Morning briefing: TRIG to give “fulsome update” before continuation vote; City of London shuns AI sell-off stocks LSEG and Experian; BOOK knocked by “soft” RCI; plus MUT, MWY
The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) will present a “fulsome update on strategy” at a capital markets seminar in May, one month before shareholders vote in its first continuation vote at the annual general meeting in June. Announcing TRIG’s annual results, chair Richard Morse hoped this would “give investors the opportunity to support the company’s long-term future with confidence”. Confidence in the £1.6bn investment company was knocked late last year when it agreed a merger with InfraRed stable mate HICL Infrastructure (HICL) which was quickly shelved after an uproar by HICL shareholders. Morse said HICL’s withdrawal was disappointing but reiterated the board’s belief that TRIG was well positioned as an independent business. He said a “challenging” 2025 had been marked by policy uncertainty, low wind and falls in power price forecasts which, as previously announced, cut net asset value per share by 11.9p to 104p at 31 December. Nevertheless, £375m of cash flow had covered the dividend. The board is prioritising restoring dividend cover to 1.1-1.2 times by holding the dividend target at 7.55p per share this year. This is equal to 7% of net asset value (NAV) and offers a 11% yield. It is also preparing to increase share buybacks after the £200m debt refinancing this month to tackle a 35% discount.
City of London (CTY), the £2.9bn UK equity income trust managed by Job Curtis and David Smith at Janus Henderson, underperformed in the second half of last year due to underweight positions in AstraZeneca (AZN) and BAE Systems (BA). Half-year results showed the mostly blue-chip portfolio achieved an underlying total return of 11.9%, behind the FTSE All-Share’s 13.7%, with shareholders receiving 10.6% including dividends as the shares dipped to a small discount at the end of December. The company said its half-year growth in net asset value was better than the 7.8% average of its sector and 8.6% average of UK equity income open-ended funds. Performance was boosted by the managers’ decision to not hold London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Experian (EXPN) “whose profits were considered to be vulnerable to artificial intelligence” a view that the market has shared with the stocks falling around a quarter in the past year. Earnings per share rose 5.5% to 8.85p with the company declaring two interim dividends of 5.4p and confident of growing the total for the year for a record 60th consecutive year.
Murray Income (MUT), a £922m UK equity income trust, underperformed in its last half-year run by Aberdeen’s Charles Luke. The company, which announced the appointment of Artemis in November, saw underlying total growth in net asset value of 8.1% compared to the FTSE All-Share’s 13.7% total return. Shareholders in the 4.4%-yielder received a 9.4% total return as the share price discount to NAV narrowed to 8.7% from 9.6%. Chair Peter Tait thanked Luke and looked forward to working with Artemis’ Adrian Frost, Andy Marsh and Nick Shenton who take over the portfolio next month.
Mid Wynd International (MWY), the £228m global trust run by Lazard’s Louis Florentin-Lee and Barnaby Wilson, also underperformed in the second half of last year with a 3.8% total investment return compared to the MSCI World’s 13.3% advance. Around three quarters of the underperformance was attributable to being more exposed to perceived AI losers than winners, the managers said, explaining many of the benchmark stocks did not fit their “quality” criteria. Half-year results showed shareholders received a 5.1% total return in the six months to 31 December as the discount narrowed from 2.5% to 1.2%.
Literacy Capital (BOOK) shares have fallen 3.8% to 382p after the £238m UK-focused private equity fund reported a “disappointing” fourth quarter decline of 4.5%. Net asset value (NAV) per share fell to 484.3p from 517.8p in the last three months of the year, leaving the underlying return for the year at just 0.3%. RCI, the healthcare and clinical services provider that accounts for 26% of NAV, and Grayce, the graduate recruitment and placement company that represents 6% of the portfolio, were the main causes as they suffered softer market conditions and trading performance. “Plans are in place to improve the performance of both businesses during 2026,” said Literacy Capital. Red Sky Food Group, BOOK’s most recent investment at 5.6% of assets, made the largest uplift to NAV after its acquisition of Delenco Foods. BOOK has made three significant disposals of £81m in the past seven months at prices above NAV and used some of the proceeds to reduce borrowings. The shares stand on a 21% discount.
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