Half-year Report

RNS Number : 0335Z

JPMorgan Chinese Inv Tst PLC

23 May 2016

 

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT

JPMORGAN CHINESE INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

UNAUDITED HALF YEAR RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED
31ST MARCH 2016

Chairman's Statement

Performance

I am pleased to report that for the six months to 31st March 2016 the Company's total return on net assets (with net dividends reinvested) was +6.8%. This compares favourably to the return of the Company's benchmark, combining that of the MSCI Golden Dragon Index before 26th January 2016 and that of the MSCI China Index from 26th January 2016 onwards, which was +6.2% (in sterling terms). The MSCI Golden Dragon Index return over the same period was +8.4% (in sterling terms). Shareholders are reminded that following approval of the Company's new investment objective and investment policy at the Annual General Meeting in January 2016, the Company's benchmark was changed from the MSCI Golden Dragon Index to the MSCI China Index and over the same period the total return to shareholders was +10.5%.

Loan Facility and Gearing

On 21st January 2016 the Company renewed its £30 million credit facility with Scotiabank for a further 364 days at a reduced margin and commitment fee, and £18.8 million was drawn down on this facility as at 31st March 2016. The Board has given the Investment Managers the flexibility to manage the gearing tactically within a range set by the Board of 10% net cash to 20% geared. During the period the Company's month end gearing ranged from 8.3% to 13.9% geared, ending the half year at 11.7% geared.

Share Repurchases and Issues in the Period

At the time of writing, the Company's issued share capital consists of 75,005,470 Ordinary shares, excluding shares held in Treasury. During the six month reporting period the Company did not repurchase or issue any Ordinary shares.

Board of Directors

Sir Andrew Burns retired from the Board at the conclusion of the 2016 Annual General Meeting thereby reducing the size of the Board to four persons where it shall remain for the time being. I, being the longest serving member of the Board, shall retire next with the timing to be announced in our Annual Report.

Outlook

China:

The economy is showing signs of recovery with support for renminbi stabilisation noticeable in property prices and auto sales along with prices for domestically-driven commodities such as cement and steel. Fiscally the government has widened the budget deficit to 3% of GDP from 2.3% in 2015 with fiscal bond issuance targets planned to double to RMB 1.6 trillion. For the first time since August 2015 the Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) in March entered into expansionary territory at 50.2%. The key risk is the potential for overheating and the resultant inflationary pressure given the sharp acceleration of growth in the property sector. In terms of structural reform, the government's focus is on reform of the supply side with capital being allocated to sectors providing higher returns. Longer term, the government's measures are intended to facilitate a sharp increase in the urbanisation ratio from the current level of 47%, encourage greater consumer orientation and oversee a consequent improvement in living styles. The direction of the portfolio is to take these trends into account.

Hong Kong:

Economic stabilisation in China and lower US rate rise expectations are the backdrops for an improvement in the pricing of Hong Kong equities. A structural slowdown in retail sales as well as the weakness in property sales nevertheless prevails. The announcement of the establishment of the Shenzhen Hong Kong Connect in the short-term should boost market sentiment. The rally in Macau gaming shares follows the stabilisation of gaming revenue and further upward movement will be dependent on this as well as the success of the upcoming new property opening by Wynn.

Taiwan:

The Taiwan market seems likely to face headwinds in the forthcoming quarters both in economic growth and corporate earnings. The first quarter of the calendar year typically is seasonally weak and this has been compounded in the technology sector by slow iPhone shipments and a lack of new technology product cycles. Since the newly elected President does not assume power until the second quarter of 2016, there could be a vacuum in the interim in terms of government policy. However, concerns over the change in the ruling party seem to have already been priced into the market. Growth may improve towards the end of 2016 with easy base comparisons boosted by restocking demand on the launch of the iPhone 7. In addition, the low interest rate environment should provide ample liquidity for the Taiwan equity market and companies with long-term secular-growth opportunities should return to favour against the backdrop of stabilised corporate earnings.

Overview and Portfolio Direction

Overall, the Chinese government is having to find ways to adjust to the pace of slower growth while running down the excessive capacity in the manufacturing industries. The policy shifts over the past year have demonstrated the willingness of the government to address the problems. We continue to expect a pro-growth stance from the authorities although there remains a risk of government tightening sometime in the future. With inflecting growth data and the resulting potential for upgrades in earnings for economically-sensitive sectors, we believe the China markets should continue to recover gradually from the plunge they suffered earlier this year. As at the end of March, our Managers increased their overweighting in China stocks, by consolidating some positions in Hong Kong and Taiwan and shifting the capital towards higher conviction stock ideas in China. In essence, the portfolio continues to emphasise secular growth and to this end our Managers have taken advantage of the market correction earlier in the year as buying opportunities to add to the existing names in the portfolio which they like and to initiate positions in new investments, rather than to align the portfolio's country exposures more closely to that of the MSCI China benchmark.

William Knight

Chairman                                                                                                                                              23rd May 2016

Investment Managers' Report

Over the six months ended 31st March 2016, the Company delivered +6.8% (in GBP terms) against a benchmark return of +6.2%. During this period, positive stock selection, particularly in Chinese companies, contributed to returns. Our asset allocation also helped performance. While our overweight position in China detracted, the overweight position in Taiwan, relative to the combined average index weight over this period (benchmark change to MSCI China effective 26th January 2016), positively impacted returns. An average gearing level of 11% also added value over this time period.

Stock selection in technology contributed to performance. Select positions in upstream semiconductor companies, such as Silicon Motion Technology and Taiwan Semiconductors Manufacturing, outperformed. We believe they should benefit from their product cycles and inventory restocking, driven by demand growth from a low base. Our overweight position in AAC Technologies also helped returns as it is well-positioned among the Apple supply chain space, with an increasingly diverse component product portfolio, such as acoustics, haptics and connectivity, and, as a result, a growing addressable market. Other top contributors were more mixed for the period. The pair trade in the telecommunications sector, overweight China Telecom and underweight China Mobile, paid off, as the former reported better fourth quarter results than peers and guided positively, while the latter missed earnings. Our top pick in the internet space, Tencent, continued to consistently outperform, thanks to solid profit growth, and should have further runway to monetize its diversified book of business. Our secular growth names with exposure to consumption upgrades, Regina Miracle (the textile maker) and IMAX China (cinematic technology provider) that were initiated in the fourth quarter of 2015, also worked well. As the oil price rebounded to nearly USD40 per barrel by the end of March from its January low, our overweight position in CNOOC added value. The exploration and production company is backed by a sound balance sheet and should benefit as crude price normalizes.

Our overweight positions in life insurers, including China Taiping Insurance and Ping An Insurance, were among the top detractors, as they fell with the market due to their leverage to cyclicality and equity market volatility. Despite some near term weakness, however, their fundamental theses remain intact. Within healthcare, our overweight positions in Phoenix Healthcare (hospital operator) and Sino Biopharm (integrated pharmaceutical) detracted, driven by both stock specific reasons rather than broader industry headwinds. For the former, a delay in its Baoding acquisition and heightened political risk in a heavily regulated industry increased near term earnings risk. However, we still believe in the long term investment case given the need for reform for Chinese hospitals. The latter, while one of the top performers in 2015, struggled with a few headwinds so far this year. Our environmental protection stocks also struggled during the quarter, namely China Longyuan Power and China Everbright International. China Longyuan Power sold off on tariff cuts putting downward earnings pressure on wind power. Additionally, the volatility earlier this year in the domestic onshore market was a drag on the performance for some of our A-share holdings. Positions in companies such as Spring Airlines (low cost carrier), China South Publishing (provincial education materials producer) and Beijing Originwater Technology (leader in waste water treatment) all detracted from performance.

China Review

Chinese equities made modest gains in the fourth quarter, with offshore-listed equities (MSCI China Index) gaining 4% and domestic A-shares (CSI 300 Index) showing stronger recovery by gaining 16% in RMB (or 14% in US dollar terms). Further loosening in monetary policy, including another 25 basis points (bps) reduction in interest rates and a 50 bps reduction in the reserve requirement ratio, supported domestic liquidity. However the government has also taken some measures to offset some upward momentum in domestic equity market, including tightening the margin financing ratio, resuming IPOs and announcing the long-awaited registration system for IPOs.

Chinese equities ended down in the first quarter, with offshore listed equities down 5% and domestic A-shares (CSI 300) down 14%, due to higher risk premium from another sudden renminbi devaluation and unsuccessful rollout of the circuit break mechanism. Markets rebounded, after touching low at end of February, on strong credit numbers, PBOC's cutting reserve requirement, and green shoots on demand recovery. On the macro front, the tug-of-war between RMB stabilization and much needed monetary stimulus remained, as the unexpected devaluation at beginning of 2016 renewed concerns over the government's ability to use further monetary easing to aid recovery. Signs of a macro pick up, on better credit and fixed asset investment (FAI) numbers, subsequently stabilized RMB. Earnings revision remained broadly negative as expected, with positive revisions mainly coming from structural growth sectors such as healthcare and TMT.

China Outlook

We expect macro to continue to recover from a very low base, supportive for further renminbi stabilisation. Two main drivers remain positive. Top 30 cities March property sales were up 84% year-on-year, and first-quarter 2016 was up 47% year-on-year, boding well for further property new construction starts. On the fiscal side, government has widened the budget deficit to 3% of GDP from 2.3% of 2015. Special fiscal bond issuance targets are to double this year, to RMB 1.6 trillion. Just reported March Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) at 50.2% entered into expansionary territory, for the first time since August 2015. The key risk to watch is the potential for overheating and resulting inflationary pressure given the sharp acceleration of property sector growth.

On the structural reform front, government focus is on supply side reform, the right direction in our opinion to better allocate capital to higher return sectors. Longer term, we believe government's measures to facilitate a sharp increase of urbanisation ratio from current 47% (family units) would be critical for medium term sustainable growth. We believe at least 100-200 million migrant workers can permanently settle in urban areas, supportive for the growth transformation from FAI-led to service-led economy.

Market valuation at 9.8x forward one year p/e is still close to average levels. Barring overheating risk, we believe market should be re-rated on earnings recovery, as well as lower risk premium from renminbi stabilisation. Longer term, the carryout of structural reform would be critical for sustainable growth.

Hong Kong Review

Hong Kong equities staged a rally in October as the US rate hike was delayed, while China undertook further monetary easing. However, they retraced some of the gain approaching the rate hike, which materialised in December, while the Chinese regulators continued to conduct broker investigations affecting sentiments on the domestic market. Despite the US rate increase, the Hong Kong banks did not raise their best lending or deposit rates due to ample system liquidity, partially owing to conversion out of renminbi deposits due to depreciation concerns. Retail and property sectors remained under pressure, while Macau gaming shares rallied on better than expected quarter results.

After suffering a sharp drop at the beginning of the new year, Hong Kong equities clawed back most of the losses, led by Macau gaming, as well as utilities and telecom shares. Concerns over renminbi devaluation and capital outflows led to the fall in January, but those concerns subsided along with economic stabilisation in China and dovish comments from the US Federal Reserve. Residential property prices continued to decline. Fewer tourists from mainland China, and an increase in outbound travel by Hong Kong local residents, both due to the strong HK dollar, have driven further slowdown in retail sales. Macau gaming shares continued to rally on the back of stabilising gaming revenues.

Hong Kong Outlook

Economic stabilisation in China and lowered US rate rise expectations should provide a more constructive backdrop for equities in the short term. However, the headwinds facing the domestic Hong Kong economy remain, given the structural slowdown in retail sales as well as the weakness in property sales. On the horizon, the announcement of the Shenzhen Hong Kong Connect could be a short-term sentiment boost.

The response in the physical property market to lowered rate expectations and stabilising market sentiments has only been modest thus far. It remains to be seen when substantial pent-up demand would return to the market to drive up transaction volumes, and whether land prices could fall further to underpin a healthier margin recovery. In the meantime, a pick-up in office rentals has yet to materialise due to financial market volatility.

The rally in Macau gaming shares has priced in stabilising gaming revenues and a more supportive policy stance, although we do not expect major relaxation measures. Further upward movement will be dependent on continued gaming revenue growth, as well as the success of the upcoming new property opening by Wynn.

Taiwan Review

The TAIEX traded well initially in the fourth quarter but the market fell heavily in November after the presidential summit between Taiwan and China failed to produce any substantial economic incentives and on increasing concerns over weaker than expected iPhone sales. This continued into December, when the index fell below the 8000 mark, before closing up 1.9% for the fourth quarter.

The TAIEX index fell sharply at the beginning of the quarter, unnerved by turmoil in the global markets, along with further devaluation of renminbi and a plunge in the China equity market after the introduction and subsequent suspension of the circuit-breaker system in the first week of the year. However, the market managed to rebound towards the end to finish the first quarter +4.9% quarter-on-quarter. Foreign investors were active buyers of the market. The Taiwan central bank has cut key policy rate to 1.5% to maintain accommodative monetary conditions, and to foster economic growth. With inflation pressure likely to remain muted in 2016 on weak growth, there could be room for further easing in the coming quarters. The Taiwan central bank governor Fai-Nan stated the economy is likely to improve in the second half of 2016, partly helped by low bases.

Taiwan Outlook

The Taiwan market seems likely to face headwinds in forthcoming quarters. Although the first quarter of the calendar year is typically seasonally weak, this is likely to be compounded in the technology sector by slow iPhones shipments and a lack of new technology product cycles to offset this.

A policy vacuum in the Taiwan government could arise from the change in president because the new president from Democratic Progressive Party does not assume power until the second quarter of 2016. However, concerns over the change in the ruling party seem to have already been priced into the market.

The first half of 2016 is likely to see anaemic growth in the technology sector. However, growth may improve towards the end of 2016 with easy base comparisons, together with restocking demand on the launch of the iPhone 7. The low interest rate environment should provide ample liquidity to the Taiwan equity market. Against the backdrop of stabilising corporate earning downgrades, companies with long-term secular-growth opportunities should return to benefit.

Summary

China's economy is showing signs of stabilization. Combined with the government's easing bias, the shorter-term backdrop for equities is encouraging. From a sector allocation perspective, however, we have doubts about China's commitment to the reform necessary to shore up its industrial base in a sustainable fashion; we expect limited further upside for most of the value stocks that led the recent rally. We have reduced holdings in financials and added to positions in growth stocks leveraged to Chinese consumption. For Hong Kong, economic stabilization in China and lowered U.S. rate rise expectations should provide a more constructive backdrop for equities in the short term. However, the headwinds facing the domestic economy remain given the structural slowdown in retail sales as well as the weakness in property sales. On the horizon, the announcement of the Shenzhen Hong Kong Connect could be a short-term sentiment boost. With regards to Taiwan, the first half of 2016 is likely to experience anaemic growth in the technology sector. However, growth may improve towards the end of the year with easy base comparisons. Low interest rate environment should provide ample liquidity to the Taiwan equity market. Against the backdrop of stabilizing corporate earnings downgrades, companies with long-term secular growth opportunities should return to favour.

Howard Wang

Emerson Yip

William Tong

Shumin Huang

Investment Managers                                                                                                                           23rd May 2016

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 have not changed and fall into the following broad categories: investment underperformance; loss of investment team; discount; market; political and economic; accounting, legal and regulatory; corporate governance and shareholder relations; operational; going concern and financial. Information on each of these areas is given in the Business Review within the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30th September 2015.

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 during the period.

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 operational 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 yearly 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 31st March 2016, 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

William Knight

Chairman                                                                                                                                              23 May 2016

Statement of Comprehensive Income

for the six months ended 31st March 2016

	(Unaudited)			(Unaudited)			(Audited)
	Six months ended			Six months ended			Year ended
	31st March 2016			31st March 2015			30th September 2015
	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Gains/(losses) from investments   held at fair value through
profit or loss	-	10,826	10,826	-	33,906	33,906	-	(297)	(297)
Net foreign currency losses	-	(447)	(447)	-	(1,295)	(1,295)	-	(981)	(981)
Income from investments	42	-	42	364	-	364	4,434	-	4,434
Other interest receivable and   similar income	11	-	11	1	-	1	2	-	2
Gross return/(loss)	53	10,379	10,432	365	32,611	32,976	4,436	(1,278)	3,158
Management fee	(817)	-	(817)	(828)	-	(828)	(1,764)	-	(1,764)
Performance fee	-	-	-	-	(378)	(378)	-	(59)	(59)
Other administrative expenses	(251)	-	(251)	(226)	-	(226)	(467)	-	(467)
Net (loss)/return on ordinary
activities before finance costs
and taxation	(1,015)	10,379	9,364	(689)	32,233	31,544	2,205	(1,337)	868
Finance costs	(141)	-	(141)	(92)	-	(92)	(211)	-	(211)
Net (loss)/return on ordinary
activities before taxation	(1,156)	10,379	9,223	(781)	32,233	31,452	1,994	(1,337)	657
Taxation	(14)	(21)	(35)	(8)	-	(8)	(293)	-	(293)
Net (loss)/return on ordinary
activities after taxation	(1,170)	10,358	9,188	(789)	32,233	31,444	1,701	(1,337)	364
(Loss)/return per share (note 4)	(1.56)p	13.81p	12.25p	(1.04)p	42.67p	41.63p	2.25p	(1.77)p	0.48p

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.

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

	Called up		Exercised	Capital
	share	Share	warrant	redemption	Other	Capital	Revenue
	capital	premium	reserve	reserve	reserve	reserves	Reserve1	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Six months ended 31st March 2016
(Unaudited)
At 30th September 2015	19,481	13,321	3	581	37,392	62,763	2,391	135,932
Net return/(loss) on
ordinary activities	-	-	-	-	-	10,358	(1,170)	9,188
Dividends paid in the period	-	-	-	-	-	-	(1,350)	(1,350)
At 31st March 2016	19,481	13,321	3	581	37,392	73,121	(129)	143,770
Six months ended 31st March 2015
(Unaudited)
At 30th September 2014	19,481	13,321	3	581	37,392	65,125	1,899	137,802
Net return/(loss) on
ordinary activities	-	-	-	-	-	32,233	(789)	31,444
Dividends paid in the period	-	-	-	-	-	-	(1,209)	(1,209)
At 31st March 2015	19,481	13,321	3	581	37,392	97,358	(99)	168,037
Year ended 30th September 2015
(Audited)
At 30th September 2014	19,481	13,321	3	581	37,392	65,125	1,899	137,802
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	-	-	-	-	-	(1,025)	-	(1,025)
Net (loss)/return on ordinary
activities	-	-	-	-	-	(1,337)	1,701	364
Dividends paid in the year	-	-	-	-	-	-	(1,209)	(1,209)
At 30th September 2015	19,481	13,321	3	581	37,392	62,763	2,391	135,932

¹ This reserve forms the distributable reserve of the Company and may be used to fund distribution of profits to investors via dividend payments.

Statement of Financial Position

at 31st March 2016

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	31st March 2016	31st March 2015	30th September 2015
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Fixed assets
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss	160,828	181,341	154,813
Current assets
Debtors	41	3,478	890
Cash and cash equivalents	1,997	4,482	4,636
	2,038	7,960	5,526
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	(19,096)	(21,264)	(24,407)
Net current liabilities	(17,058)	(13,304)	(18,881)
Total assets less current liabilities	143,770	168,037	135,932
Net assets	143,770	168,037	135,932
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital	19,481	19,481	19,481
Share premium	13,321	13,321	13,321
Exercised warrant reserve	3	3	3
Capital redemption reserve	581	581	581
Other reserve	37,392	37,392	37,392
Capital reserves	73,121	97,358	62,763
Revenue reserve	(129)	(99)	2,391
Total equity shareholders' funds	143,770	168,037	135,932
Net asset value per share (note 5)	191.7p	222.5p	181.2p

The Company's registration number is 02853893.

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the six months ended 31st March 2016

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 30th September 2015 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 and included 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, United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice ('UK GAAP') including FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' 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.

FRS 104 'Interim Financial Reporting', issued by the Financial Reporting Council in March 2015 has been applied in preparing this condensed set of financial statements for the six months ended 31st March 2016.

In March 2016, the FRC published amendments to FRS 102 concerning fair value hierarchy disclosures. These amendments are effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1st January 2017. The Company has elected to early adopt these amendments in these interim financial statements. Full disclosure is given in note 6.

As a result of the first time adoption of FRS 102 and the revised SORP, comparative numbers and presentational formats have been restated where required. The Company has elected to not prepare a Statement of Cashflows for the current period on the basis that substantially all of its investments are liquid and carried at market value.

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 30th September 2015.

3.   Dividends paid¹

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	Six months ended	Six months ended	Year ended
	31st March 2016	31st March 2015	30th September 2015
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Final dividend paid in respect of the year ended
30th September 2015 of 1.8p (2014: 1.6p)	1,350	1,209	1,209

      No interim dividend has been declared in respect of the six months ended 31st March 2016 (2015: nil).

      ¹ All dividends paid and declared in the period have been funded from the Revenue Reserve.

4.   Return per share

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	Six months ended	Six months ended	Year ended
	31st March 2016	31st March 2015	30th September 2015
	£'000	£'000	£'000
(Loss)/return per share is based on the following:
Revenue (loss)/return	(1,170)	(789)	1,701
Capital return/(loss)	10,358	32,233	(1,337)
Total return	9,188	31,444	364
Weighted average number of shares
in issue during the period/year	75,005,470	75,531,426	75,384,066
Revenue (loss)/return per share	(1.56)p	(1.04)p	2.25p
Capital return/(loss) per share	13.81p	42.67p	(1.77p)
Total return per share	12.25p	41.63p	0.48p

5.   Net asset value per share

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	Six months ended	Six months ended	Year ended
	31st March 2016	31st March 2015	30th September 2015
Net Assets (£'000)	143,770	168,037	135,932
Shares in issue	75,005,470	75,531,426	75,005,470
Net asset value per share	191.7p	222.5p	181.2p

6.   Fair valuation of investments

The fair value hierarchy analysis for financial instruments held at fair value at the period end is as follows:

	(Unaudited) Six months ended 31st March 2016		(Unaudited) Six months ended 31st March 2015		(Audited) Year ended 30th September 2015
	Assets	Liabilities	Assets	Liabilities	Assets	Liabilities
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Level 1: Quoted prices for identical
instruments in active markets	151,456	-	180,060	-	145,235	-
Level 2: Prices of recent transactions for identical instruments1	151,456	-	180,060	-	145,235	-
Total value of investments	160,828	-	181,341	-	154,813	-

¹ Equity Linked Notes.

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 will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM

The half year will also shortly be available on the Company's website at www.jpmchinese.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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