Half-year Report

RNS Number : 8321W

JPMorgan American IT PLC

23 August 2022

 

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT

JPMORGAN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

UNAUDITED HALF YEAR RESULTS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30TH JUNE 2022

Legal Entity Identifier: 549300QNAI4XRPEB4G65

Information disclosed in accordance with the DTR 4.2.2

CHAIR'S STATEMENT

Dear Shareholders,

The first six months of 2022 has been a difficult period for the US stockmarket with growing concerns about high and persistent inflation, rising interest rates and more subdued economic growth. Notwithstanding this environment, the portfolio outperformed the S&P 500. The total return on net assets per share in sterling terms over the period was -8.4%. The return to Ordinary shareholders per share in sterling terms was -11.2%, reflecting a small widening of the Company's discount to net asset value per share ('NAV') at which the shares traded over the period. The total return from the Company's benchmark, the S&P 500 Index in sterling terms, was -10.8%, resulting in an outperformance of 2.4% in asset terms.

In the 38 months since the change in investment policy under the management of our Portfolio Managers, Jonathan Simon and Tim Parton, the Company's NAV has grown by an annualised 18.9% compared to 16.6% by the benchmark. This represents an annualised outperformance of 2.0% (calculated on a geometric basis). More information about the portfolio and individual stock performance can be found in the Investment Manager's report below.

Share price and Discount Management

The Company's shares have traded at a discount to NAV throughout the period under review and the Company has continued to buy back its shares in line with the Board's longstanding position of buying shares back when they stand at anything more than a small discount to NAV. The Company bought into Treasury a total of 2,221,771 shares, or 1.2% of the Company's issued share capital as at end of June 2022 (30th June 2021: 1.3%). These shares were purchased at an average discount to NAV of 3.9%, producing a modest accretion to the NAV for continuing shareholders.

Dividend

The Company is declaring a dividend of 2.5 pence per share (2021: 2.5 pence) for the first six months of this year, which will be payable on 7th October 2022 to shareholders on the register on 2nd September 2022.

Whilst capital growth is the primary aim of the Company, the Board is aware that dividend receipts can be an important element of shareholder returns. The Board continues to monitor the net income position of the Company and in the absence of unforeseen circumstances, the Board is aiming to pay an increased total dividend for the financial year compared to the 7.0 pence per share paid in respect of the 2021 financial year.

Gearing

The Board has maintained the current tactical level of gearing at 5% over the period with a permitted range around this level of plus or minus 5%, meaning that currently gearing can vary between 0% and 10%. The Company ended the period with gearing of 5.2%.

On 12th August 2022, the Company entered into a three-year revolving credit facility of £80 million (including an option to expand the facility by a further £20 million) with Mizuho Bank Ltd of which $30 million was drawn as at 16th August 2022. This new facility replaces the facility with ING Bank which expired on 16th August 2022. In addition, the Company has in issue $65 million of unsecured loan notes repayable in February 2031 with a fixed interest rate of 2.55% per annum and $35 million of unsecured loan notes repayable in October 2032 with a fixed coupon of 2.32%.

Environment, Social and Governance

The Manager has continued to evolve its approach to the assessment of ESG factors at individual company level, and integrate further its analysis of these in the construction of the Company's portfolio. The continuing Russia/Ukraine war has brought renewed focus on global energy security and food supplies with an impact on how to factor these new realities into the ESG analysis of affected companies.

Investment Manager

As announced previously, the Company has been informed by its Manager that Mr Timothy Parton, one of the Company's two Large Cap Portfolio Managers, has given notice that he intends to retire in early 2024. Tim will continue with his existing responsibilities until his retirement. Following discussions between the Board and the Manager, I am pleased to announce that Ms Felise Agranoff, who has been with the Manager for 18 years, is being named as a Portfolio Manager with effect from 23rd August 2022, working alongside Tim on the growth stocks in the Large Cap Portfolio. Felise has been working closely with Tim on this portfolio's growth stocks for a number of years and is also the named portfolio manager alongside Tim on other of the Manager's flagship funds. The intention is that Felise will become the sole Portfolio Manager responsible for the growth stocks in the Large Cap Portfolio upon Tim's retirement. Jonathan Simon will remain as the Portfolio Manager responsible for the value stocks in the Large Cap Portfolio. The change is not expected to have any material impact on how the portfolio is run.

Board

As mentioned in the Annual Report, Sir Alan Collins, current Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Risk and Remuneration Committees, will be retiring from the Board at the conclusion of the May 2023 AGM. The Board is currently in the process of searching for a new director and shareholders will be kept up to date with recruitment plans to the Board as these develop.

Auditor Review

 As explained previously in our 2021 Annual Report, Deloitte LLP informed the Board of their intention to step down as external Auditor of the Company as they continued to review and prioritise their current audit appointments. The Board underwent a formal audit tender process, as a result of which BDO LLP was appointed as Auditor by the Company with effect from 19th August 2022. Deloitte LLP therefore ceased to be Auditor to the Company with effect from the same date and their statement of reasons, none of which relates to the Company itself, will be sent to shareholders along with this Report.

Outlook

The current period of stagflation (heightened inflation accompanied by slow growth) appears likely to continue for the rest of 2022. The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, is still mid cycle in its process of raising short term interest rates, and the behaviour of the yield curve at longer maturities suggests an increasing possibility of a recession in the US economy before this cycle is complete. The Company's benchmark, the S&P 500 index has already declined by 11.28% in US dollar terms year to date at the time of writing, thereby discounting some or most of these factors. Key now for the market's near term direction will be the earnings expectations at company level over the next one to two years. Our portfolio managers, assisted by the extensive team of analysts at their disposal, will be monitoring this very closely. Over the longer term the depth and resilience of the US stockmarket and its world class companies will continue to provide our managers with excellent opportunities for inclusion in the Company's portfolio.

Dr Kevin Carter

Chair   23 August 2022

INVESTMENT MANAGER'S REPORT

Market Review

In the first six months of 2022, the S&P 500 Index declined by 20% (in US dollar terms) and 10.8% (in sterling terms), as inflation fears gave way to worries about a recession.

The US economy is currently beset by the highest inflation in over 40 years, and inflation pressures have proved greater and more prolonged than either the Federal Reserve or markets expected. At the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) December 2021 meeting, core inflation was expected to fall from 4.4% year-on-year (YoY) in Q4 2021, to 2.7% in Q4 2022. Unfortunately, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and resulting sanctions, combined with China's zero-Covid policy, have kept upward pressure on prices. Core inflation reached 6.0% YoY in June, forcing the Fed to adopt a much more hawkish stance. A 0.25% increase in the federal funds rate in March 2022 was followed by further hikes of 0.50% in May and 0.75% in both June and July.

Persistently high inflation is undermining real wage growth, consumer spending power and corporate profits. The labour market remains a bright spot, with job vacancies far exceeding the number of unemployed, but low unemployment has not stopped consumer sentiment from falling sharply. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index has plunged, and while the Conference Board's consumer confidence survey has held up better, given the higher importance it attaches to labour market conditions, it too has weakened. Higher short-term rates and quantitative tightening have also boosted both mortgage rates and the dollar, damaging the prospects of the housing and export sectors. This, allied with falling consumer confidence and a very significant fiscal drag, has resulted in a slowdown in economic activity. GDP contracted modestly in Q1 2022 and the risks of a near-term recession are escalating.

The continued rise in oil prices ensured that energy was the only sector of the S&P 500 Index to make gains over the first six months of the year. Energy stocks returned 32% over the period. Defensive stocks also did relatively well - utilities declined by only 1.0%, consumer staples were down 5.6% and health care stocks fell 8.3%. Longer duration growth sectors were the primary laggards, with consumer discretionary stocks (-32.8%), communication services (-30.2%) and information technology (-26.9%) worst affected.

Large cap stocks, as represented by the S&P 500 Index, returned -20% (in US dollar terms), outperforming the small cap Russell 2000 Index, which returned -23%. Overall, value continued to outperform growth, as the Russell 3000 Value Index declined by 13%, while the Russell 3000 Growth Index declined by 28%. During the period, the allocation to the small cap portfolio was maintained at approximately 5%.

Performance

The Company's net asset value declined by 8.4% on a total return (GBP) basis over the first six months of 2022, outperforming its benchmark, the S&P 500, which fell by 10.8% in sterling terms.

Although the large cap portion of the portfolio posted a negative return, it outperformed its benchmark for the six-month period and was responsible for all the Company's outperformance. Gearing detracted from relative returns due to the market's decline.

Performance attribution

For the six months ended 30th June 2022

	%	%
Contributions to total returns
Net asset value total return (in sterling terms)APM		-8.4
Benchmark total return (in sterling terms)		-10.8
Excess return		2.4
Contributions to total returns
Large cap Portfolio		3.8
Allocation effect	0.1
Selection effect	3.7
Small cap Portfolio		-0.8
Allocation and selection effect	-0.8
Gearing		-1.0
Share buybacks		0.0
Management fee and expenses		-0.2
Impact of fair value valuation1		0.9
Technical differences		-0.3
Total		2.4

1  The impact of fair valuation includes the effect of valuing the combined $100 million private placement at fair value. It is the sum of the impact on the closing NAV of the fair value adjustment and its impact on the calculation of total returns arising from the reinvestment of dividends paid in the period into the Company's NAV.

Source: JPMAM and Morningstar. All figures are on a total return basis.

Performance attribution analyses how the Company achieved its recorded performance relative to its benchmark index.

APM  Alternative Performance Measure ('APM').

A glossary of terms and APMs is provided on pages 31 to 33 of the Half Year Report.

Large Cap Portfolio

The Company's large cap portfolio benefited from stock selection in the communication services and consumer discretionary sectors. As mentioned above, these were among the three worst performing sectors of the S&P 500 for the period, but our holdings in each of these sectors outperformed their benchmark peers.

In the communications services sector, a lack of exposure to Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and an overweight position in telecoms services company T Mobile US proved beneficial. Meta Platforms shares came under significant pressure during the period, to the point where the stock looks interesting from a valuation perspective. Indeed, it could be considered a value name, as it is now included in the Russell 1000 Value Index. However, we have not been tempted to add this name to the portfolio, as we see further potential downside for the share price due to regulatory and data privacy concerns. T-Mobile US, along with other wireless carriers, has performed relatively well this year, as investors sought the safety of more defensive names. The pandemic boosted T-Mobile's subscriptions, and that momentum has continued this year, with 5.8 million new subscriptions over the 12-month period ended March 2022. The company posted strong Q1 results accordingly.

Within consumer discretionary, our exposure to auto parts retailer AutoZone added value. Given demand trends for durable goods, AutoZone's pricing power and the non-discretionary nature of its products, this company has continued to perform strongly and gain market share. Despite macroeconomic pressures, it has managed margins well and we maintain our view that the company is an attractive investment.

At the stock level, our exposure to ConocoPhillips, an oil and gas producer, and Bristol Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical supplier, were among the top contributors to performance. ConocoPhillips' share price rallied more than 25% during the review period, as elevated oil and natural gas prices benefited the sector as a whole. The company reported solid first quarter earnings that exceeded expectations. The market reacted favourably to Bristol Myers Squibb's planned acquisition of Turning Point Therapeutics, which will expand the company's presence in precision/targeted medicine field and generate synergies with its existing oncology franchise. We continue to like the name given its undemanding valuation, healthy dividend and strong free cash flow, and the company is also delivering on important growth drivers and drug approvals.

At the sector level, relative performance was hindered most by our underweight position in consumer staples. While the sector generated a negative return over the period, it significantly outperformed the S&P 500. We recognise that this sector offers some defensive characteristics; however we continue to struggle to find attractively valued names that offer long term growth opportunities. Our exposure is centred around Procter & Gamble (P&G), a producer of household and personal products, which has been gaining market share in many of its product categories over the last few years. These trends accelerated during the pandemic as many consumers experienced an improvement in their purchasing power and indulged themselves by buying more expensive brands. The company was also able to navigate supply concerns better than its smaller competitors, enhancing its market share. While the current cost of living crisis may see consumers trade down to lower priced brands, we believe the quality of P&G's brands will ensure it continues to increase market share over the long term.

At the stock level, the largest detractors to relative performance were Zebra Technologies, a communications equipment company, and Advanced Micro Devices, a semiconductor producer. Zebra Technologies provides business equipment such as scanners and printers, that digitalise and automate workflows and monitor inventories in real time. The company reported strong Q1 revenues, with organic growth of 5%. However, earnings missed estimates, as higher than expected supply chain costs put pressure on margins. Q2 guidance was also lowered in anticipation of persistent supply chain headwinds. However, we maintain our positive view on this name given its high free cash flow, strong prospects for high-quality growth and favourable long term secular trends. Zebra also commands a significant market share and invests in technologies to enhance its product offerings. In addition, it recently expanded its industrial automation portfolio via the acquisition of Fetch Robotics, while its acquisitions of Adaptive Vision, antuit.ai and Matrox Imaging increased its machine vision and AI software capabilities. The stock currently trades around 15x forward earnings, which we feel is very attractive given its long-term growth potential.

Advance Micro Devices' share price has been under pressure over the last six months due to recessionary concerns as semiconductors have tended to be even more economically sensitive than others sectors in the past. We like the company given its exposure to cloud computing services and commercial AI applications, and these sectors have been the company's primary growth drivers for the last few years. Its recent merger with Xilinx should ensure this remains the case in coming years. Xilinx produces chips for the industrial sector and the merger will give Advance Micro Devices access to a host of new, rapidly expanding markets in the automotive, manufacturing, aerospace and defence industries.

Portfolio activity

The recent market pullback has created opportunities to acquire attractive, high growth companies at more reasonable prices. However, we are being very selective, only adding names with differentiated and compelling fundamentals. During the review period we purchased four new names and exited the same number, substantially fewer than the same period last year, when we swapped out 12 positions to reduce risk and reposition for a changing market environment, as the worst effects of the pandemic abated.

One recent new acquisition was SolarEdge Technologies, which provides solar power equipment to residential and commercial customers. Its products include smart modules to optimise and monitor power usage, solar inverters, electric vehicle (EV) chargers and energy bank batteries to support EV charging. The renewables industry has struggled to deal with recent supply chain issues and there is uncertainty regarding the future of solar subsidies and tax credits. However, we believe the sector has very favourable long-term prospects as the global transition to net zero carbon emissions gathers momentum and SolarEdge is a sector leader with a healthy balance sheet, positive free cash flow and a comprehensive range of products, that we were able to acquire at an attractive valuation.

This and other acquisitions were funded by the outright sale of several positions, including our holding in PayPal, a digital payments company. While we like this sector, we have concerns about PayPal's ability to compete in the ecommerce sphere, given the prevalence of newer entrants, and we feel the company could experience sustained pressure on margins and earnings.

On the value side of the portfolio, we exited apparel retailer GAP to switch into electronics retailer Best Buy. GAP's management team has made considerable efforts to reduce the footprint of GAP stores, in favour of its higher growth Old Navy and Athleta brands, but the company has struggled to execute these plans effectively. GAP also faces structural challenges including ecommerce disintermediation, associated downward pressures on clothing prices and a shift in consumer preferences away from expenditure on clothing. While the stock remains very attractive from a valuation perspective, at 7.5x price/earnings, in our view its structural and cyclical risks are too high to justify continued exposure.

We redeployed the proceeds of this sale into the better risk/reward opportunity offered by Best Buy. This company is positioning itself to benefit from rising long term demand for consumer electronic products such as home entertainment systems, virtual reality devices, smart home products and equipment to facilitate remote work and fitness. Many of these products are no longer consumer luxuries. Instead, they are now considered essential components of consumers' post-pandemic lifestyles, which are more focused around the home. Best Buy is also one of the premier omni-channel retailers, with ecommerce accounting for over 30% of sales, and we like the fact that the company is investing in initiatives such as its ecommerce sales channel, tele-health, and a membership programme, which are expected to drive long-term growth.

These recent acquisitions and disposals have not had a significant impact on the portfolio's structure. Financials and information technology remain the largest sectoral allocations, which together represent approximately 38% of the overall large cap allocation. Financials remain the largest overweight in the portfolio relative to the benchmark and we have been adding to our exposure to higher quality names in this sector, such as Bank of America. Conversely, we remain underweight IT, based on our view that this sector is still a little overvalued and we have continued trimming our IT positions selectively. The portfolio also remains underweight consumer staples and health care, as we continue to find names with better risk/reward profiles in other sectors.

The large cap portfolio is divided between value and growth stocks, with the allocation allowed to vary between 60:40 and 40:60. At the end of the review period, value stocks comprised some 52% of the large cap portfolio, somewhat higher than the 48% allocation to value stocks at the end of the previous financial year. The allocation to growth stocks has contracted accordingly. An overview of the split between value and growth in the strategy since the change in investment approach in June 2019 is shown in a graph format in our full Half Year Report which is available on our website

The table below shows that the large cap portfolio is trading at a 13% discount to the market on a free cash flow basis, which confirms that we are not paying a premium for good cash flow. Additionally, the portfolio is expected to deliver earnings growth of around 12% for the next 12 months, higher than the market and especially remarkable given that the portfolio is trading at a lower price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple than the index. While earnings may come under pressure over the next year, and may not deliver the forecast double digit growth, it is comforting to have the valuation cushion provided by our holdings, relative to the market.

Characteristics	Large Cap Portfolio	S&P 500
Weighted Average Market Cap	USD 596.8bn	USD 627.3bn
Price/Earnings, 12-month forward1	18.4x	19.4x
Price/Free Cash Flow, last 12-months	18.3x	20.6x
EPS Growth, 12-month forward1	12.0%	11.4%
Return on Equity, last 12-months	23.9%	25.9%
Predicted Beta	1.05	-
Predicted Tracking Error	3.56	-
Active Share	69%	-
Number of holdings	40	500

Source: FactSet, Barra, J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Data as of 30th June 2022.

1  Including negatives.

Small Cap Portfolio

The small cap portfolio is allocated to growth stocks. It negatively impacted returns over the past six months, as it underperformed the S&P 500. Small cap growth stocks were caught up in the sharp sell-off of much larger growth names, and underperformance during Q1 2022 was only partially offset by a rebound in Q2. The overall allocation to the small cap portfolio was maintained at approximately 5% during the period.

Outlook

Financial conditions have rarely tightened more over a six-month period than they have done so far this year, thanks to the Fed's increasingly hawkish stance. The risks of recession have undoubtedly increased accordingly. However, the cyclical sectors of the economy are not yet suggesting a serious slowdown. We also take some comfort from the fact that we do not see evidence of the kind of excesses in housing construction or business investment that have led to previous deep and protracted recessions. In addition, the improvement in commercial banks' balance sheets over recent years leaves them well-placed to weather a period of economic weakness. Corporates have high gross debt levels, but they are awash with cash and do not appear overextended. Consumer debt metrics also look healthy. All this reduces the prospects of a vicious, credit crunch-induced recession. So, our base case scenario is for a soft economic landing, with any slowdown likely to be much less severe than the previous two downturns.

Markets tend to anticipate economic conditions and share prices have already dropped significantly due to mounting concerns about the outlook for growth. We expect volatility to persist until we get clarity on the medium-term inflation picture and the Fed's response, but we will not be deterred by such uncertainties. Valuations are now at much more attractive levels, and we will seek to capitalise on the interesting investment opportunities this volatility will inevitably generate, with the aim of maintaining our track record of capital growth and superior returns for our shareholders.

Timothy Parton

Jonathan Simon

Portfolio Managers    23 August 2022

INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT

The Company is required to make the following disclosures in its half year report.

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The principal risks and uncertainties faced by the Company fall into the following broad categories: investment and strategy; market; operational and cyber-crime; loss of investment team or Portfolio Managers; Share Price Relative to Net Asset Value ('NAV') per Share ; Accounting, Legal and Regulatory; Political and Economic; Global Pandemics and Climate Change. The US and China Technology competition, ESG Requirements from investors and Geopolitical risks have been identified as emerging risks. Information on each of these areas is given in the Strategic Report within the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2021.

Related Parties Transactions

During the first six months of the current financial year, no transactions with related parties have taken place which have materially affected the financial position or the performance of the Company.

Going Concern

In accordance with The Financial Reporting Council's guidance on going concern and liquidity risk, including its Covid-19 guidance, the Directors have undertaken a rigorous review of the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The Board has, in particular, considered the impact of heightened market volatility since the Covid-19 outbreak and more recently the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but does not believe the Company's going concern status is affected. The Company's assets, the vast majority of which are investments in quoted securities which are readily realisable, exceed its liabilities significantly under all stress test scenarios reviewed by the Board. Gearing levels and compliance with borrowing covenants are reviewed by the Board on a regular basis. Furthermore, the Directors are satisfied that the Company and its key third party service providers have in place appropriate business continuity plans.

Accordingly, having assessed the principal and emerging risks and other matters, the Directors believe that there are no material uncertainties pertaining to the Company that would prevent its ability to continue in such operational existence for at least 12 months from the date of the approval of this half yearly financial report.

Directors' Responsibilities

The Board of Directors confirms that, to the best of its knowledge:

(i)  the condensed set of financial statements contained within the half year financial report has been prepared in accordance with FRS 104 'Interim Financial Reporting' and gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company, and of the assets, liabilities, financial position and net return of the Company as at 30th June 2022 as required by the UK Listing Authority Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules 4.2.4R; and

(ii)  the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R of the UK Listing Authority Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

In order to provide these confirmations, and in preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business;

and the Directors confirm that they have done so.

For and on behalf of the Board

Kevin Carter

Chair     23 August 2022

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For the six months ended 30th June 2022

	(Unaudited)			(Unaudited)			(Audited)
	Six months ended			Six months ended			Year ended
	30th June 2022			30th June 2021			31st December 2021
	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
(Losses)/gains on investments
held at fair value through
profit or loss	-	(133,134)	(133,134)	-	177,362	177,362	-	322,790	322,790
Net foreign currency
(losses)/gains	-	(9,126)	(9,126)	-	129	129	-	(1,047)	(1,047)
Income from investments	10,000	-	10,000	7,563	-	7,563	15,900	-	15,900
Interest receivable	86	-	86	33	-	33	55	-	55
Gross return/(loss)	10,086	(142,260)	(132,174)	7,596	177,491	185,087	15,955	321,743	337,698
Management fee	(439)	(1,755)	(2,194)	(389)	(1,556)	(1,945)	(815)	(3,260)	(4,075)
Other administrative expenses	(365)	48	(317)	(346)	-	(346)	(685)	(48)	(733)
Net return/(loss) before finance costs and taxation	9,282	(143,967)	(134,685)	6,861	175,935	182,796	14,455	318,435	332,890
Finance costs	(300)	(1,201)	(1,501)	(187)	(750)	(937)	(385)	(1,539)	(1,924)
Net return/(loss) before taxation	8,982	(145,168)	(136,186)	6,674	175,185	181,859	14,070	316,896	330,966
Taxation	(1,553)	-	(1,553)	(960)	-	(960)	(2,385)	-	(2,385)
Net return/(loss) after taxation	7,429	(145,168)	(137,739)	5,714	175,185	180,899	11,685	316,896	328,581
Return/(loss) per share (note 3)	3.85p	(75.32)p	(71.47)p	2.90p	88.87p	91.77p	5.97p	161.80p	166.77p

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

For the six months ended 30th June 2022

	Called up		Capital
	share	Share	redemption	Capital	Revenue
	capital	premium	reserve	reserves1	reserve1	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Six months ended 30th June 2022 (Unaudited)
At 31st December 2021	14,082	151,850	8,151	1,292,152	29,885	1,496,120
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	-	-	-	(15,593)	-	(15,593)
Net (loss)/return	-	-	-	(145,168)	7,429	(137,739)
Dividends paid in the period (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(8,646)	(8,646)
At 30th June 2022	14,082	151,850	8,151	1,131,391	28,668	1,334,142
Six months ended 30th June 2021 (Unaudited)
At 31st December 2020	14,082	151,850	8,151	1,006,007	31,432	1,211,522
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	-	-	-	(15,224)	-	(15,224)
Net return	-	-	-	175,185	5,714	180,899
Dividends paid in the period (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(8,350)	(8,350)
At 30th June 2021	14,082	151,850	8,151	1,165,968	28,796	1,368,847
Year ended 31st December 2021 (Audited)
At 31st December 2020	14,082	151,850	8,151	1,006,007	31,432	1,211,522
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	-	-	-	(30,751)	-	(30,751)
Net return	-	-	-	316,896	11,685	328,581
Dividends paid in the year (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(13,232)	(13,232)
At 31st December 2021	14,082	151,850	8,151	1,292,152	29,885	1,496,120

¹   This reserve forms the distributable reserve of the Company and may be used to fund distributions to investors.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

At 30th June 2022

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	30th June 2022	30th June 2021	31st December 2021
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Fixed assets
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss	1,403,898	1,441,616	1,568,739
Current assets
Debtors	1,369	676	701
Cash and cash equivalents	37,982	26,979	28,355
	39,351	27,655	29,056
Current liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year	(27,147)	(1,496)	(28,205)
Net current assets	12,204	26,159	851
Total assets less current liabilities	1,416,102	1,467,775	1,569,590
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year	(81,960)	(98,928)	(73,470)
Net assets	1,334,142	1,368,847	1,496,120
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital	14,082	14,082	14,082
Share premium	151,850	151,850	151,850
Capital redemption reserve	8,151	8,151	8,151
Capital reserves	1,131,391	1,165,968	1,292,152
Revenue reserve	28,668	28,796	29,885
Total shareholders' funds	1,334,142	1,368,847	1,496,120
Net asset value per share (note 5)	696.3p	698.1p	771.9p

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the six months ended 30th June 2022

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	Six months	Six months	Year
	ended	ended	ended
	30th June 2022	30th June 2021	31st December 2021
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Net cash outflow from operations before dividends and
interest	(890)	(5,241)	(7,079)
Dividends received	7,708	6,299	13,093
Interest received	86	33	55
Overseas tax recovered	143	239	240
Loan interest paid	(284)	(359)	(679)
Private placement interest paid	(950)	(588)	(1,214)
Net cash inflow from operating activities	5,813	383	4,416
Purchases of investments	(221,315)	(482,238)	(722,307)
Sales of investments	253,475	486,369	744,691
Settlement of foreign currency contracts	(32)	(21)	22
Net cash inflow from investing activities	32,128	4,110	22,406
Dividends paid	(8,646)	(8,350)	(13,232)
Repayment of bank loans	(28,478)	-	(25,325)
Draw down of bank loans	22,181	-	-
Draw down of private placement loan	-	-	25,643
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	(14,715)	(14,552)	(30,747)
Net cash outflow from financing activities	(29,658)	(22,902)	(43,661)
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	8,283	(18,409)	(16,839)
Cash and cash equivalents at start of period/year	28,355	43,360	43,360
Unrealised gain on foreign currency cash and cash equivalents	1,344	2,028	1,834
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period/year	37,982	26,979	28,355
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	8,283	(18,409)	(16,839)
Cash and cash equivalents consist of:
Cash and short term deposits	46	16	36
Cash held in JPMorgan US Dollar Liquidity Fund	37,936	26,963	28,319
Total	37,982	26,979	28,355

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the six months ended 30th June 2022

1.  Financial statements

The information contained within the financial statements in this half year report has not been audited or reviewed by the Company's auditors.

The figures and financial information for the year ended 31st December 2021 are extracted from the latest published financial statements of the Company and do not constitute statutory accounts for that year. Those financial statements have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, including the report of the auditors which was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

2.  Accounting policies

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' of the United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice ('UK GAAP') and with the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies and Venture Capital Trusts' (the revised 'SORP') issued by the Association of Investment Companies in April 2021.

FRS 104, 'Interim Financial Reporting', issued by the Financial Reporting Council ('FRC') in March 2015 has been applied in preparing this condensed set of financial statements for the six months ended 30th June 2022.

All of the Company's operations are of a continuing nature.

The accounting policies applied to this condensed set of financial statements are consistent with those applied in the financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2021.

3.  (Loss)/return per share

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	Six months ended	Six months ended	Year ended
	30th June 2022	30th June 2021	31st December 2021
	£'000	£'000	£'000
(Loss)/return per share is based on the following:
Revenue return	7,429	5,714	11,685
Capital (loss)/return	(145,168)	175,185	316,896
Total (loss)/return	(137,739)	180,899	328,581
Weighted average number of shares in issue	192,725,229	197,114,911	195,855,208
Revenue return per share	3.85p	2.90p	5.97p
Capital (loss)/return per share	(75.32)p	88.87p	161.80p
Total (loss)/return per share	(71.47)p	91.77p	166.77p

4.  Dividends paid

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	Six months ended	Six months ended	Year ended
	30th June 2022	30th June 2021	31st December 2021
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Final dividend in respect of the year ended
31st December 2021 of 4.50p (2020: 4.25p)	8,646	8,350	8,350
Interim dividend in respect of the six months ended
30th June 2021 of 2.5p	-	-	4,882
Total dividends paid in the period/year	8,646	8,350	13,232

All the dividends paid in the period/year have been funded from the Revenue Reserve.

5.   Net asset value per share

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	Six months ended	Six months ended	Year ended
	30th June 2022	30th June 2021	31st December 2021
Net assets (£'000)	1,334,142	1,368,847	1,496,120
Number of shares in issue	191,600,405	196,076,253	193,822,176
Net asset value per share	696.3p	698.1p	771.9p

For further information, please contact:

Priyanka Vijay Anand

For and on behalf of

JPMorgan Funds Limited, Secretary

020 7742 4000

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

ENDS

A copy of the Half Year Report has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism

The Half Year Report will also shortly be available on the Company's website at www.jpmamerican.co.uk  where up to date information on the Company, including daily NAV and share prices, factsheets and portfolio information can also be found.

 

END

 

 

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