Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 6733B

Henderson High Income Trust PLC

19 April 2012

 



HENDERSON HIGH INCOME TRUST PLC

HENDERSON GLOBAL INVESTORS

19 APRIL 2012

HENDERSON HIGH INCOME TRUST PLC

Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 31 March 2012

REVIEW OF THE PERIOD

Objective:  the objective of Henderson High Income 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 new bond holdings were purchased in Bupa Finance and Rexel to replace a number of fixed interest holdings that were redeemed.  These purchases have further reduced the financial exposure within the bond portfolio.  New equity investments included Statoil and Legal and General.  The equity portfolio continues to generate an increasing level of dividend income, as companies grow their distributions to shareholders. 

Gearing: gearing reduced slightly from 26% at 31 December 2011 to 24% at 31 March 2012. 

Dividends:  in respect of the year to 31 December 2011, a fourth interim dividend of 2.075p per ordinary share was paid on 31 January 2012 to holders registered on 16 December 2011.  As announced in our annual results, a first interim dividend for the year to 31 December 2012 of 2.075p per ordinary share will be paid on 30 April 2012 to holders registered on 13 April 2012.

Share Price:  on 31 March 2012 the Company's shares were trading at a premium of 1.35% to the net asset value; on 31 December 2011 the shares were trading at a discount of 0.7% to the net asset value.

Share Capital:  during the quarter the Company issued 170,000 ordinary shares.  The number of shares in issue at 31 March 2012 was 89,880,744 ordinary shares of 5p each.

Bank Facility:  the Company has agreed a new £41m one year rolling multi-currency facility with Scotiabank from 31 March 2012 to replace the £41m facility with ING Bank which expired on 31 March 2012.

There are no other material events or transactions to report.                                                  

PERFORMANCE AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Total Return Performance to 31 March 2012

	3 months	1 year	3 years	5 years
Net Asset Value per ordinary share	+6.5%	+6.9%	+92.4%	-1.4%
Share Price	+10.6%	+10.2%	+91.1%	+1.3%
FTSE All-Share Index	+6.1%	+1.4%	+67.9%	+9.5%
Merrill Lynch Sterling Non Gilts Index	+2.8%	+9.1%	+39.8%	+30.5%
Benchmark †	+5.5%	+2.9%	+62.3%	+13.7%

Source:  Morningstar on behalf of AIC Information Services Limited 

† the benchmark is a composite of 80% of the FTSE All-Share Index and 20% of the Merrill Lynch Sterling Non Gilts Index.  Prior to 31 December 2010 the benchmark was 75% of the FTSE All-Share Index and 25% of the FTA Government All Stocks Index. All the total returns in the above table reflect the performance of the new benchmark.

Financial Position

	at 31 March 2012	at 31 December 2011
Gross assets	£145m	£135m
Net asset value (income-inclusive)	129.25p	119.30p
Ordinary share price	131.00p	118.50p
Premium/(discount)	1.35%	(0.7%)
Gearing	24%	26%
Yield	6.34%	7.00%

THE PORTFOLIO

Top 10 Investments	% of portfolio			% of portfolio
at 31 March 2012			at 31 December 2011
Vodafone	6.0		Vodafone	6.5
British American Tobacco	4.6		British American Tobacco	4.7
BP	4.4		GlaxoSmithKline	4.7
GlaxoSmithKline	4.1		BP	4.2
BT	3.6		National Grid	3.5
National Grid	3.4		BT	3.2
Catlin	3.0		Catlin	3.1
Galliford Try	2.6		Imperial Tobacco	2.7
Seven Trent	2.3		Royal Dutch Shell	2.6
Royal Dutch Shell	2.2		HSBC	2.4
	---------			---------
Top 10 =	36.2%		Top 10 =	37.6%
	=====			=====

Sector Breakdown	% at 31 March 2012	% at 31 December 2011
Financials	24.1	24.1
Telecommunications	11.7	11.9
Consumer Goods	11.5	11.7
Utilities	10.8	10.4
Industrials	9.3	9.5
Oil & Gas	8.6	6.8
Health Care	4.3	4.7
Consumer Services	4.2	4.1
Basic Materials	1.2	1.1
Fixed Interest	14.3	15.7

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 Director and Head of Investment Trusts Henderson Global Investors Telephone: [phone]
Sarah Gibbons-Cook Investor Relations and PR Manager Henderson Global Investors Telephone: [phone]

- ENDS -

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

END

 

 

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