Alliance Trust hit by economic woes

19th Sep 2011 07:10

Investment company Alliance Trust has reported a dramatic fall in revenue and profit for the six months to the end of July. Revenue for the period dropped signigicantly from £101.9m to £35.74m, leading to a pre-tax profit of just £8m compared to £122m the previous year. The company said: "The first half of the year was beset by worries over the global growth outlook, particularly in Western economies with the spreading of the European sovereign debt crisis and fears over the sustainability of the US recovery."We expect markets to remain volatile over the remainder of the year as macro-economic and political events will inevitably continue to drive market sentiment. A number of key issues remain unresolved and we anticipate more stresses in the Eurozone system as we move towards a restructuring of peripheral economies."The firm added that it remains cautiously optimistic after its UK portfolio outperformed on a relative basis, returning 2.2% against the 1.2% return of its benchmark. The group has opted to change its year end meaning the current financial period will comprise only 11 months. Consequently, the dividend payment has been accelerated and a quarterly payment of 2.141 pence per share will be made on 3 January 2012 and a further quarterly dividend of at least 2.141 pence per share will be made around 2 April 2012. Over the past six months the total return of the company's net asset value (NAV) per share was 0.7%. This NAV return was broadly in line with the sector average and and the group was ranked 16/34 against its competitors.NR