Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 3399U

Henderson High Income Trust PLC

13 May 2008

 



HENDERSON HIGH INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

HENDERSON GLOBAL INVESTORS 

13 MAY 2008

HENDERSON HIGH INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 31 March 2008

REVIEW OF THE PERIOD

Objective:        the objective of Henderson High Income Investment Trust plc is to invest in a prudently diversified selection of both well-known and smaller companies to provide investors with a high dividend income stream whilst also maintaining the prospect of capital growth.

Portfolio:    during the quarter we made further investment in the holdings of Catlin Group and JardineLloydThomson. New holdings included purchases of J D Wetherspoon and HBOS. Sales over the period included Dairy Crest, McAlpine, Scottish & Newcastle and HSBC.  Within the bond portfolio, there were new purchases of financial bonds including Legal and General, HBOS and Rexam.

Gearing:    during the quarter gearing increased from 24% (at 31 December 2007) to 26% (at 31 March 2008).  

Dividends:  in respect of the year to 31 December 2007, a third interim dividend of 2.075p per ordinary share was paid on 31 January 2008 to holders registered on 4 January 2008.  A fourth interim dividend of 2.075p per ordinary share was declared on 26 March 2008 and was paid on 30 April 2008 to holders registered on 4 April 2008.

Discount:  the share price discount to net asset value widened slightly over the period from 8.7% to 9.3%.

There are no other material events or transactions to report.        

PERFORMANCE AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Total Return Performance at 31 March 2008

	3 months	1 year	3 years	5 years
Net Asset Value per ordinary share	-12.0%	-18.3%	+25.7%	+138.1%
FTSE All-Share Index	-9.9%	-7.7%	+31.3%	+98.7%
FTA Government All Stocks Index	+1.4%	+7.6%	+8.2%	+16.1%
Benchmark †	-7.0%	-3.9%	+25.5%	+78.1%
Average High Income Investment Trust Net Asset Value	-10.9%	-17.8%	+10.7%	+112.4%

Sources: AIC Services Limited /      * Datastream

† the benchmark is 75% of the total return of the FTSE All-Share Index and 25% of the total return of the FTA Government All Stocks Index.

  Financial Position 

	at 31 March 2008	at 31 December 2007
Gross assets	£151m	£171m
Net asset value	140.5p	161.9p
Ordinary share price	127.5p	147.8p
Discount	9.3%	8.7%
Gearing	26%	24%
Yield	6.37%	5.46%
Total Expense Ratio	0.90%	0.90%

THE PORTFOLIO

Top 10 Investments	% of total assets			% of total assets
	at 31 March  2008			at 31 December 2007
BP	3.6		HSBC	4.3
Aviva	3.1		BP	3.8
Vodafone	3.0		Vodafone	3.3
HSBC	2.8		Aviva	3.0
Catlin	2.7		BT	2.6
British American Tobacco	2.6		National Grid	2.6
National Grid	2.5		British American Tobacco	2.4
BT	2.4		Scottish & Southern Energy	2.2
Prodesse Investment	2.3		Amec	2.2
Scottish & Southern Energy	2.2		Royal Dutch Shell	1.8
Top 10	27.2			28.2

Sector Breakdown	% at 31 March 2008	% at 31 December 2007
Financials	28.5	31.1
Industrials	10.6	6.7
Utilities	10.5	10.6
Consumer Goods	9.2	7.9
Telecommunications	6.5	5.9
Consumer Services	6.4	4.9
Oil & Gas	5.6	7.4
Health Care	0.9	0.8
Basic Materials	0.7	0.7
Fixed Interest	21.1	24.0

The Manager is Henderson Global Investors Limited. Further information on the Company, including an up to date NAV and share price information, can be found at www.hendersonhighincome.com

For further information, please contact:

Alex Crooke Portfolio Manager Henderson High Income Trust plc Telephone: [phone]	James de Sausmarez Head of Investment Trusts Henderson Global Investors Telephone: [phone]
Sarah Gibbons-Cook Investor Relations and PR Manager Henderson Global Investors Telephone: [phone]

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