Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 6301V

Witan Pacific Investment Trust PLC

16 December 2013

WITAN PACIFIC INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

Interim Management Statement - 3 months ended 31 October 2013

Introduction

Witan Pacific Investment Trust plc (the "Company") has prepared this Interim Management Statement ("IMS") to meet the requirements of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. The IMS covers the three months to 31 October 2013, together with relevant information up to the date of publication.

Investment Objective

The objective of the Company is to provide shareholders with a portfolio of equity investments in the Asia Pacific region with the aim of outperforming the MSCI AC Asia Pacific Free Index (£).

The Company's assets are managed by Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited, Matthews International Capital Management LLC and GaveKal Capital Limited. The Executive Manager is Witan Investment Services Limited.

Multi-Manager Structure

Managers	% of Assets 31 July 2013	% of Assets 31 October 2013
Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited	52	48
Matthews International Capital Management LLC	38	42
GaveKal Capital Limited	10	10

Company Information

Epic Code	WPC
Sector	Asia Pacific - Including Japan
Trust Type	Conventional
Launch Date	30 December 1907
Financial Year End	31 January
Annual Results Announced	25 April 2013
AGM	13 June 2013

Company Statistics

	31 July 2013	31 October 2013
Gross Total Assets*	£188.8m	£185.0m
NAV per ordinary share [cum income]*	273.03p	267.27p
Share price*	245.75p	233.13p
Premium/Discount*	10.0%	12.8%
Gearing*	3.3%	3.0%
Yield*	1.8%	1.9%

*Source: BNP Paribas Securities Services

Performance Statistics

Cumulative Performance	3 months	6 months	1 year	3 years	5 years	10 years
Share Price (Total Return)	-4.3	-6.6	16.6	21.7	120.9	143.8
Net Asset Value (Total Return)#	-1.2	-4.4	13.2	19.5	106.2	145.7
Index (Total Return)	2.3	-1.4	20.1	19.2	90.7	130.0

Performance Data Source: Datastream and Witan Pacific to 31 October 2013.

#The Net Asset Value figures value debt at fair value.

The benchmark for the Company's performance is the MSCI AC Asia Pacific Free Index (£). Source: MSCI, for more information please go to http://www.witanpacific.com/legal-information

Quarterly Portfolio Report as at 31 October 2013

Asian equity markets rose 2.3% in sterling terms over the three months to the end of October, having traded in a fairly narrow range over the period. The stability of the regional index masked greater volatility in the performance of individual countries, with for example Australia, New Zealand and Korea rising by more than 8% while Indonesia fell nearly 13%. Japan underperformed the index slightly as its stock markets consolidated after strong performance at the start of the year.

The investment environment over the quarter was influenced by events in the United States. Market expectations that the US Federal Reserve ("The Fed") would soon reduce its monthly purchases of bonds (so called "tapering") increased concerns that this would adversely affect countries (such as India and Indonesia) dependent upon foreign capital. Even though the Fed has yet to take such action, sentiment in Asia remained cautious. This was reinforced by the US government shutdown during October and brinkmanship over the debt ceiling. Globally, expectations for economic growth in 2014 improved, while within the region, there were positive economic surprises from China, Singapore and Korea, offsetting weak data from India during the quarter.

Witan Pacific's net asset value fell 1.2%, underperforming the regional benchmark. The share price total return experienced a 4.3% decline as the discount widened by 3% during the quarter. Unusually all three of the Trust's managers underperformed in this quarter following positive returns in earlier periods.

During the quarter, the Trust made a change in the manager weights in the portfolio, moving approximately 4% of the Trust's assets from Aberdeen to Matthews. The manager weightings at the end of October were Aberdeen 47.6%, Matthews 42.6% and GaveKal 9.8%.

Witan Pacific paid a dividend of 2.05p (2012: 2p) on October 18^th to shareholders on the register on 4 October 2013.

Geographic Breakdown*

	31 July 2013 %	31 October 2013 %
Japan	24	23
Hong Kong	17	15
China	12	15
Singapore	13	12
Australia	10	10
India	5	5
Taiwan	5	5
South Korea	3	5
Other Countries	11	10

*Source: BNP Paribas Securities Services

Sector Allocation*

	31 July 2013 %	31 October 2013 %
Financials	28	26
Consumer Staples	13	14
Consumer Discretionary	12	12
Industrials	9	10
Information Technology	7	7
Materials	7	7
Telecommunication Services	7	7
Energy	3	3
Healthcare	5	5
Utilities	2	2
Other (investment funds)	7	7

*Source: BNP Paribas Securities Services

Ten Largest Holdings*

31 July 2013	%
GaveKal Asian Opportunities UCITS Fund	9.8
Aberdeen Global India Equity Fund	3.9
HSBC Holdings	3.2
Japan Tobacco	2.6
China Mobile	2.5
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing	2.4
QBE Insurance	2.4
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation	2.1
United Overseas Bank	1.9
Singapore Technologies Engineering	1.8

*Source: BNP Paribas Securities Services

31 October 2013	%
GaveKal Asian Opportunities UCITS Fund	9.8
Aberdeen Global India Equity Fund	3.9
HSBC Holdings	2.9
Japan Tobacco	2.6
China Mobile	2.5
QBE Insurance	2.3
Orix	2.1
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing	2.0
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation	1.8
United Overseas Bank	1.8