Merrill Lynch UK Inv Tst PLC
13 February 2002
MONTHLY PERFORMANCE
MERRILL LYNCH UK INVESTMENT TRUST plc
All information is at 31 January 2002 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Five
month months year years years
Net asset value -3.0% 1.9% -27.0% -14.1% 12.7%
Share price -3.1% 3.6% -27.8% -21.1% 2.4%
FTSE All-Share Index -1.0% 3.7% -15.5% -0.6% 35.8%
Sources: Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, Standard & Poor's Micropal
At month end
Net asset value* 883.05p
Share price: 790.00p
Discount: 10.5%
Total assets: £161.7m
Net Yield: 3.8%
Gearing: 32.3%
Effective gearing: 23.2%
Value of debt: £39.5m
Ordinary shares in issue: 13,868,562
*Includes current year net revenue of 2.40p
UK Sectors % Total Assets
Financials 27.3
Cyclical Services 17.7
Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods 14.1
Non-Cyclical Services 13.4
Resources 12.4
Basic Industries 2.9
General Industrials 2.3
Information Technology 2.2
Utilities 0.7
Cash 8.1
Net current liabilities (1.1)
Total 100.0
Ten Largest Equity Investments
Company
% Investments
BP Amoco 8.1
Barclays 6.2
Vodafone 6.0
GlaxoSmithKline 5.0
AstraZeneca 4.9
Royal Bank of Scotland 4.2
HSBC 4.2
HBOS 3.2
Amersham 3.0
BSkyB 2.9
Total 47.7
Market commentary
UK Stockmarket Review
The FTSE All Share Index fell 1.0%, driven by the poor performance of cyclical
growth shares. After performing well during the fourth quarter of 2001, they
proved weaker than their more defensive counterparts during January.
Fund Performance Review
The Company's Net Asset Value (NAV) underperformed over the month, falling by
3.0%. Gearing and other charges represented 1.0% of the relative
underperformance.
In general, the Trust suffered from the tilt towards cyclical shares, in a month
when sentiment rotated towards defensives. The holding in BSkyB underperformed,
partly on concerns over its stake in the German pay-TV company, Kirch. Telecoms
shares performed poorly after Energis issued a profits warning, causing the
shares of all second-tier telecoms operators to suffer. In particular, the
Trust's holding in Telewest adversely affected performance, as investors lost
confidence in the company's financial position.
The negative effect of the overweight position in mm02 was offset by the
positive impact of the underweight stance in Vodafone. Although the large
position in BT Group was negative, we intend to maintain an emphasis on this
share. In our view, it is attractively valued relative to its international
peers. In addition, its shares currently reflect no upside as a result of
restructuring, which we expect to have a positive impact on earnings growth.
Outlook
We expect the UK economy to show signs of recovery this year, although corporate
earnings growth is likely to be modest. In the short term, stockmarket
valuations are vulnerable, so the Trust's cyclical tilt has been tempered.
However, we are keen to begin gradually increasing this again, as setbacks give
rise to opportunities, so that the Trust is positioned appropriately to benefit
when optimism about 2003's earnings is reflected in valuations later this year.
Latest information is available by typing www.mlim.co.uk/its on the internet,
'MLIMINDEX' on Reuters, 'MLIM' on Bloomberg or '8800' on Topic 3 (ICV terminal).
13 February 2002
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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