Weaker sterling boosts Aberdeen Emerging Markets

31st Jan 2017 09:51

(ShareCast News) - Aberdeen Emerging Markets posted its annual report for the year to 31 October on Tuesday, with net asset value performance of 36.4% during the year, and mid market share price performance of 36.1%.The London-listed firm compared that to the MSCI Emerging Markets net total return index performance of 37.7% in sterling terms.At year-end, Aberdeen's net asset value per share was 618.8p and its mid market ordinary share price was 545p, while it held net assets of £320.2m."The company generated strong returns for the year," said chairman Richard Bonsor."Most of the returns were generated during the second half of the financial year, with a recovery in commodity prices and stabilising currencies helping to generate an increased appetite for the emerging markets asset class generally."Bonsor sad markets also benefited from the weakness seen in sterling following the result in the UK referendum held in June."A number of countries to which the Company is exposed recorded significant gains, including Brazil, Indonesia and Russia."Conversely, Mexico, in particular, was impacted by the uncertainties in advance of the US presidential elections in November 2016, causing it to be one of the weaker markets during the year."Bonsor explained that the company benefitted from the outperformance of a number of its Asian holdings."It also benefited from its underweight allocations to China and South Africa and its overweight exposure to Russia."