Monks gives FTSE World index a pasting

2nd Dec 2010 07:29

The performance of Monks Investment Trust, which focuses on international growth stocks, left its benchmark index in its wake last year.Net asset value per share (NAV) rose 25% in the year to the end of October compared to a rise on the FTSE World Index of 15% over the same period.In the six months to end-October the NAV, with borrowings deducted at fair value, rose by 5.9% from 364.1p to 385.7p, while the FTSE World Index over the same period tumbled 2.1%.The best returns by region were from Emerging Markets. Overall, Europe fared a little less well but within it the German market was strong and the UK market also rose. The Japanese market was by a large margin the worst of the world's major markets, producing a significant negative return for sterling based investors despite a large rise in the value of the yen. Net return on ordinary activities before taxation in the six months to 31 October was £59.15m, down from £155.63m at the interim stage last year when the recovery of equity markets from the recession was in full swing.Earnings per share rose to 2.45p from 2.25p a year earlier, with an increase in dividend income more than outweighing a decline in income from bonds.The trust's interim dividend has been held at 0.5p.Monks remains modestly geared, both shares and bonds together representing around 112% of shareholders' funds at 30 November 2010.