Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 3485C

Merchants Trust PLC

11 November 2009

 



The Merchants Trust PLC

Interim Management Statement

For the quarter ended 31 October 2009

This interim management statement relates to the quarter from 1 August 2009 to 31 October 2009 and contains information for that period unless otherwise stated. This statement is produced to provide information in accordance with the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. 

Investment objective

The objective of The Merchants Trust is to provide an above average level of income and income growth together with long term growth of capital through a policy of investing mainly in higher yielding UK FTSE 100 companies.

Portfolio

Top ten holdings at 31 October 2009

		£	%
Royal Dutch Shell		43,002,080	8.73
GlaxoSmithKline		39,221,805	7.96
Vodafone Group		37,449,638	7.60
HSBC		34,235,184	6.95
BP		34,123,199	6.93
AstraZeneca		19,651,914	3.99
British American Tobacco		18,444,705	3.74
BAE Systems		18,303,705	3.72
Unilever		17,823,000	3.62
Scottish & Southern Energy		16,454,750	3.34
Total Gross Assets		492,588,651

Material events and transactions

Simon Fraser was appointed as a non-executive director on 1 August 2009.

The second quarterly dividend of 5.6p per share was declared on 18 September 2009 and will be paid on 12 November to shareholders on the register on 9 October 2009.

There were no changes to the Company's share capital over the period. The number of ordinary shares in issue at the beginning and end of the period is 103,213,464.

The Company is not aware of any significant events or transactions which have occurred between 31 October and the date of this report which would have a material impact.

  Financial Performance  to 31 October 2009

			% change
	3 m	6m		1yr	3yr		5yrs	10yrs
Share price*	8.88	17.34		19.19	-24.67		25.50	39.44
Net Asset Value*	14.36	27.75		23.52	-22.43		22.88	36.92
Benchmark# *	10.40	21.18		20.41	-7.45		31.20	12.12

* Total return with net dividends reinvested and net of fees.

# FTSE 100 Total Return

Source: Datastream

Financial position at 31 October 2009 and 9 November 2009

		31 October		9 November
Total assets1		£488,558,171		£501,715,183
Net assets		£372,664,384		£385,821,396
Share price		317.0p		328.6p
Net asset value2		359.92p		372.67p
Discount3		11.9%		11.8%
Net gearing4		30.3%		28.2%
Yield		7.1%		6.8%

1Total assets are stated net of current liabilities.

2Capital and income net asset values are calculated and announced daily.

3 The discount is the difference between the share price and the NAV (debt at book value) per share expressed as a percentage of the NAV per share.

4 Net gearing is borrowings net of cash.

Company Information

Launch date	1889
EPIC	MRCH
Year end	31 January
Report and Accounts	Final posted April, Half-yearly posted September
AGM	May
Dividends paid	February, May, August and November
Price Information	Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph,   www.merchantstrust.co.uk  www.rcm.co.uk

Investor information

Further up to date information, including Net Asset Values and share prices, and the latest available fact sheets and portfolio information, is provided on the Manager's website, which can be accessed via  www.merchantstrust.co.uk  or www.rcm.co.uk .  Investor services can be contacted on 020 7065 1407 and information can also be obtained from the Manager's helpline on 0800 317 573.

11 November 2009

 

END

 

 

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