Half-year Report

RNS Number : 9994U

JPMorgan Claverhouse IT PLC

05 August 2022

 

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT

JPMORGAN CLAVERHOUSE INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

UNAUDITED HALF YEAR RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED
30TH JUNE 2022

Legal Entity Identifier : 549300NFZYYFSCD52W53

Information disclosed in accordance with the DTR 4.2.2

The Directors of JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust plc announce the Company's results for the half year ended 30th June 2022.

Chairman's Statement

This is my first statement as Chairman of your Company following the retirement from the Board of Andrew Sutch who had been Chairman for some seven years and a Director for a total of nine years. On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Andrew for all his hard work and effective stewardship of the Board and the Company.

Performance

Following the Company's financial year end to 31st December 2021, economies across the world, including the UK, were expected to begin to recover following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions . However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, rising energy prices (partly as a result of the war) and increasing inflation and interest rates have all slowed economic growth both in the UK and globally.

The FTSE All Share (total return) fell 4.6% in the six months to 30th June 2022. The Company underperformed its benchmark index over the first six months of the financial year. The total return on net assets was -12.8% (with debt valued at par), an underperformance of -8.2% compared to the FTSE All- Share Index (total return). The share price fell, from 772p as at 31st December 2021 to 650p as at 30th June 2022. While this is a disappointing result, it reflects a very unusual market that has been driven by macro concerns and sentiment rather than individual stock fundamentals, which are the the portfolio management team's focus. The Investment Managers' report on pages 11 to 14 reviews the market and provides more detail on the period's performance. Since the half year end, the share price has risen to 692p (as at 29^th July 2022) and it is encouraging to report the net asset value has outperformed the benchmark index over the same period.

Revenue and Dividends

Revenue per share for the six months to 30th June 2022 was 17.38p, compared with 12.82p earned in the same period in 2021. As shown in the Statement of Comprehensive Income, dividend income is 33.5% higher than in the six months of the corresponding year. A first quarterly dividend of 7.50p per share (2021: 7.00p) was paid on 1st June 2022. It remains the Board's intention that the first three quarterly dividends should be of an equal amount and has therefore declared a second quarterly dividend of 7.50p per share (2021: 7.00p) to be paid on 1st September 2022 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 22nd July 2022. The Board's dividend policy remains to seek to increase the total dividend each year and, taking a run of years together, to increase dividends at a rate close to or above the rate of inflation. The Company continues to benefit from a relatively high level of revenue reserves, which have been built up over a number of years, and the ability to utilise these, if necessary, to support the dividend.

The Board intends to declare an increased dividend for 2022, compared with that for 2021.

Discount, Share Issues/Repurchases

The discount at which the Company's share price traded relative to net asset value has fluctuated during the period and at times the shares have traded at a premium. During the period no shares were repurchased into Treasury and 520,000 new shares were issued, raising over £3.8 million for investment. As at 30th June 2022 the Company's discount (to its cum-income, debt at fair value, NAV) was 2.8%.

Gearing

The Company's gearing policy (excluding the effect of any futures) is to operate within a range of 5% net cash and 20% geared in normal market conditions. The Investment Managers have discretion to vary the gearing level between 5% net cash and 17.5% geared (including the effect of any futures). The Company has a long-term £30 million 3.22% private placement loan and also has a revolving credit facility of £80 million with Mizuho Bank Ltd of which £30 million was drawn as at 30th June 2022.

Taking into account borrowings, net of cash balances held and including the effect of futures, the Company started the period approximately 8.8% geared. At the end of the period the Company was approximately 2.0% geared.

Board Succession

The Board is well advanced in the search for a suitably qualified additional Director to join the Board following Andrew Sutch's retirement and expects to announce an appointment in the Autumn.

Outlook

Since the Company's Annual General Meeting in April, the global economy has slowed further. Although there are no signs of any immediate economic recovery, the UK market continues to represent relatively good value, trading on a on a lower valuation than most other world markets. The Company is invested predominantly in large, well diversified FTSE 100 stocks, many of which are continuing to pay growing dividends. In this very difficult and extremely uncertain environment, the Manager is focused on high quality, resilient companies coupled with a cautious approach to gearing. This, together with the Company's strong dividend record, should benefit shareholders going forward.

David Fletcher

Chairman                                                                                                                               4th August 2022

INVESTMENT MANAGERS' REPORT

Investment Approach

We aim to construct a diversified portfolio of our best ideas, comprising both quality, growth and value stocks. For the patient investor, such an approach will, we believe, over a run of years produce outperformance of the index in a steady, risk-controlled manner irrespective of market conditions. We also strive to maintain Claverhouse's enviable dividend record by biasing the portfolio towards stocks with growing dividends.

Market Review

Equities globally fell sharply over the period. Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the end of February signaled the first war in Europe since 1945 and seriously rattled investors. After the initial shock, concerns soon grew over both the price and security of supplies of many essential commodities such as oil, wheat and gas. Inflation, which was already a concern as economies had started to open up after a long period of lockdown, started to rise sharply. Supply chains have been stubbornly sluggish, with China's zero Covid policy and related lockdowns compounding the issue. After a decade-long period of cheap money, central banks around the world started to raise interest rates, making clear as they did, that further rises were to come.

As economic growth forecasts were cut, the spectre of a global recession loomed. Worse still, were the growing fears of a period of stagflation: low/zero growth coupled with rising inflation.

Markets fell consistently throughout the period. The UK stock market fell less than most, with oil strongly outperforming and the more traditionally defensive pharmaceuticals, defence and tobacco sectors performing relatively well. However, the vast majority of stocks under-performed, with consumer stocks and industrials faring particularly poorly.

The pound fell from $1.35 to $1.21, which only served to compound the UK's inflation woes. The period ended with no end to the war in sight and inflation in the UK (and many other countries) rapidly heading to double digits. In June, Putin further restricted the supply of Russian gas to Europe so making the prospect of energy rationing in many parts of Europe in the autumn a real possibility.

At the end of the period, the mood amongst investors was unremittingly grim. Markets continued to fall and, as a series of disruptive strikes broke out on the railways and other key industries, parallels with the UK's economic woes of the 1970s started to be drawn. After the period end, Boris Johnson agreed to step down from his position as the Prime Minister after a series of scandals.

By the end of June, the total return on the FTSE All-Share index from the start of the year was a fall of -4.6%.

Portfolio review

At the start of the period, your portfolio was positioned for a post-Covid economic bounce and so was cyclically biased with a good representation to consumer stocks which, after two years of lockdown, we thought were well positioned for the opening up of economies which was starting to take place. The sudden outbreak of war in Ukraine in February changed all that and necessitated some radical shifts, and a higher turnover than usual, in the portfolio. It was difficult to get ahead of the market's rapid fall and, at times, the move in some share prices bordered on complete panic. The extent to which the market was driven by macro concerns, whilst fundamentals were often neglected, is unusual and reflects the fear present in the market. By the end of the period though, the portfolio was more defensively positioned and had even lower gearing than the start of the period.

Some of the more significant transactions we undertook are detailed below.

Purchases

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced many countries to reassess the sources of their energy supply. Combined with the dearth of new capital entering the oil and gas markets, this has led to a significant energy supply shortage and higher oil and gas prices. We added to several holdings which should benefit from this Drax, SSE, Serica Energy, BP and Shell. Glencore's exposure to copper, nickel and zinc leaves it well placed to benefit from the energy transition. The ESG credentials of Glencore continue to improve and we expect the complete overhaul of the management team to mark the start of a new greener, better-governed era for the company.

Inflation is raging and protection against it is critical. We therefore added to several utilities where their regulated asset bases are inflation-linked: National Grid, Severn Trent, and United Utilities. Bunzl, a distributor of non-food consumable products, has strong pricing power as its contracts are typically on a cost plus basis. Hilton Food Group processes, packs and distributes meat and fish products to international food retailers. It, too, has a large number of long dated contracts which are on a cost plus basis.

London Stock Exchange should be relatively resilient to economic cycles due to its high percentage of recurring revenues and its data/tools being deeply integrated in its end customers' businesses. Man Group is an alternative asset manager which continues to deliver strong operational momentum despite the challenging backdrop. Performance in key strategies has been good year to date and this provides the potential for the company to pay significantly higher dividends.

As growth in the economy is likely to slow further, we increased our exposure to a number of defensive, non-cyclical companies including AstraZeneca, BAE and Imperial Brands.

After their sharp share price falls, we added to two of our existing financial companies 3i and Intermediate Capital Group. We also bought three new housebuilders Redrow, Crest Nicholson and Berkeley Group, all of which now look very good value with extremely attractive yields.

Sales

We had already sold our holdings in Polymetal and Evraz when Russia invaded Ukraine. Both have operations in Russia; Evraz shares have subsequently been suspended.

After the Russian invasion, we sold a number of industrial and cyclical stocks to fund our purchase of more defensive stocks. These sales included AVEVA, Breedon, National Express, Synthomer, Unite Group and WIZZ Air.

With the cost of living crisis escalating, we reduced our exposure to the retail sector through sales of the discount retailer B&M, Burberry, Marks & Spencer and JD Sports. We reduced our exposure to the cyclical media sector through sales of Future and WPP.

Asset management is a highly operationally geared business and so we grew increasingly concerned about the downside risk at Impax, Liontrust and Polar Capital. We took substantial profits on our sale of Scottish Mortgage.

We were obliged to sell our holding in Ferguson, as shareholders voted to move the primary listing to the US.

Performance Review: six months to 30th June 2022 - Stock Attribution (actives ex-futures)

	Average
Top 5 Stocks	Active %	Attribution %	Explanation
Shell	+4.1	+1.26	Oil majors have strongly outperformed as the Russian invasion has exposed the fragility of global energy markets which has been caused by the severe underinvestment in oil and gas assets over the last few years.
AstraZeneca	+3.3	+0.91	Pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca have performed strongly during H1 as investors have sought out companies with reliable earnings streams.
BP	+3.2	+0.60	Oil majors have strongly outperformed as the Russian invasion has exposed the fragility of global energy markets which has been caused by the severe underinvestment in oil and gas assets over the last few years.
British American	+1.7	+0.34	This tobacco company has outperformed as
Tobacco			investors have sought out highly cash generative companies with demonstrable resilience to economic downturns.
GlaxoSmithKline	+1.5	+0.23	The impending split up of GlaxoSmithKline into a consumer goods company and a specialist vaccines/pharma company has caused investors to reassess the hidden value within the business.

	Average
Bottom 5 stocks	Active %	Attribution %	Explanation
JPM UK Smaller	+4.0	-1.45	The trust underperformed over the period as
Companies			large caps outperformed.
Investment Trust
Intermediate	+2.4	-0.95	This private market specialist asset manager
Capital			underperformed as concerns over its credit book rose as credit spreads remained wide throughout H1 and the funding environment deteriorated.
Ashtead	+2.0	-0.89	Owning this cyclical industrial equipment rental business was negative for returns as fears of a recession grew.
Watches of	+1.3	-0.67	Despite continued good results this specialist
Switzerland			retailer of luxury watches has de-rated as consumer sentiment has rolled off on concerns over rising inflation. Discretionary spending is likely to be lower than expected and so retail stocks have suffered.
Dunelm	+1.4	-0.65	Consumer sentiment has rolled off on concerns over rising inflation. Discretionary spending is likely to be lower than expected and so retail stocks, like homewares retailer Dunelm, have suffered.

Top Over and Under-weight positions vs FTSE All-Share Index

Top Five Overweight Positions		Top Five Underweight Positions
Astrazeneca	+2.5%	Unilever	-4.4%
Shell	+2.5%	Reckitt Benckiser	-1.8%
3i Group	+2.3%	Compass Group	-1.4%
BP	+2.2%	Prudential	-1.3%
SSE	+2.1%	Vodafone	-1.1%

Source: JPMAM, as at 30th June 2022.

Market Outlook

Economies around the world face a generational storm of slowing growth, rapidly rising inflation and tightening interest rates. With the first war in Europe since 1945 still raging, there is much to be concerned about. Investor sentiment is fragile, volatility has markedly picked up and liquidity (especially in small and mid-cap stocks) is drying up.

Inflation is proving not to be 'transitory' and the authorities are belatedly starting to recognise such by raising rates, although there clearly needs to be more - but at what price to economic growth? Markets are now worrying (rightly) about stagflation in the developed world, which would be bad for most asset classes and most companies' real profitability. The labour market remains tight and Putin continues to use commodities as a weapon of war. Gas rationing in Europe this coming winter is now a distinct possibility.

The oil price remains stubbornly high and high prices have historically closely correlated with recessions.

The Russian/Ukraine war looks like being a long and harrowing one, which will fully test the West's resolve to stay the course. A tough economic winter lies ahead.

However, equities have priced in a lot of bad news and for long term investors such as ourselves, there are an increasing number of really strong, sound companies now trading on attractive valuations. The market will eventually return to  focus on company fundamentals, which should suit our bottom up stock picking approach. Whilst only over a short time period, the market has been more responsive to fundamentals throughout the July earnings season.

Without expecting to call the bottom of markets, our instinct is to start (very gradually) to increase the gearing of the portfolio from its current low level, selectively adding to opportunities when we see them. Markets may yet fall further, but with the significant gearing potential at our disposal, we are steeling ourselves to lean - gently - into the gathering storm.

Claverhouse is comprised predominantly of large, quality, liquid, blue-chip equities. Its shares continue to trade around NAV with an attractive, well-funded yield.

At the time of writing, the fund is 5.0% geared.

William Meadon

Callum Abbot

Investment Managers                                                                                                        4th 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: cybercrime; external factors (including political, economic, fiscal, monetary and other cyclical risks)  ; share price discount; investment and strategy; market; operational; loss of investment team; climate change; legal and regulatory/corporate governance; and financial. 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

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 12 months from the date of the approval of this half yearly financial report. In reaching that view, the Directors have considered the impact of heightened market volatility since the Covid-19 outbreak and more recently the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For these reasons, they consider that there is sufficient 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 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

David Fletcher

Chairman                                                                                                                            4th 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	-	(68,379)	(68,379)	-	47,525	47,525	-	67,191	67,191
Net foreign currency
gains/(losses)	-	275	275	-	(1)	(1)	-	(4)	(4)
Income from investments	11,393	-	11,393	8,533	-	8,533	20,224	-	20,224
Interest receivable and
similar income	90	-	90	3	-	3	6	-	6
Gross return/(loss)	11,483	(68,104)	(56,621)	8,536	47,524	56,060	20,230	67,187	87,417
Management fee	(403)	(749)	(1,152)	(365)	(678)	(1,043)	(772)	(1,434)	(2,206)
Other administrative expenses	(385)	-	(385)	(341)	-	(341)	(668)	-	(668)
Net return/(loss) before
finance costs and taxation	10,695	(68,853)	(58,158)	7,830	46,846	54,676	18,790	65,753	84,543
Finance costs	(298)	(555)	(853)	(307)	(570)	(877)	(589)	(1,094)	(1,683)
Net return/(loss) before
taxation	10,397	(69,408)	(59,011)	7,523	46,276	53,799	18,201	64,659	82,860
Taxation	1	-	1	(43)	-	(43)	(99)	-	(99)
Net return/(loss) after
taxation	10,398	(69,408)	(59,010)	7,480	46,276	53,756	18,102	64,659	82,761
Return/(loss) per share
(note 3)	17.38p	(115.99)p	(98.61)p	12.82p	79.30p	92.12p	30.77p	109.92p	140.69p

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.

The net return/(loss) after taxation represents the profit/(loss) for the period/year and also the total comprehensive income for the period/year.

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	14,859	171,863	6,680	250,060	21,560	465,022
Issue of Ordinary shares	130	3,713	-	-	-	3,843
Net (loss)/return	-	-	-	(69,408)	10,398	(59,010)
Dividends paid in the period (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(10,162)	(10,162)
At 30th June 2022	14,989	175,576	6,680	180,652	21,796	399,693
Six months ended 30th June 2021 (Unaudited)
At 31st December 2020	14,651	165,378	6,680	184,483	21,667	392,859
Issuance of the Company's shares from Treasury	-	412	-	3,247	-	3,659
Issue of Ordinary shares	90	2,612	-	-	-	2,702
Repurchase of shares into Treasury	-	-	-	(2,329)	-	(2,329)
Net return	-	-	-	46,276	7,480	53,756
Dividends paid in the period (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(9,909)	(9,909)
At 30th June 2021	14,741	168,402	6,680	231,677	19,238	440,738
Year ended 31st December 2021 (Audited)
At 31st December 2020	14,651	165,378	6,680	184,483	21,667	392,859
Issuance of the Company's shares from Treasury	-	412	-	3,247	-	3,659
Issue of Ordinary shares	208	6,073	-	-	-	6,281
Repurchase of the Company's shares into Treasury	-	-	-	(2,329)	-	(2,329)
Net return	-	-	-	64,659	18,102	82,761
Dividends paid in the year (note 4)	-	-	-	-	(18,209)	(18,209)
At 31st December 2021	14,859	171,863	6,680	250,060	21,560	465,022

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	427,465	510,979	553,180
Current assets
Derivative financial assets	-	419	-
Debtors	1,800	871	1,403
Cash held at broker	1,894	-	4,969
Cash and cash equivalents	28,989	18,902	6,886
	32,683	20,192	13,258
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	(379)	(60,433)	(70,480)
Derivative financial liabilities	(76)	-	(936)
Net current assets/(liabilities)	32,228	(40,241)	(58,158)
Total assets less current liabilities	459,693	470,738	495,022
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year	(60,000)	(30,000)	(30,000)
Net assets	399,693	440,738	465,022
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital	14,989	14,741	14,859
Share premium	175,576	168,402	171,863
Capital redemption reserve	6,680	6,680	6,680
Capital reserves	180,652	231,677	250,060
Revenue reserve	21,796	19,238	21,560
Total shareholders' funds	399,693	440,738	465,022
Net asset value per share (note 5)	666.6p	747.5p	782.4p

statement of cash flows

For the six months ended 30th June 2022

	(Unaudited)	(Unaudited)	(Audited)
	30th June 2022	30th June 2021	31st December 2021
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Net cash outflow from operations before dividends and
interest	(1,304)	(1,424)	(2,888)
Dividends received	11,011	8,486	19,322
Interest received	90	3	6
Interest paid	(925)	(804)	(1,587)
Net cash inflow from operating activities	8,872	6,261	14,853
Purchases of investments	(133,414)	(87,549)	(191,662)
Sales of investments	190,615	72,463	156,615
Settlement of foreign currency contracts	(2)	-	(1)
Settlement of futures contracts	(724)	(1,668)	(2,635)
Transfer of company cash to be held at the broker	3,075	-	(4,969)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities	59,550	(16,754)	(42,652)
Dividends paid	(10,162)	(9,909)	(18,209)
Issuance of the Company's shares from Treasury	-	3,659	3,659
Repurchase of the Company's shares into Treasury	-	(2,329)	(2,329)
Issue of Ordinary Shares	3,843	2,702	6,281
Repayment of bank loans and debenture	(80,000)	(15,000)	(25,000)
Drawdown of Private Placement loan and bank loan	40,000	25,000	45,000
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financing activities	(46,319)	4,123	9,402
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	22,103	(6,370)	(18,397)
Cash and cash equivalents at start of period/year	6,886	25,283	25,283
Unrealised loss on foreign currency cash and cash equivalents	-	(11)	-
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period/year	28,989	18,902	6,886
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	22,103	(6,370)	(18,397)
Cash and cash equivalents consist of:
Cash and short term deposits	262	4,028	2,188
Cash held in JPMorgan Sterling Liquidity Fund	28,727	14,874	4,698
Total	28,989	18,902	6,886

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 '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	10,398	7,480	18,102
Capital (loss)/return	(69,408)	46,276	64,659
Total (loss)/return	(59,010)	53,756	82,761
Weighted average number of shares in issue	59,839,438	58,359,136	58,822,971
Revenue return per share	17.38p	12.82p	30.77p
Capital (loss)/return per share	(115.99)p	79.30p	109.92p
Total (loss)/return per share	(98.61)p	92.12p	140.69p

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
2021 fourth quarterly dividend of 9.50p (2020:10.00p) paid in
March 2022	5,665	5,826	5,826
2022 first quarterly dividend of 7.50p (2021: 7.00p) paid
in June 2022	4,497	4,083	4,083
2021 second quarterly dividend of 7.00p paid in September 2021	n/a	n/a	4,150
2021 third quarterly dividend of 7.00p paid in December 2021	n/a	n/a	4,150
Total dividends paid in the period	10,162	9,909	18,209

All dividends paid in the period/year have been funded from the revenue reserve.

A second quarterly dividend of 7.50p (2021: 7.00p) per share, amounting to £4,497,000 (2021: £4,150,000) has been declared payable in respect of the year ending 31st December 2022. It will be paid on 1st September 2022 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 22nd July 2022.

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
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Net assets (£'000)	399,693	440,738	465,022
Number of shares in issue at period/year end	59,955,653	58,960,653	59,435,653
Net asset value per share	666.6p	747.5p	782.4p

JPMORGAN FUNDS LIMITED

4^th August 2022

For further information, please contact:

Nira Mistry

For and on behalf of

JPMorgan Funds Limited

020 7742 4000

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.

ENDS

A copy of the half year will be submitted to the FCA's National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism

The half year will also shortly be available on the Company's website a t www.jpmclaverhouse.co.uk w here 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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