Risk Warning
The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may get back less than the amount invested. The tax benefits relating to ISA investments may not be maintained. Please refer to the Key Facts documents contained in the ISA/Share Plan Brochure & Application form for general and specific investment risks attaching to the individual trusts.
Read the detailed Risk WarningPast Performance
Past performance is no guide to future performance.
See latest monthly factsheet below for performance history.
Daily Data
At close 21-Feb-2012
Ord| Price | 197.88p |
| NAV | 187.88p |
| Prem/-Disc | 5.32% |
| Net Dividend Yield | 6.06% |
Source: Morningstar
NAV = Net Asset Value
Literature
Trust Details
Shires Income Trust PLC
Registered Office:
Bow Bells House
One Bread Street
London
EC4M 9HH
Registered in England as an Investment Company Number 386561
Shires Income PLC
Objective
To provide for shareholders a high level of income, together with growth of both income and capital from a portfolio of investments substantially invested in UK Equities
Manager's Monthly Report
February 2012
Equities got off to a good start in 2012 with the FTSE All-Share Index delivering gains of 2.7% on a total return basis. Investors began to focus more on the improvements in economic data, most notably from the US than on the European debt crisis. This was accompanied by an increase in appetite for risk. Policymakers in the United States indicated that interest rates would likely be held at the current remarkably low levels possibly until 2014.
In Europe the Purchasing Managers’ Index was stronger than expected. Meanwhile investors were encouraged that the European Central Bank’s Long Term Refinancing Operation appeared to be having a positive impact. This was evidenced as both Spain and Italy were able to issue new bonds at lower rates than they had previously experienced. Therefore the impact of the announcement that S&P had downgraded the status of nine members of the eurozone including France and Austria was barely noticeable.
News flow from the UK was more downbeat with many consumer-exposed companies reporting that the festive period had been disappointing and GDP data indicating that the economy had contracted by 0.2% during the last quarter. One positive was that although still high, inflation did begin to moderate as the RPI measure declined from 5.2% to 4.7%. During January we exited the holding in Mothercare. In light of the difficult trading conditions and the reduced ability to pay a dividend, we felt that this company was no longer an appropriate investment for this portfolio. We also exited a residual holding that we had in Rio Tinto and top-sliced the holding in BAT. We took the opportunity to top up the holding in Tesco after the shares were weak following a disappointing trading statement.