============================================================================== ======== =======
Total Investments 936,587 99.5
============================================================================== ======== =======
Net Liquid Assets 4,801 0.5
============================================================================== ======== =======
Total Assets 941,388 100.0
(before deduction of borrowings)
============================================================================== ======== =======
Property Portfolio
2022 2022 2021
Value % of Value
total
Location Type Tenant GBP'000 assets GBP'000
================= ================= =============================== ========= ======== =========
G4S Cash Solutions (UK)
Basingstoke* Warehouse Limited - - 3,000
Biggleswade Warehouse Sherwin-Williams UK Limited 6,500 0.7 7,650
Cleethorpes* Public House Stonegate Pub Company Limited - - 750
Petrol Station
and Convenience Co-operative Group Holdings
Crawley Store (2011) Ltd 3,300 0.4 3,800
Denbigh Supermarket Aldi Stores Limited 5,300 0.6 5,750
Spirit Pub Company (Managed)
Earley Public House Limited 2,700 0.3 2,800
Holyhead Hotel Premier Inn Hotels Limited 6,900 0.7 -
Care UK Community Partnerships
Kenilworth Nursing Home Limited 5,000 0.5 6,200
Luton* Public House Stonegate Pub Company Limited - - 2,700
New Romney Holiday Village Park Resorts Limited 19,250 2.0 19,000
Newport Pagnell* Car Showroom Pendragon Plc - - 3,300
Spirit Pub Company (Managed)
Otford Public House Limited 1,750 0.2 1,850
Convenience Co-operative Group Food
Pagham Store Limited 1,150 0.1 1,350
Prestatyn Public House Stonegate Pub Company Limited 1,100 0.1 1,100
Southend-on-Sea Warehouse Booker Limited 9,400 1.0 11,200
Mitchells & Butlers Retail
Taunton Bowling Alley (No.2) Limited 4,400 0.5 4,450
================= ================= =============================== ========= ======== =========
66,750 7.1 74,900
=================================================================== ========= ======== =========
Purchased during the year.
* Sold during the year.
Notes to the Financial Statements
1. Basis of Accounting
The Financial Statements for the year to 31 December 2022 have
been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting
Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and on the
basis of the accounting policies set out in the Annual Report and
Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.
2.
2022 2021
Income GBP'000 GBP'000
========================================================= ======== ========
Income from investments
UK dividends 3,285 4,499
UK interest 360 381
Overseas dividends 19,487 16,004
Overseas interest 2,356 2,175
========================================================= ======== ========
25,488 23,059
========================================================= ======== ========
Other income
Deposit interest 49 2
Rental income 4,475 4,905
Other income 31 14
========================================================= ======== ========
4,555 4,921
========================================================= ======== ========
Total income 30,043 27,980
========================================================= ======== ========
Total income comprises
Dividends from financial assets classified at fair
value through profit or loss 22,772 20,503
Interest from financial assets designated at fair
value through profit or loss 2,716 2,556
Interest from financial assets not at fair value through
profit or loss 49 2
Other income not from financial assets 4,506 4,919
========================================================= ======== ========
30,043 27,980
========================================================= ======== ========
3. Baillie Gifford & Co Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Baillie Gifford & Co, has been appointed as the Company's
Alternative Investment Fund Manager ('AIFM') and Company Secretary.
Baillie Gifford & Co Limited has delegated investment
management services to Baillie Gifford & Co. Dealing activity
and transaction reporting have been further sub-delegated to
Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited and Baillie Gifford Asia (Hong
Kong) Limited. The management of the property portfolio has been
delegated to OLIM Property Limited.
The Investment Management Agreement between the AIFM and the
Company sets out the matters over which the Managers have authority
in accordance with the policies and directions of, and subject to
restrictions imposed by, the Board. The Investment Management
Agreement is terminable on not less than six months' notice.
Compensation fees would only be payable in respect of the notice
period if termination were to occur within a shorter notice period.
The annual management fee is 0.45% of the first GBP500 million of
total assets and 0.35% of the remaining total assets, total assets
being the value of all assets held (excluding the property
portfolio) less all liabilities, other than any liability in the
form of debt intended for investment purposes, calculated on a
quarterly basis. The Board is of the view that calculating the fee
with reference to performance would be unlikely to exert a positive
influence on performance.
The Property Management Agreement sets out the matters over
which OLIM Property Limited has discretion and those matters which
require Board approval. The Property Management Agreement is
terminable on three months' notice. The annual fee is 0.5% of the
value of the property portfolio, subject to a minimum quarterly fee
of GBP6,250.
4.
Net return per ordinary 2022 2022 2022 2021 2021 2021
share Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
======================== ======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ======
Net return per ordinary
share 13.82p (51.04p) (37.22p) 12.79p 79.20p 91.99p
======================== ======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ======
Revenue return per ordinary share is based on the net revenue on
ordinary activities after taxation of GBP24,345,000 (2021 -
GBP21,820,000) and on 176,207,530 (2021 - 170,652,354) ordinary
shares of 25p, being the weighted average number of ordinary shares
in issue during the year.
Capital return per ordinary share is based on the net capital
loss for the financial year of GBP89,926,000 (2021 - net capital
gain of GBP135,165,000), and on 176,207,530 (2021 - 170,652,354)
ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue during the year.
There are no dilutive or potentially dilutive shares in
issue.
5.
2022 2021
Ordinary dividends 2022 2021 GBP'000 GBP'000
======================================== =========== ========== ============ ============
Amounts recognised as distributions
in the year:
Previous year's final (paid 8 April
2022) 3.375p 3.00p 5,937 4,965
First interim (paid 22 June 2022) 3.25p 3.05p 5,730 5,204
Second interim (paid 20 September 2022) 3.40p 3.075p 5,994 5,308
Third interim (paid 16 December 2022) 3.50p 3.175p 6,170 5,561
======================================== =========== ========== ============ ============
13.525p 12.30p 23,831 21,038
======================================== =========== ========== ============ ============
We also set out below the total dividends paid and proposed in
respect of the financial year, which is the basis on which the
requirements of section 1159 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 are
considered. The revenue available for distribution out of current
year profits by way of dividend for the year is GBP24,345,000 (2021
- GBP21,820,000).
2022 2021
2022 2021 GBP'000 GBP'000
======================================== ========== =========== ============ ============
Dividends paid and payable in respect
of the year:
First interim (paid 22 June 2022) 3.25p 3.05p 5,730 5,204
Second interim (paid 20 September 2022) 3.40p 3.075p 5,994 5,308
Third interim (paid 16 December 2022) 3.50p 3.175p 6,170 5,561
Current year's proposed final dividend
(payable 13 April 2023) 3.67p 3.375p 6,487 5,937
======================================== ========== =========== ============ ============
13.82p 12.675p 24,381 22,010
======================================== ========== =========== ============ ============
6. During the year, the 8% Debenture Stock 2022 ('Debenture
Stock') was redeemed at par value on 10 April 2022 and the Company
refinanced by issuing GBP80 million of long-term secured privately
placed notes ('loan notes') in two tranches of GBP40 million both
with a fixed coupon of 3.12% and repayment dates of 11 April 2045
and 11 April 2049. In 2021 the Company issued GBP15 million of loan
notes with a fixed coupon of 2.23% and a repayment date of 25 June
2036. At 31 December 2022 the total book value of the loan notes
was GBP94,714,000 (31 December 2021 - GBP14,925,000) and the total
market value was GBP65,549,000 (31 December 2021 - GBP14,922,000).
At 31 December 2021 the book value of the Debenture stock was
GBP80,236,000 and the market value was GBP82,500,000.
7. During the year, 1,150,000 (2021 - 13,005,000) shares were
issued at a premium to net asset value raising proceeds of
GBP5,901,000 (2021 - GBP63,076,000). At 31 December 2022 the
Company had authority to buy back 26,367,551 ordinary shares and to
allot 16,740,094 ordinary shares without application of pre-emption
rights in accordance with the authorities granted at the AGM in
April 2022. No shares were bought back during the year.
8. During the year, transaction costs on purchases amounted to
GBP551,000 (2021- GBP113,000) and GBP174,000 (2021 - GBP290,000)
respectively. Of the gains on sales during the year of
GBP14,242,000 (2021 - gains of GBP37,906,000) a net gain of
GBP12,258,000 (2021 - net gain of GBP14,491,000) was included in
investment holding gains at the previous year end.
9.
Analysis of 1 January Cash Exchange Cost of Other non-cash 31 December
change in net 2022 flows movement issuance* changes 2022
debt GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
================== ============= ============ ============= ================= ================== ===============
Cash and cash
equivalents 11,263 (7,271) 192 - - 4,184
Debenture
Stock due in
less
than one year (80,236) 80,000 - - 236 -
Loan notes due
in more than
one year (14,925) (80,000) - 223 (12) (94,714)
================== ============= ============ ============= ================= ================== ===============
Total (83,898) (7,271) 192 223 224 (90,530)
================== ============= ============ ============= ================= ================== ===============
* Cost of issuance includes carried forward deferred expenses of
GBP207,000.
10. The financial information set out above does not constitute
the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December
2022 or 2021 but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts
for 2021 have been delivered to the registrar of companies, and
those for 2022 will be delivered in due course. The auditor has
reported on those accounts; their reports were (i) unqualified,
(ii) did not include a reference to any matters to which the
auditor drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their
report and (iii) did not contain a statement under section 498 (2)
or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.
11. The Report and Accounts will be available on the SAINTS page
of the Managers' website saints-it.com (++) on or around 3 March
2023.
Glossary of Terms and Alternative Performance Measures
('APM')
Total Assets
Total assets less current liabilities, before deduction of all
borrowings.
Net Asset Value
Net Asset Value (NAV) is the value of total assets less
liabilities (including borrowings). The NAV per share is calculated
by dividing this amount by the number of ordinary shares in
issue.
Net Asset Value (Borrowings at Book Value)
Borrowings are valued at adjusted net issue proceeds. Book value
approximates amortised cost.
Net Asset Value (Borrowings at Fair Value) (APM)
Borrowings are valued at an estimate of their market worth. This
indicates the cost to the Company of repaying its borrowings under
current market conditions. It is a widely reported measure across
the investment trust industry.
31 December 31 December
2022 2021
=============================================== =============== ===============
Shareholders' funds (borrowings at book value) GBP846,674,000 GBP930,185,000
Add: book value of borrowings GBP94,714,000 GBP95,161,000
Less: fair value of borrowings (GBP65,549,000) (GBP97,422,000)
=============================================== =============== ===============
Shareholders' funds (borrowings at fair value) GBP875,839,000 GBP927,924,000
=============================================== =============== ===============
Shares in issue at year end 176,750,943 175,600,943
=============================================== =============== ===============
Net Asset Value per ordinary share (borrowings
at fair value) 495.5p 528.4p
=============================================== =============== ===============
Premium/(Discount) (APM)
As stockmarkets and share prices vary, an investment trust's
share price is rarely the same as its NAV. When the share price is
lower than the NAV per share it is said to be trading at a
discount. The size of the discount is calculated by subtracting the
share price from the NAV per share and is usually expressed as a
percentage of the NAV per share. If the share price is higher than
the NAV per share, this situation is called a premium.
2022 2022 2021 2021
NAV NAV NAV NAV
(book) (fair) (book) (fair)
====================== ======= ======= ======= =======
Closing NAV per share 479.0p 495.5p 529.7p 528.4p
Closing share price 508.0p 508.0p 541.0p 541.0p
====================== ======= ======= ======= =======
Premium 6.1% 2.5% 2.1% 2.4%
====================== ======= ======= ======= =======
Ongoing Charges (APM)
The total expenses (excluding borrowing costs) incurred by the
Company as a percentage of the average net asset value (with
borrowings at fair value). The ongoing charges have been calculated
on the basis prescribed by the Association of Investment
Companies.
A reconciliation from the expenses detailed in the Income
Statement above is provided below.
31 December 31 December
2022 2021
========================================================== ============== ==============
Investment management fee GBP3,920,000 GBP3,893,000
Other administrative expenses GBP1,257,000 GBP1,252,000
========================================================== ============== ==============
Total expenses (a) GBP5,177,000 GBP5,145,000
========================================================== ============== ==============
Average daily cum-income net asset value (with borrowings
at fair value) (b) GBP877,093,000 GBP826,357,000
========================================================== ============== ==============
Ongoing charges (a) ÷ (b) (expressed as a
percentage) 0.59% 0.62%
========================================================== ============== ==============
Total Return (APM)
The total return is the return to shareholders after reinvesting
the net dividend on the date that the share price goes
ex-dividend.
2022 2022 2022 2021 2021 2021
NAV NAV Share NAV NAV Share
(book) (fair) price (book) (fair) price
============================ ========== ========= ========= ======== ======== ======== ========
Opening NAV per share/share
price (a) 529.7p 528.4p 541.0p 449.7p 446.1p 464.0p
Closing NAV per share/share
price (b) 479.0p 495.5p 508.0p 529.7p 528.4p 541.0p
Dividend adjustment factor* (c) 1.027330 1.026941 1.027687 1.025486 1.025738 1.024954
Adjusted closing NAV per (d = b
share/share price x c) 492.1p 508.8p 522.1p 543.2p 542.0p 554.5p
============================ ========== ========= ========= ======== ======== ======== ========
(d ÷
Total return a)-1 (7.1%) (3.7%) (3.5%) 20.8% 21.5% 19.5%
============================ ========== ========= ========= ======== ======== ======== ========
* The dividend adjustment factor is calculated on the assumption
that the dividends paid out by the Company are reinvested into the
shares of the Company at the cum income NAV/share price at the
ex-dividend date.
Gearing (APM)
At its simplest, gearing is borrowing. Just like any other
public company, an investment trust can borrow money to invest in
additional investments for its portfolio. The effect of the
borrowing on the shareholders' assets is called 'gearing'. If the
Company's assets grow, the shareholders' assets grow
proportionately more because the debt remains the same. But if the
value of the Company's assets falls, the situation is reversed.
Gearing can therefore enhance performance in rising markets but can
adversely impact performance in falling markets.
Potential gearing is the Company's borrowings expressed as a
percentage of shareholders' funds.
31 December 31 December
2022 2021
========================= ============== ==============
Borrowings at book value GBP94,714,000 GBP95,161,000
Shareholders' funds GBP846,674,000 GBP930,185,000
========================= ============== ==============
Potential gearing 11% 10%
========================= ============== ==============
Equity gearing is the Company's borrowings adjusted for cash,
bonds and property expressed as a percentage of shareholders'
funds.
31 December 31 December
2022 2021
================================== =============== ===============
Borrowings at book value GBP94,714,000 GBP95,161,000
Less: cash and cash equivalents (GBP4,184,000) (GBP11,263,000)
Less: bond investments (GBP43,440,000) (GBP48,950,000)
Less: direct property investments (GBP66,750,000) (GBP74,900,000)
================================== =============== ===============
Adjusted borrowings (GBP19,660,000) (GBP39,952,000)
Shareholders' funds GBP846,674,000 GBP930,185,000
================================== =============== ===============
Equity gearing (2%) (4%)
================================== =============== ===============
Leverage (APM)
For the purposes of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers
(AIFM) Regulations, leverage is any method which increases the
Company's exposure, including the borrowing of cash and the use of
derivatives. It is expressed as a ratio between the Company's
exposure and its net asset value and can be calculated on a gross
and a commitment method. Under the gross method, exposure
represents the sum of the Company's positions after the deduction
of sterling cash balances, without taking into account any hedging
and netting arrangements. Under the commitment method, exposure is
calculated without the deduction of sterling cash balances and
after certain hedging and netting positions are offset against each
other.
Active Share (APM)
Active share, a measure of how actively a portfolio is managed,
is the percentage of the listed equity portfolio that differs from
its comparative index. It is calculated by deducting from 100 the
percentage of the portfolio that overlaps with the comparative
index. An active share of 100 indicates no overlap with the index
and an active share of zero indicates a portfolio that tracks the
index.
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation ('SFDR')
The EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation ('SFDR') does
not have a direct impact in the UK due to Brexit, however, it
applies to third-country products marketed in the EU. As The
Scottish American Investment Company P.L.C. is marketed in the EU
by the AIFM, BG & Co, via the National Private Placement Regime
'NPPR' the following disclosures have been provided to comply with
the high-level requirements of SFDR.
The AIFM has adopted Baillie Gifford & Co's Governance and
Sustainable Principles and Guidelines as its policy on integration
of sustainability risks in investment decisions.
Baillie Gifford & Co's approach to investment is based on
identifying and holding high quality growth businesses that enjoy
sustainable competitive advantages in their marketplace. To do this
it looks beyond current financial performance, undertaking
proprietary research to build an in-depth knowledge of an
individual company and a view on its long-term prospects.
This includes the consideration of sustainability factors
(environmental, social and/or governance matters) which it believes
will positively or negatively influence the financial returns of an
investment.
More detail on the Managers' approach to sustainability can be
found in the Governance and Sustainability Principles and
Guidelines document, available publicly on the Baillie Gifford
website (bailliegifford.com).
Taxonomy Regulation
The Taxonomy Regulation establishes an EU-wide framework of
criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities in
respect of six environmental objectives. It builds on the
disclosure requirements under SFDR by introducing additional
disclosure obligations in respect of alternative investment funds
that invest in an economic activity that contributes to an
environmental objective.
The Company does not commit to make sustainable investments as
defined under SFDR. As such, the underlying investments do not take
into account the EU criteria for environmentally sustainable
economic activities
Third Party Data Provider Disclaimer
No third party data provider ('Provider') makes any warranty,
express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or timeliness
of the data contained herewith nor as to the results to be obtained
by recipients of the data. No Provider shall in any way be liable
to any recipient of the data for any inaccuracies, errors or
omissions in the index data included in this document, regardless
of cause, or for any damages (whether direct or indirect) resulting
therefrom.
No Provider has any obligation to update, modify or amend the
data or to otherwise notify a recipient thereof in the event that
any matter stated herein changes or subsequently becomes
inaccurate.
Without limiting the foregoing, no Provider shall have any
liability whatsoever to you, whether in contract (including under
an indemnity), in tort (including negligence), under a warranty,
under statute or otherwise, in respect of any loss or damage
suffered by you as a result of or in connection with any opinions,
recommendations, forecasts, judgements, or any other conclusions,
or any course of action determined, by you or any third party,
whether or not based on the content, information or materials
contained herein
FTSE Index Data
London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings
(collectively, the 'LSE Group'). (c) LSE Group 2023. FTSE Russell
is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies. 'FTSE(R)'
'Russell(R)', 'FTSE Russell(R)', is/are a trade mark(s) of the
relevant LSE Group companies and is/are used by any other LSE Group
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data vest in the relevant LSE Group company which owns the index or
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for any errors or omissions in the indexes or data and no party may
rely on any indexes or data contained in this communication. No
further distribution of data from the LSE Group is permitted
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The LSE Group does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of
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Automatic Exchange of Information
In order to fulfil its legal obligations under UK tax
legislation relating to the automatic exchange of information, The
Scottish American Investment Company P.L.C. is required to collect
and report certain information about certain shareholders.
The legislation requires investment trust companies to provide
personal information to HMRC on certain investors who purchase
shares in investment trusts. Accordingly, The Scottish American
Investment Company P.L.C. will have to provide information annually
to the local tax authority on the tax residencies of a number of
non-UK based certificated shareholders and corporate entities.
Shareholders, excluding those whose shares are held in CREST,
who come on to the share register will be sent a certification form
for the purposes of collecting this information.
For further information, please see HMRC's Quick Guide:
Automatic Exchange of Information - information for account holders
gov.uk/government/publications/exchange-of-information-account-holders.
++ Neither the contents of the Managers' website nor the
contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Managers'
website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part
of, this announcement.
None of the views expressed in this document should be construed
as advice to buy or sell a particular investment.
- ends -
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END
FR SSUFUUEDSEIE
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 10, 2023 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
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