Half-Year Results

RNS Number : 9185I

JPMorgan American IT PLC

14 August 2019

 

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT

JPMORGAN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

UNAUDITED HALF YEAR RESULTS 

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30TH JUNE 2019

Legal Entity Identifier: 549300QNAI4XRPEB4G65

Information disclosed in accordance with the DTR 4.2.2

CHAIR'S STATEMENT

New Investment Process and Investment Policy

Following approval from shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meeting ('AGM') in May, JPMorgan Asset Management ('the Manager') began the process of transitioning the portfolio to comply with the Company's new investment strategy at the end of May. By early June, the new higher conviction portfolio was in place, with the number of stocks in the large-cap portfolio reducing to 40 stocks. The rationale for amending the Company's investment process, together with full details of the new strategy, was set out in detail in my statement to accompany the Company's results for the year ended 31st December 2018. For ease of reference, I have summarised below the salient points:

        •  The Manager notified the Board in October 2018 that Garrett Fish, the longstanding manager of the Company, would be moving to new responsibilities at the Manager.

        •  Throughout the last quarter of 2018 until May 2019, the Board undertook a review of the options available from the range of strategies offered by the Manager for the large-cap portfolio, with the aim of identifying an investment strategy that offered the prospect of attractive returns for the Company, while maintaining its 'core' US exposure.

        •  The Board proposed, which was subsequently approved by shareholders at the AGM in May, that the large-cap component of the Company adopt a higher-conviction approach combining the best ideas from the Manager's growth and value investment teams.

        •  The transition of the portfolio to the new strategy resulted in $1.68 billion of trading, with all but one stock traded over a period of three days. The trades represented, on average, approximately 4.5% of the daily traded volumes of the applicable stocks.

        •  The new strategy, managed by Jonathan Simon and Tim Parton and described by the Manager as 'Equity Focus' with over $2.3 billion under management, uses an unconstrained bottom-up approach to build a portfolio of approximately 30 - 40 high quality companies across the value and growth spectrum.

        •  Alongside the change in investment process, and to simplify the Company's fee offering, the performance fee element of the Manager's remuneration was removed. The Manager also agreed to the waiver of management fees, running for nine months from 1st June 2019, and to meet the transition costs incurred in the realignment of the portfolio.

        •  The Company's flexibility to invest a component of its asset base in a portfolio of small-cap equities managed by Eytan Shapiro is unchanged, as is the ability to use gearing to enhance returns in accordance with the current investment policy.

The Board welcomes Jonathan and Tim as the Company's portfolio managers and looks forward to working with them. Since the new investment process has only been in place for just over two months, it is clearly too early to comment upon performance. The Board will be reviewing performance closely over the coming year.

Performance

In the six months to 30th June 2019, the total return on net assets per share in sterling terms was +15.3%. The return to Ordinary shareholders per share in sterling terms was +15.7%, reflecting a small narrowing of the Company's discount to net asset value per share ('NAV') at which it traded at the end of the period. The total return from the Company's benchmark, the S&P 500 Index in sterling terms, was +18.4%.

Share price and Discount Management

The Company's shares have traded at a discount to the NAV throughout the period under review and the Company has continued to buy back its shares in line with the Board's commitment to its shareholders to buy shares back when they stand at anything more than a small discount to NAV. The Company bought into Treasury a total of 4,022,212 shares or 1.8% of the Company's issued share capital at the beginning of 2019 (30th June 2018: 3.4%). These shares were purchased at an average discount to NAV of 5.1%, producing a modest accretion to the NAV for continuing shareholders.

Dividend

As highlighted to shareholders in my year end statement, the Company's new investment policy is likely to reduce the revenue per share generated by the portfolio. Net revenue for the full year ending 31st December 2019 is estimated to be lower than in 2018. 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. In the absence of unforeseen circumstances the Board is aiming to pay out a total dividend for the financial year of at least 6.5p per share, unchanged from that paid in respect of the 2018 financial year.

The Company is declaring a dividend of 2.5 pence per share (2018: 2.5 pence) for the first six months of this year, which will be payable on 4th October 2019 to shareholders on the register on 30th August 2019.

Gearing

The Company's gearing strategy is implemented through the use of bank borrowing facilities, with the Company currently having access to two loan facilities totalling £65 million, expiring in April 2020 and August 2022, with the option of further increasing the August 2022 facility by £40 million. The Company is presently considering longer term gearing opportunities and will report any actions taken to shareholders.

The Company's gearing policy is to operate within a range of 5% net cash to 20% geared in normal market conditions, with the present strategic level being set at 10% plus or minus 2%. In October 2018, this tactical gearing was amended in the light of market conditions, to a gearing level of 0%, plus or minus 2%, where it currently remains. The Manager has a gearing tool in place and provides gearing recommendations to the Board on a monthly basis based upon the signals arising from the tool. As was the case in June and October 2018, the Company will make an announcement of any material changes in its tactical gearing level.

Outlook

As 2019 began the US Federal Reserve performed an about turn on its expectations for short term interest rates, reversing its proposed increases in 2019, to expected cuts. This provided considerable cheer to the stock market which rose strongly in the first quarter. During the period under review the US entered its longest period of economic expansion - 121 months of GDP growth, eclipsing the 120 months from 1991 to 2001.

The length of this economic expansion coupled with an inverted interest rate yield curve in which short rates are higher than longer term rates, suggests at least a material slowdown or possible recession lie ahead. Presumably this is what the Federal Reserve is now weighing more highly in its policy outlook, along with lingering global trade issues, and some festering geopolitical concerns.

Stock market investors need to balance the still healthy corporate sector with these time honoured signals for caution. The Board is hopeful that the new investment approach of selecting a more concentrated portfolio of first rate value and growth companies will be resilient in the developing market environment, while having the potential for attractive returns over the medium term.

Dr Kevin Carter

Chair                                                                                                                                                

14th August 2019

INVESTMENT MANAGERS' REPORT

Market Review

Having taken on the management of the Company's large-cap portfolio on 1st June 2019, the half-year to 30th June 2019 presents our first opportunity to describe performance and our approach to portfolio management to shareholders.

The S&P 500 Index had a strong but volatile first half of the year, posting an 18.4% return after an initial rise, a fall in May, and a rebound over the month of June. All sectors of the Index delivered positive returns, with the information technology and real estate sectors leading the charge, increasing 27.0% and 23.2%, respectively. On the other hand, health care and energy were the laggards, posting returns of 9.6% and 10.8%.

Over the course of 2018 the price earnings (P/E) ratio on the S&P 500 had fallen from over 18x at the year's outset to 14x by the year end reflecting a considerable amount of risk and uncertainty being priced into the market. January's recovery, therefore, suggested investors were taking more account of the still relatively positive economic and earnings backdrop. Volatility escalated in May in response to increased tensions surrounding tariffs between the US and China and proposed US tariffs on Mexico. Investors looked to reduce risks in their portfolios given these new developments in the trade narrative and signs of slower economic growth globally, despite the fact that the domestic US earnings backdrop remained positive. As we moved to the end of the period under review, the market rebounded and achieved new market highs in June, fuelled by expectations of a more dovish outlook from the Fed alongside increased hopes of a trade deal between the US and China at the G20 summit.

Large-cap stocks as represented by the S&P 500 Index outperformed the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, returning 18.5% and 17.0%, respectively. Both growth and value stocks rose in the first half of the year as well, with value underperforming relative to growth as demonstrated by rises of 16.1% in the Russell 3000 Value Index and 21.4% in the Russell 3000 Growth Index. The construction of the large-cap portfolio allocates between value and growth stocks, with the allocation allowed to vary between 60:40 and 40:60. At the period end, value stocks comprised some 53% of the large-cap portfolio and growth stocks comprised the remaining 47%.

Performance

The Company's net asset value rose by 15.3% in total return terms over the first six months of 2019. The return was below the benchmark, the S&P 500, which rose 18.4% in sterling terms. The large-cap portion of the Company underperformed, while the small-cap portfolio generated a positive contribution to performance. The allocation of the Company's portfolio to the small-cap portfolio was increased at the beginning of the period to approximately 2.7%, with a further transfer in June bringing our closing allocation to small-cap equities up to 4.0%.

Given the market concerns at this stage in the cycle, the Company did not deploy gearing during the period. With the rising market environment in the first six months of 2019, this decision saw us forego the opportunity to earn higher returns. In May, the large-cap component of the Company transitioned to our higher conviction approach combining the best ideas from the value and growth investment teams.

Looking at relative performance, our stock selection proved challenging during the period with our stock selection in the information technology and energy sectors generating the strongest headwinds to relative performance.

Within the information technology sector, our lack of exposure to MasterCard for some of the period under review featured among the largest detractors. The company's shares rallied during the period after they reported quarterly results that were better than expected and marked by continued resilient underlying volume growth. Given the long term shift from cash to cards and digital payments, high incremental margins, and the long term opportunity in business (B2B) payments, we have now initiated a position in this stock, finishing the period with an overweight allocation.

With regards to the energy sector, our exposure to Conoco Phillips and Marathon Petroleum also detracted from performance during the period. Conoco Phillips' share price traded lower and as we expect an increase in capital expenditure after 2020 to reduce the free cash flow, which might result in lower growth, we sold out of our position in the company. As for Marathon Petroleum, the stock fell due to real and perceived problems in integrating the Andeavor business it acquired in 2018. However, we continue to hold the stock, reflecting our positive view on the company's large-scale, complex refining and logistics systems.

At the individual stock level, our overweight in the consumer staples name Walgreens Boots Alliance (Walgreens) was the largest detractor. Facing pressures on both its retail and medical reimbursement businesses, the company missed consensus estimates. While pressures associated with the changing landscape in both of these market segments are likely to persist, and management has been caught somewhat off-guard, we do not see much downside from here. Despite the controversy in the marketplace, we think a slimmed down version of Walgreens consisting of pharmacy, health, beauty and wellness, and some convenience can work.

Performance Attribution

For the six months ended 30th June 2019

	%	%
Contributions to total returns
Net asset value total return (in sterling terms)		15.3
Benchmark total return (in sterling terms)		18.4
Excess return		-3.1
Contributions to total returns
Large-cap portfolio		-2.9
Allocation effect	-0.1
Selection effect	-2.8
Small-cap portfolio		0.2
Allocation effect	0.2
Selection effect	-
Gearing		-0.3
Share issuance/buyback		0.1
Management fee/expenses		-0.2
Total		-3.1

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.

In contrast, our stock selection in the financials and consumer discretionary sectors contributed positively. Within financials, our overweight position in AIG was the largest contributor as it reported earnings and revenue above analysts' expectations. The company posted its first underwriting profit since the financial crisis and expects an underwriting profit for the full year 2019. Continued expense discipline and reinsurance activity also contributed to positive results. We have increased confidence in AIG's management team, who should drive insurance margin improvements through better risk selection and aggregation.

Within consumer discretionary, our position in Chipotle Mexican Grill proved beneficial. The company reported strong quarterly earnings reflecting higher comparable sales and better-than-expected margins. We sold the position following this good news as we believe any future incremental margin improvement would be difficult to achieve.

Despite the weakened contribution from our holdings in information technology, the top contributor to the portfolio's performance at the security level was our overweight position in Microsoft. The company reported solid earnings, raised future earnings guidance and appears to be firing on all cylinders. Importantly, the company has a steady subscription-based revenue stream, a diversified product mix, and a strong competitive position in cloud computing through its Azure business. In addition to a healthy dividend, we feel confident in Microsoft's management team, which should deliver sustained growth and margin expansion going forward.

With regards to portfolio positioning at the period end, the Company is most overweight in the financials, materials and real estate sectors. Within materials, we have found a lot of names with more defensive characteristics such as Ball in the packaging sector. The Company's biggest underweights are in the consumer staples, health care and communication services sectors, where a combination of challenging business prospects and relatively high valuations give rise to fewer opportunities.

Market Outlook

We continue to focus on the fundamentals of the economy and of company earnings. Our analysts' estimate for S&P 500 earnings currently projects 3% growth for 2019 and 10% growth for 2020. While subject to revision, this forecast reflects our expectations for modest expansion in the underlying economy and includes our best analysis of earnings expectations for this year. However developments in global trade will remain key to investor sentiment and so will likely continue to contribute to market uncertainty.

While continued earnings growth should provide support to the equity market, we are monitoring the incremental risks that could represent future headwinds for U.S. stocks. In particular, we continue to watch closely the state of trade relations, movements in global economic growth, and the implications of Fed policy, all of which have the potential to heighten volatility.

Timothy Parton

Jonathan Simon

Investment Managers

14th August 2019

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 remain unchanged and fall into the following broad categories: investment and strategy; market; accounting, legal and regulatory; corporate governance and shareholder relations; operational; financial; political and economic. Information on each of these areas is given in the Business Review within the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2018.

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

The Directors believe, having considered the Company's investment objectives, risk management policies, capital management policies and procedures, nature of the portfolio and expenditure projections, that the Company has adequate resources, an appropriate financial structure and suitable management arrangements in place to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and, more specifically, that there are no material uncertainties pertaining to the Company that would prevent its ability to continue in such operation existence for at least twelve months from the date of the approval of this half yearly financial report. For these reasons, they consider there is reasonable evidence to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts.

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 2019 as required by the UK Listing Authority Disclosure 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 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

Dr Kevin Carter

Chair                                                                                                                                    

14th August 2019

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

for the six months ended 30th June 2019

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30th June 2019			(Unaudited) Six months ended 30th June 2018			(Audited) Year ended 31st December 2018
	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Gains/(losses) on investments held at fair value through profit or loss	-	130,077	130,077	-	33,533	33,533	-	(5,050)	(5,050)
Net foreign currency losses	-	(162)	(162)	-	(2,568)	(2,568)	-	(2,939)	(2,939)
Income from investments	11,458	-	11,458	10,020	-	10,020	21,184	-	21,184
Interest receivable	142	-	142	156	-	156	452	-	452
Gross return/(loss)	11,600	129,915	141,515	10,176	30,965	41,141	21,636	(7,989)	13,647
Management fee	(230)	(919)	(1,149)	(304)	(1,216)	(1,520)	(638)	(2,553)	(3,191)
Other administrative expenses	(328)	-	(328)	(299)	-	(299)	(637)	-	(637)
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities before finance costs and taxation	11,042	128,996	140,038	9,573	29,749	39,322	20,361	(10,542)	9,819
Finance costs	(9)	(36)	(45)	(475)	(1,900)	(2,375)	(649)	(2,593)	(3,242)
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation	11,033	128,960	139,993	9,098	27,849	36,947	19,712	(13,135)	6,577
Taxation	(1,630)	-	(1,630)	(1,062)	-	(1,062)	(2,462)	-	(2,462)
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities after taxation	9,403	128,960	138,363	8,036	27,849	35,885	17,250	(13,135)	4,115
Return/(loss) per share (note 3)	4.34p	59.56p	63.90p	3.54p	12.28p	15.82p	7.71p	(5.87)p	1.84p

The interim dividend declared in respect of the six months ended 30th June 2019 amounts to 2.5p (2018: 2.5p) per share, costing £5,361,000 (2018: £5,536,000).

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. The return per share represents the profit per share for the period and also the total comprehensive income per share.

The 'Total' column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the Company and the 'Revenue' and 'Capital' columns represent supplementary information prepared under guidance issued by the Association of Investment Companies.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

for the six months ended 30th June 2019

	Called up  share  capital	Share  premium	Capital  redemption  reserve	Capital reserves1	Revenue Reserve1	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Six months ended 30th June 2019 (Unaudited)
At 31st December 2018	14,082	151,850	8,151	715,376	29,717	919,176
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	-	-	-	(17,740)	-	(17,740)
Net return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	128,960	9,403	138,363
Dividends paid in the period (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(8,657)	(8,657)
At 30th June 2019	14,082	151,850	8,151	826,596	30,463	1,031,142
Six months ended 30th June 2018 (Unaudited)
At 31st December 2017	14,082	151,850	8,151	781,018	25,329	980,430
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	-	-	-	(31,694)	-	(31,694)
Net return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	27,849	8,036	35,885
Dividends paid in the period (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(7,326)	(7,326)
At 30th June 2018	14,082	151,850	8,151	777,173	26,039	977,295
Year ended 31st December 2018 (Audited)
At 31st December 2017	14,082	151,850	8,151	781,018	25,329	980,430
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	-	-	-	(52,507)	-	(52,507)
Net (loss)/return on ordinary activities	-	-	-	(13,135)	17,250	4,115
Dividends paid in the year (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(12,862)	(12,862)
At 31st December 2018	14,082	151,850	8,151	715,376	29,717	919,176

¹ These reserves form the distributable reserves of the Company and may be used to fund distributions to investors via dividend payments.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

at 30th June 2019

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	30th June 2019	30th June 2018	31st December2018
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Fixed assets
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss	1,015,304	1,027,531	910,438
Current assets
Derivative financial assets	-	3	-
Debtors	5,974	716	1,334
Cash and cash equivalents	18,209	8,640	7,919
	24,183	9,359	9,253
Current liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year	(8,345)	(40,659)	(515)
Net current assets/(liabilities)	15,838	(31,300)	8,738
Total assets less current liabilities	1,031,142	996,231	919,176
Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year	-	(18,936)	-
Net assets	1,031,142	977,295	919,176
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	826,596	777,173	715,376
Revenue reserve	30,463	26,039	29,717
Shareholders' funds	1,031,142	977,295	919,176
Net asset value per share (note 5)	480.8p	438.0p	420.7p

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

for the six months ended 30th June 2019

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	30th June 2019	30th June 2018	31st December 2018
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Net cash outflow from operations before dividends and interest	(1,042)	(2,165)	(2,158)
Dividends received	10,334	9,063	18,160
Interest received	91	139	470
Overseas tax recovered	9	131	347
Interest paid	(30)	(2,567)	(3,479)
Net cash inflow from operating activities	9,362	4,601	13,340
Purchases of investments	(803,459)	(180,873)	(391,851)
Sales of investments	830,770	257,491	546,604
Settlement of forward currency contracts	(42)	466	21
Net cash inflow from investing activities	27,269	77,084	154,774
Dividends paid	(8,657)	(7,326)	(12,862)
Repayment of bank loans	-	-	(58,914)
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	(17,684)	(29,399)	(52,107)
Repayment of debenture	-	(50,000)	(50,000)
Net cash outflow from financing activities	(26,341)	(86,725)	(173,883)
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	10,290	(5,040)	(5,769)
Cash and cash equivalents at start of period	7,919	13,689	13,689
Exchange movements	-	(9)	(1)
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	18,209	8,640	7,919
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	10,290	(5,040)	(5,769)
Cash and cash equivalents consist of:
Cash and short term deposits	232	16	53
Cash held in JPMorgan US Dollar Liquidity Fund	17,977	8,624	7,866
Total	18,209	8,640	7,919

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30TH JUNE 2019

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 2018 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 November 2014 and updated in February 2018.

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 2019.

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 2018.

3.     Return per share

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30th June 2019 £'000	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30th June 2018 £'000	(Audited) Year ended 31st December 2018 £'000
Return per share is based on the following:
Revenue return	9,403	8,036	17,250
Capital return/(loss)	128,960	27,849	(13,135)
Total return	138,363	35,885	4,115
Weighted average number of shares in issue	216,521,491	226,737,244	223,635,390
Revenue return per share	4.34p	3.54p	7.71p
Capital return/(loss) per share	59.56p	12.28p	(5.87)p
Total return per share	63.90p	15.82p	1.84p

4.     Dividends paid

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30th June 2019	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30th June 2018	(Audited) Year ended 31st December 2018
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Final dividend in respect of the year ended
31st December 2018 of 4.0p (2017: 3.25p)	8,657	7,326	7,326
Interim dividend paid in respect of the six months ended 30th June 2018 of 2.5p	-	-	5,536
Total dividends paid in the period/year	8,657	7,326	12,862

5.     Net asset value per share

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30th June 2019	(Unaudited) Six months ended 30th June 2018	(Audited) Year ended 31st December 2018
Net assets (£'000)	1,031,142	977,295	919,176
Number of shares in issue	214,458,436	223,125,492	218,480,648
Net asset value per share	480.8p	438.0p	420.7p

For further information, please contact:

Alison Vincent

For and on behalf of

JPMorgan Funds Limited, Secretary

020 7742 4000

Please note that up to date information on the Company, including daily NAV and share prices, factsheets and portfolio information can be found at www.jpmamerican.co.uk

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.

JPMORGAN FUNDS LIMITED

ENDS

A copy of the Half Year Report has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM

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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