Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 5758V

Lowland Investment Co PLC

13 July 2009

 



LOWLAND INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC

HENDERSON GLOBAL INVESTORS

13 July 2009

LOWLAND INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC

Interim Management Statement
Review of the period from 1 April 2009 to 30 June 2009

The Directors of Lowland Investment Company plc hereby announce the following:

Portfolio: There was substantial raising of cash by companies by way of rights issues during the period.  These issues were to reduce debt and replace it with equity. The capital raisings have been priced at attractive levels for the new capital. Lowland's investment managers have therefore been participating in selective rights issues by companies in its portfolio.  GKN, RTZ and Marstons are examples of companies where we have decided to take up rights.

Many companies have reduced their costs so as to cope with the difficult economic climate. The speed with which this has been done has in many cases enabled profits to be preserved despite sales having fallen. When sales improve there should be a beneficial impact on margin which could mean investors' expectations are surpassed.

The manager's meetings with companies have led him to be confident about prospects, especially the low level of investor expectations. It is the reason why we are employing a reasonable level of gearing.

Gearing: At the end of the quarter the Company's gearing was 17.0 % (at 31 March 2009: 16.0%).

Dividends: An interim dividend of 10.0p per ordinary share was paid on 19 June 2009 to shareholders on the register of members at the close of business on 29 May 2009.  

Share Capital: During the period 1 April 2009 to 30 June 2009 there was no change in the issued share capital of the Company.

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 PERFORMANCE AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Financial Position (excluding current financial year revenue items)

(Source: Henderson/Fact Sheet)	at 30 June  2009	at 31 March  2009
Ordinary share price	494.4p	399.5p
(Discount)/Premium	(1.9%)	3.5%
Gross total assets	£153m	£126m
Net asset value (cum income)	494.4p	414.1p
Net asset value (ex income)	488.6p	406.4p
Portfolio Gearing	17%	16%
Yield	5.5%	6.6%
Total Expense Ratio	0.74%	0.74%

Performance at 30 June 2009 (total return % change)

(Source: Henderson)	6 months	1 year	3 years	5 years
Net asset value	5.2	-30.6	-35.9	-3.7
Share price	12.4	-27.5	-35.5	-0.4
Benchmark*	0.8	-20.5	-18.1	16.3
* The benchmark is the FTSE All-Share Index.

THE PORTFOLIO (Source: Henderson/Fact Sheet)

Top 10 Investments at 30 June 2009             Top 10 Investments at 31 March 2009

	% of Total  Assets					% of Total  Assets
BP	5.4			BP		6.4
Royal Dutch Shell	4.0			Royal Dutch Shell		4.9
Carclo	3.2			GlaxoSmithKline		3.5
AVIVA	3.0			Vodafone		2.8
GlaxoSmithKline	2.8			Bellway		2.6
Senior	2.6			Novae		2.5
Vodafone	2.6			Carclo		2.3
Barclays	2.5			Aviva		2.3
Hill & Smith	2.2			Senior		2.3
Meggitt	2.0			Hiscox		2.2
	------					------
Top 10 =	30.3%			Top 10 =		31.8%
Sector Breakdown		% at 30 June  2009			% at 31 March  2009
Financials		26.9			26.2
Industrials		26.0			22.9
Basic Materials		11.1			11.2
Consumer Goods		10.5			11.4
Oil & Gas		9.3			11.2
Consumer Services		6.9			7.1
Telecommunications		4.3			4.7
Health Care		3.5			4.2
Utilities		0.2			0.6
Cash & Fixed Interest		1.3			0.5
		---------			---------
Total		100.0			100.0
		=====			=====

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Lowland Investment Company plc aims to give shareholders a higher than average return with growth of both capital and income over the medium to long term.

The Company's policy is to invest in a broad spread of predominantly UK companies of differing sizes with normally not more than half by value coming from the largest 100 UK companies and the balance from small and medium sized companies. 

The Manager is Henderson Global Investors Limited. Further information on the Company, including an up to date NAV and share price information, can be found on the Manager's website

at www.itshenderson.com or www.lowlandinvestment.com. 

For further information, please contact:

James Henderson                               James de Sausmarez

Portfolio Manager                              Head of Investment Trusts

Lowland Investment Company plc      Henderson Global Investors

Telephone: [phone]                Telephone: [phone]

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