Total return of 20.7% for Merchants Trust

7th Apr 2011 18:12

New chairman Simon Fraser declared himself pleased with the performance of The Merchants Trust last year, a year in which the trust achieved a total return that topped that achieved by FTSE 100 Index and the FTSE 350 Higher Yield Index.Net asset value (NAV) per share increased by 14.6% to 427.1p in the 12 months to 31 January, 2011, and when dividends are thrown into the pot as well, the total return for the year was 20.7%, against a total return of 16.8% for the FTSE 100 and 12.2% for the FTSE 350 Higher Yield indices.Net Revenue Return per share rose by 12.2% to 21.22p. This year's earnings include a release of a provision of £862,086 against finance costs in First Debenture Finance PLC.The board has recommended a final dividend of 5.7p per share, taking the full year pay-out up to 22.8p, up 1.3% on the previous year.---jh