Alliance Trust PLC
INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
For Quarter Ending 30 April 2008
MATERIAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Over the first quarter, NAV excluding income rose 4.4%, which reflected a
strong rally in equity markets from their March lows.
* The financial effects of the US sub-prime crisis peaked in March with the
near collapse of Bear Stearns. Its subsequent rescue and massive financial
support for the market by the Fed calmed fears of systemic collapse and
created the platform for a strong recovery in equities.
* For regional portfolios, North America and the UK benefited from good stock
selection and outperformed the relevant market indices. Asia Pacific ex
Japan underperformed over the period.
* With the strength of the Euro starting to cause real pain in some of the
Eurozone's economies, we reduced our European equity exposure from 15.7% of
net assets to 11.1% by the end of the quarter.
* Following concerns over weak economic growth and rising inflation we made
equity sales in other regions, leaving equities representing 85.9% of net
assets compared with 93.5% at the start of the quarter. In addition, we
moved from a position of £130m net borrowings to £43m net cash.
* Private equity investment was increased, taking its weighting to 6.1% of
net assets from 5.4% previously. There was no trading activity in property.
KEY FACTS
Total Net Assets: £2,817.2m
Total Return from 31/01/
08
to 30/04/08: +2.54%
NAV: 416.60p
The NAV is published daily on our website
www.alliancetrust.co.uk
Share price*: 344.25p
Discount: 17.4%
Total Expense Ratio
(year to 31/01/08): 0.56%
Year End: 31 January 2008
Date of Incorporation: 21 April 1888
Dividend: Dividends are paid quarterly on or
around the last day of January, April,
July and October. The total dividend
payable for the year to 31 January 2008
was 7.9p
Capital: 671,909,760 shares of 2.5p
ISIN: GB00B11V7W98
* Source: Factset
ASSET ALLOCATION %
Equities 85.9
Private Equity 6.1
Preference 0.8
Shares
Subsidiaries 1.6
Property 3.3
Cash 4.3
Other Net 0.8
Assets
Gross Assets 102.8
Gearing (2.8)
Net Assets 100.0
EQUITY PORTFOLIO DISTRIBUTION
GEOGRAPHIC EQUITY ONLY INDUSTRY EQUITY ONLY
% %
UK (Large & Mid) 43.0 Financials 26.0
Europe (Large & Mid) 13.4 Oil & Gas 16.3
N America (Large & Mid) 19.3 Basic Materials 12.3
Asia Pacific Ex Japan 13.7 Consumer Goods 10.0
UK (Small) 8.0 Industrials 8.7
Japan 1.4 Consumer Services 6.7
Rest of the World 1.2 Telecommunications 5.9
Health Care 5.1
Utilities 4.8
Technology 4.2
5 YEAR PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
YTD 1 YEAR* 3 YEARS* 5 YEARS*
Alliance Trust Total Return 2.5% -5.6% 32.5% 81.4%
RPI +3% 2.7% 7.1% 20.3% 33.5%
FTSE All Share Total Return 4.9% -3.6% 35.3% 105.3%
* to year end 31 January
2008
TOP 20 INVESTMENT (includes preference holdings)
Move- Rank Value
Rank ment last qtr Name £m
------ ------- ------- ---------------------------------------------- --------
1 - (1) Royal Dutch Shell `B' 94.1
2 - (2) Alliance Trust Real Estate Partnership 80.1
3 UP (6) HSBC 79.5
4 - (4) BP 77.7
5 DOWN (3) Vodafone 69.3
6 UP (9) Xstrata 42.5
7 UP (10) Premier Alliance Trust Asia Pacific Fund 41.5
8 DOWN (14) Anglo American 39.4
9 (new) Barclays 38.5
10 UP (13) BG 38.2
11 DOWN (7) Rio Tinto 36.4
12 UP (15) Premier Alliance Trust Japan Fund 33.4
13 DOWN (11) Tesco 33.0
14 UP (18) Exxon Mobil 31.7
15 DOWN (8) Lloyds TSB 29.8
16 UP (17) Ashmore Global Opportunities 29.5
17 UP (20) Prudential 29.1
18 DOWN (16) British American Tobacco 28.7
19 (new) Aviva 27.8
20 DOWN (12) GlaxoSmithKline 27.7
Royal Bank of Scotland and National Grid Transco have dropped out of the top 20
Total Investments (ex £2774.10m
Cash):
21.7%
Top 10 as % of Total:
Top 20 as % of Total: 32.7%
SECTOR WEIGHTINGS
Top 5 overweight/underweight sector holdings**
Overweight/(underweight)
%
Mining 5.73
Oil & Gas Producers 3.92
Nonequity Investment 3.36
instruments
Tobacco 2.29
Equity Investment instruments 1.71
Software & Computer Services (2.31)
Technology Hardware & Equipment (2.26)
General Financial (2.21)
Pharm & Bio (1.89)
Auto & Parts (1.81)
Top 5 active overweight/underweight holdings**
Overweight/(underweight)
%
Royal Dutch Shell 2.72
HSBC 2.32
BP 2.2
Vodaphone 2.06
Xstrata 1.39
Bank of America (0.44)
JP Morgan Chase (0.41)
Apple Inc (0.39)
ConocoPhillips (0.36)
Siemens AG (0.28)
Portfolio weight is calculated as a % of Net Asset Value less Cash and Other
Net Assets
**FTSE Global Equity Index Series All Cap used
Investment policy
We have no fixed asset allocation benchmark and we invest in a wide range of
asset classes throughout the world to achieve our objective. Our focus is to
generate a real return for shareholders over the medium to long term by a
combination of capital growth and a rising dividend.
We pursue our objective by:
* Investing in both quoted and unquoted equities across the globe in
different sectors and industries;
* Investing internationally in fixed income securities;
* Investing in other asset classes and financial instruments, either directly
or through investment vehicles; and
* Investing in subsidiaries and associated businesses which allow us to
expand into other related activities.
We are prepared to invest any proportion of the total corporate capital in any
of the above asset classes, subject only to the restrictions imposed on us by
the regulatory or fiscal regime within which we operate. However, we would
expect equities to comprise at least 50% of our portfolio. Changes to the asset
allocation will be dependent upon attractive investment opportunities being
available.
Where market conditions permit, we will use gearing of not more than 30% of our
net assets at any given time.
We can use derivative instruments to hedge, enhance and protect positions,
including currency exposures.
Important information
Alliance Trust PLC is a self-managed investment trust company, operating from
Meadow House in Dundee.
The views, information and data in this publication should not be deemed as a
financial promotion or recommendation. Alliance Trust PLC is not authorised to
give financial advice. For security and compliance monitoring purposes
telephone calls may be recorded.
Please remember past performance is not a guide to future performance. You may
not get back the amount you invest. The value of your investment and any income
from it may fall as well as rise.
Exchange rate changes may cause the value of overseas investments to go down as
well as up.
Investment trusts may borrow to finance further investment (gearing).The use of
gearing is likely to lead to volatility in the Net Asset Value (NAV) meaning
that a relatively small movement, down or up, in the value of a trust's assets
will result in a magnified movement, in the same direction, of that NAV. This
may mean that you could get back nothing at all.
CONTACT
Kelly O'Donnell
Head of Investor Relations
Alliance Trust PLC, Meadow House,
64 Reform Street, Dundee DD1 1TJ
Tel +44 (0)1382 201700
Fax +44 (0)1382 225133
Email investor@alliancetrust.co.uk
Web www.alliancetrust.co.uk
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Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
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