FIDELITY EUROPEAN TRUST PLC
Final Results for the year ended 31 December
2023
Financial
Highlights:
-
The Board
of Fidelity European Trust PLC (the “Company”) recommends a final
dividend of 4.99 pence which together
with the interim dividend payment of 3.26
pence per share (totalling 8.25
pence) represents an increase of 7.1% over the total
dividend of 7.70 pence paid in the
prior year.
-
During the
year ended 31 December 2023, the
Company reported a net asset value (NAV) total return of +17.5%
while the Benchmark Index, the FTSE World Europe ex UK Index, rose
by +15.7%.
-
Over the
same period, the ordinary share price total return was
+15.3%.
-
The
Portfolio Managers remain focused on identifying attractively
valued companies which will deliver consistent dividend growth
cycle on cycle.
Contacts
For further information, please
contact:
Smita Amin
Company Secretary
01737 836347
FIL Investments International
Chairman’s Statement
The year under review began as the previous one ended, with
interest rates and inflation continuing to ratchet upwards in
Europe, as they did in the US and
UK. While early expectations had been that the end of China’s
‘zero-Covid’ policy would lead to a swift normalisation of economic
activity and foreign travel, the reality was much more muted, and
this has had negative implications for Europe, a region for which Chinese companies
and consumers are a major source of business. These headwinds led
the International Monetary Fund to revise down its expectations for
economic growth in the Euro area twice during the course of the
year, with the October World Economic Outlook predicting GDP growth
of just 0.7% for 2023. With no European Central Bank rate increases
since September 2023, however, more
moderate inflation numbers and increased hopes of a rapid
resumption of monetary easing on both sides of the Atlantic,
markets rallied in the fourth quarter of the year.
While consumers have continued to face a cost-of-living crisis,
many companies have managed to maintain their margins, even amid
higher costs, a theme that has played out favourably in the
Company’s portfolio given our Portfolio Managers’ focus on well
financed businesses with good pricing power. While Sam Morse and Marcel Stötzel seek to invest
across a broad spread of countries and sectors in Europe, they are fundamentally bottom-up stock
pickers. Their focus is on finding attractively valued dividend
growers with strong business franchises and balance sheets, which
are not overly at risk from exogenous factors such as geopolitics
or the macroeconomic backdrop. This constitutes the core of their
long-term investment philosophy.
Performance
The Company performed well in the year under review, delivering a
net asset value total return of +17.5% and comfortably beating the
+15.7% total return of the Benchmark Index, the FTSE World Europe
ex UK Index. The share price total return of +15.3% marginally
lagged the Benchmark Index as the discount to NAV widened, rising
from 5.4% to 7.3% at the year end. This reflected a general trend
of widening investment trust discounts, although your Company’s
discount at the year end was substantially narrower than the 13.3%
average for the investment companies’ universe as a whole and
remained tighter than the average of its peers in the AIC Europe
sector. The longer-term performance record is also strong, with NAV
and share price total returns ahead of the Benchmark Index over
three, five and ten years to the end of December 2023. These are encouraging results for
the Company and help to make up for negative absolute returns in
the previous financial year.
Dividends
As part of their investment process, your Portfolio Managers focus
on companies that are capable of growing their dividends over time.
The Board does not impose any income objective in any particular
year, recognising that both capital and income growth are
components of performance, as reflected in the investment objective
of the Company. We do, however, have a policy whereby we seek to
deliver a progressive dividend in normal circumstances, paid twice
yearly in order to smooth dividend payments for the reporting year.
Unlike open-ended funds such as OEICs, investment trusts can hold
back some of the income they receive in good years, thereby
building up revenue reserves that can then be used to supplement
dividends during challenging times.
The Company’s revenue return for the year to 31 December 2023 was 9.32
pence per ordinary share (2022: 9.00
pence), and an interim dividend of 3.26 pence per ordinary share was paid on
27 October 2023 (2022: 3.08 pence). The Board is pleased to recommend a
final dividend of 4.99 pence for the
year ended 31 December 2023 (2022:
4.62 pence) for approval by
shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) on 8 May 2024. The interim and final dividends
(total of 8.25 pence) represent an
increase of 0.55 pence (7.1%) over
the 7.70 pence paid for the year
ended 31 December 2022.
The final dividend will be payable on 14 May
2024 to shareholders on the register at close of business on
2 April 2024 (ex-dividend date
28 March 2024). Shareholders may
choose to reinvest their dividends for additional shares in the
Company.
Outlook
Last year, I sounded a cautious note on the outlook for the
portfolio, given the risk of a global recession at some stage in
2023. While this has not yet come to pass – and indeed, there was a
degree of euphoria in markets towards the end of the reporting year
under review – it would be unwise to buy too fully into the idea
that ‘normalising’ interest and inflation rates will ensure a rosy
picture in 2024. As Sam points out in the Portfolio Managers’
Review below, a return to target inflation rates of 2% could be
seen as quite restrictive in a historical context. If this is
achieved only because of a flatlining global economy, then the
market could take fright over the prospects for corporate earnings
and dividends, particularly if interest rate reductions are seen to
be delayed. Other reasons to be cautious include the possibilities
arising from many elections this year, the Chinese economy and the
property market – which appear to have deeper-seated problems than
anyone expected, the ongoing conflagration in Ukraine, and the conflict in the Middle East, which has been affecting energy
prices given concerns over security of shipping in the Red
Sea.
With all that said, however, your Company performed well in 2023,
aided by stock-specific opportunities in areas such as private
equity, where 3i Group and Partners Group were the two biggest
winners in the portfolio. There was also a positive impact from
gearing, maintained throughout the year and used to take advantage
of the fact that markets tend to rise over the long-term. The
Portfolio Managers’ focus is unchanged and continues to be on
finding attractively valued companies with good prospects for cash
generation and dividend growth over the longer-term, with
positioning driven by opportunities at the individual stock level
rather than macro developments.
Fees
It is the practice of the Board to review fees paid to the Manager
every third year, and this was done early in 2024. It has been
agreed that the fee rate should remain unchanged for the
forthcoming three years beginning on 1 April
2024. The Directors believe that the fees continue to
represent good value for shareholders.
OTHER MATTERS
Cybersecurity
Fidelity takes the threat of cybercrime very seriously and is
active in ensuring that its own and customers’ data remains secure,
with risks regularly re-assessed and communicated to the Board.
Such risks – which have increased due to the Russia/Ukraine conflict and the trend to more working
from home – primarily relate to phishing, remote access threats,
extortion and denial-of-services attacks. Fidelity has established
a dedicated cybersecurity team which provides regular awareness
updates and best practice guidance. The Manager’s technology team
has also developed a number of initiatives and controls in order to
provide enhanced mitigating protection from this ever-increasing
threat. Actions in place include control strengthening,
geo-blocking, and phishing mitigants, combined with enhanced
resilience and recovery options. The Company’s third-party service
providers also have similar measures in place. There are more
details below.
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”)
Investment
While your Company is not a ‘green’ or ‘ethical’ fund, ESG factors
remain an important part of the work of both the Board and the
Portfolio Managers, as continuing deterioration in the climate and
other social and governance concerns present a potential investment
risk to your portfolio. Businesses are under pressure to ensure
that their activities are not harmful in these respects, and
although there is progress on a wide range of issues – from
deforestation to clean energy transition – more still needs to be
done. Fidelity International (“Fidelity”) has a sustainable
investing approach, including engagement and voting principles and
guidelines, as well as having developed its own proprietary
forward-looking ESG ratings. These ratings bring together both
Fidelity’s internal research and interactions with issuers, with
analysts quantifying the direction of change in companies’ ESG
performance and assigning a score from A to E to each company on
Environmental (E), Social (S) and Governance (G) factors. The
ratings of the companies in the portfolio are ahead of the broader
market and continue to improve. Details of ESG engagements by the
management team in the year under review are included in the
Portfolio Managers’ Review below, and an explanation of how
Fidelity has embedded ESG factors in its investment decision-making
can be found in the Annual Report.
Discount Management and Treasury Shares
The Board has an active discount management policy, the primary
purpose of which is to reduce discount volatility. It seeks to
maintain the discount in single digits in normal market conditions.
Buying in shares at a discount also results in an enhancement to
the NAV per ordinary share.
In order to assist in managing the discount, the Board has
shareholder approval to hold ordinary shares repurchased by the
Company in Treasury, rather than cancelling them. Shares in
Treasury are then available to be re-issued at NAV per ordinary
share or at a premium to NAV per ordinary share, facilitating the
management of and enhancing liquidity in the Company’s shares. The
Board is seeking shareholder approval to renew this authority at
the AGM on 8 May 2024.
The discount remained in single digits throughout the year under
review, and no shares were repurchased or issued.
Gearing
The Company continues to gear through the use of derivative
instruments, primarily contracts for difference (“CFDs”), and the
Portfolio Manager has flexibility to gear within the parameters set
by the Board. As at 31 December 2023,
the Company’s gross gearing was 13.1% (2022: 11.7%), with net
gearing of 11.5% (2022: 11.7%) owing to a small number of short
derivative positions in the portfolio. In the reporting year,
gearing was maintained between the limits set by the Board and made
a positive contribution to both absolute and relative NAV
performance, as can be seen from the attribution analysis table in
the Annual Report. This is a good reminder of the benefit of
gearing in a rising market.
The Board monitors the level of gearing and the use of derivative
instruments carefully and has defined a risk control framework for
this purpose which is reviewed at each Board meeting. It should be
stressed that all gearing is subject to the Portfolio Managers’
confidence in identifying attractive investment opportunities, and
to their remaining attractive.
Board of Directors
We continue to review Board composition and Directors’ succession
on a regular basis to ensure that we have a Board with a mix of
tenures and one which provides diversity of perspective together
with the range of appropriate skills and experience for your
Company. In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code for
Directors of FTSE 350 Companies, all Directors will be subject to
annual re-election at the AGM on 8 May
2024. The Directors’ biographies can be found in the Annual
Report and between them they have a wide range of appropriate
skills and experience to form a balanced Board for the
Company.
While there have been no changes to the Board in the year under
review, I will have completed nine years’ service in December 2024, and in accordance with best
practice, I intend to step down at the conclusion of the AGM in
2025. An exercise to identify my successor, led by Senior
Independent Director, Paul Yates,
will take place in Autumn 2024.
Continuation Vote
In accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association, the
Company is subject to a continuation vote every two years. The most
recent such vote was at last year’s AGM on 10 May 2023, and I was pleased to see strong
evidence of shareholder support in the 99.86% of votes cast in
favour of continuation. The next continuation vote will take place
in 2025.
Annual General Meeting
The Company’s AGM is at 12 noon on Wednesday, 8 May 2024, and the Board and I hope to see as
many shareholders as possible. Details of the AGM are
below.
VIVIAN
BAZALGETTE
Chairman
19 March 2024
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – WEDNESDAY, 8 MAY 2024 AT 12 NOON
The AGM of the Company will be held at
12 noon on Wednesday, 8 May
2024
at 4 Cannon Street, London EC4M
5AB (nearest tube stations are St Paul’s or Mansion House) and
virtually via the online Lumi AGM meeting platform. Full details of
the meeting are given in the Notice of Meeting in the Annual
Report.
For those shareholders who would prefer not to attend in person, we
will live-stream the formal business and presentations of the
meeting online.
Sam Morse, the Portfolio Manager,
will be making a presentation to shareholders highlighting the
achievements and challenges of the year past and the prospects for
the year to come. He, the Co-Portfolio Manager, Marcel Stötzel, and the Board will be very happy
to answer any questions that shareholders may have. Copies of his
presentation can be requested by email at
investmenttrusts@fil.com
or in writing to the Company Secretary at FIL Investments
International, Beech Gate, Millfield
Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 6RP.
Properly registered shareholders joining the AGM virtually will be
able to vote on the proposed resolutions. Please see Note 9 to the
Notes to the Notice of Meeting in the Annual Report for details on
how to vote virtually. Investors viewing the AGM online will be
able to submit live written questions to the Board and the
Portfolio Managers and we will answer as many of these as possible
at an appropriate juncture during the meeting.
Further information and links to the Lumi platform may be found on
the Company’s website at
www.fidelity.co.uk/europe.
On the day of the AGM, in order to join electronically and ask
questions via the Lumi platform, shareholders
will need to connect to the website
https://web.lumiagm.com.
Please note that investors on platforms, such as Fidelity Personal
Investing, Hargreaves Lansdown, Interactive Investor or AJ Bell
Youinvest, will need to request attendance at the AGM in accordance
with the policies of your chosen platform. They may request that
you submit electronic votes in advance of the meeting. If you are
unable to obtain a unique IVC and PIN from your nominee or
platform, we will also welcome online participation as a guest.
Once you have accessed
https://web.lumiagm.com
from your web browser on a tablet or computer, you will need to
enter the
Lumi Meeting ID
which is
125-205-035.
You should then select the ‘Guest Access’ option before entering
your name
and who you are representing, if applicable. This will allow you to
view the meeting and ask questions, but you will not be able to
vote.
Portfolio Managers’ Review
Question
How has the Company performed in the year to 31 December 2023?
Answer
Sam:
We know that what really matters to shareholders
is how the share price performs. In that regard, 2023 has been a
good year in absolute terms, with the share price up by 15.3%
(total return in Sterling). That is pleasantly surprising given
that we entered the year with such gloomy prospects and many
predicting recession given the cost-of-living crisis and rising
interest rates. However, with the Benchmark Index rising by 15.7%,
the share price just about kept up with the market. The NAV did
better than the Benchmark, rising by 17.5%, however the share price
discount to NAV widened during the year thereby offsetting this
outperformance. The Company’s gearing which was maintained through
the year at a low double-digit level, was the main reason that the
NAV outperformed. This is a good reminder of the benefit of gearing
in a rising market, and one of the key advantages of investment
trusts relative to other investment vehicles.
Question
What stocks have been the main drivers of performance in
2023?
Answer
Sam:
After a strong year in 2022, stock-picking was
more mixed in 2023 making only a marginally positive contribution
to the Company’s outperformance in NAV terms. There were two big
winners, both from the financials sector and participants in the
private equity industry. 3i Group’s shares rose following another
very strong year of growth from its main investment, Action, which
is a continental European discount retailer. Investors feared that
the cost-of-living crisis would limit the spending of Action’s
existing customers, but it appears to have driven greater footfall
as the squeeze on disposable income encouraged new customers to
seek the bargains on offer.
Partners Group enjoyed a big re-rating as investors’ worst fears
regarding the economy and a knock-on impact on private equity
valuations, receded and were replaced by a recognition of the
resilience of the group, in terms of both valuations and
fund-raising, given it is spread across different private asset
classes and different customer groups respectively.
In contrast, there was a tail of more lacklustre performers. Sampo,
the Nordic insurance company, was perhaps the most notable example.
It suffered some weak underwriting results, largely
weather-related, and shareholders were also disappointed by the
company’s conservative distribution policy. We still expect the
stock to be a steady compounder, from an attractive level of
dividend yield, especially now that it has refocused on its core
business of non-life insurance in the Nordic markets, which enjoy
higher returns than most insurance markets in continental
Europe.
Below are the top five stock contributors and detractors to NAV
performance in the Company’s reporting year.
Top 5 Stock Contributors (on a relative basis)
|
%
|
3i Group
|
+1.5
|
Partners Group
|
+1.1
|
Novo Nordisk
|
+0.7
|
ASML
|
+0.6
|
L’Oréal
|
+0.5
|
|
=========
|
Top 5 Stock Dectractors (on a relative basis)
|
%
|
Sampo
|
-0.6
|
Nestlé
|
-0.6
|
MTU Aero Engines
|
-0.5
|
Roche
|
-0.5
|
DKSH Holding
|
-0.4
|
|
=========
|
Question
Give an example of how your bottom-up stock selection
process has added value to the Company this
year?
Answer
Marcel:
The two private equity names that were our big
winners were both great examples of where we benefited from
focusing on bottom-up stock picking rather than top-down macro
forecasts. Both 3i Group and Partners Group had big macro clouds
hanging over them - from worries about the impact higher interest
rates/lower stock market levels would have on private equity to
concerns that portfolio companies would be hit by the
cost-of-living squeeze and looming recession. Additionally, there
were concerns that the funding/fund raising environment would dry
up just at the time that private equity players were unable to exit
past investments. We shared these concerns, but looking at a
bottom-up stock picking basis, we felt strongly that the long-term
impact of the above was overstated. Instead, we felt that the key
drivers of the stocks over the long-term were still intact and
would remain so in the event of any short-term wobbles. For
example, for 3i what really mattered was the sales performance from
its main investment Action. While this might be impacted in the
short-term, this would not have been enough to change the strong
long-term outlook (and in the end the short-term held up well too).
For Partners, what mattered the most was their fund-raising ability
as their earnings are heavily skewed towards management fees. While
this has been impacted in the short-term (although less than
feared) we do not feel that this changes the excellent long-term
fundraising potential of the company. Credit must also go to our
Diversified Financials analyst who did some great value-add
analysis (including hosting a “Private Equity Day” where we met
leading industry CEOs) and consistently kept us focused on the key
longer-term drivers of the companies’ profits.
Question
How are you managing geopolitical risk within the
portfolio?
Answer
Sam:
We are unable to predict outcomes in this respect.
We do, however, try to make sure that in the event of any outcome,
we are not overly exposed relative to the Benchmark. We try to
achieve this by maintaining a balance in the portfolio on sector
weightings and by running “what if” scenarios related to
geopolitical tensions such as those between China and Taiwan or North and South Korea. An adverse geopolitical event,
such as the invasion of Ukraine by
Russia, will impact the market
negatively and we are not able to escape the general downdraft, but
the underlying portfolio tends to be relatively defensive, partly
given our focus on balance sheet strength, such that typically it
falls by less than the market. We realise that will only be a small
consolation at the time but, over the long-term, companies grow
dividends and markets do rise despite endless negative headlines
regarding geopolitical threats and events.
Question
With inflation looking like it will normalise, what effect
will this have on markets and in particular your
portfolio?
Answer
Sam:
Two things to consider in answering this question:
what is normal inflation and how will we get there? Central banks
in the US and Europe are targeting
inflation of less than two percent, and assuming that is the
yardstick in terms of normal, then the hope is that this normality
is achieved without a recession. Such a result would be celebrated
by investors and result in a market rerating in anticipation of
monetary easing and better times ahead. If, however, the inflation
target is reached because the global economy stalls, then the
market is likely to take fright about the prospects for corporate
earnings and dividends, even if interest rates are falling. In
terms of the Company’s portfolio, we try to focus on businesses
with strong pricing power. The corporate sector has, in general,
surprised investors in its ability to maintain margins through
higher pricing while inflation has been at these high levels. Some
have called it “greedflation”. As inflation eases, this phenomenon
may prove unsustainable and only those companies with genuine
pricing power will be able to maintain margins.
Answer
Marcel:
I agree with Sam’s views and would add that
inflation normalising will also have an important knock-on effect
on the ability of central banks to cut interest rates. This is
important as a number of investments use the “risk free rate” as
the rate of return they need to exceed in order to be attractive to
investors. As such the lowering of interest rates has (all else
being equal) a direct impact on making other investments more
attractive. Additionally, a number of European companies are
sitting on fixed rate debt that was taken out during the depths of
the pandemic. This debt has an average interest rate well below
current market interest rates which means that if central banks are
unable to meaningfully lower rates by the time this debt becomes
due (late 2024/2025), then a number of companies could see a large
interest expense hit. At an aggregate level, this interest rate
shock could also have a negative impact on economies.
Question
How have you incorporated ESG into the management of the
portfolio this year?
Answer
Sam:
At Fidelity, the bulk of our ESG analysis is done by
our fundamental equity analysts alongside their work on building an
investment thesis. As well as rating a company a ‘buy’ or a ‘sell’
they also assign a sustainability rating on a scale of A-E. As
long-term investors, we believe that over time companies with good
ESG practices will also be those that have sustainable business
models that display the quality characteristics we look for in our
investee companies. Our equity analysts are supported by Fidelity’s
Sustainable Investing analysts who offer expertise and allow us to
conduct larger thematic pieces of work.
Our wider team engaged with 28 holdings in the Company during the
year through approximately 40 different interactions on ESG topics,
including 13 in-person meetings or conference calls with investee
companies. Executive remuneration was the most prominent engagement
topic followed by governance and biodiversity.
Answer
Marcel:
Using ESG analysis as an additional layer of “risk
evaluation” allows us to make sure that we are considering the full
set of company risks. These were not the only reasons for some of
the sales we carried out last year, but they were nonetheless a key
input into our decision to sell the likes of Prosus (Social
concerns) and Schindler (Governance concerns).
Question
Looking forward into 2024 and beyond, which sectors and
regions are you particularly excited about?
Answer
Sam:
We do not really do excitement! As investors, there
is always the danger that we get overexcited by potential rewards
and overlook downside risks. A fast-growing region, for example,
may also have unattractive corporate governance or poor industry
structures. Academic studies, in particular those by Dimson, Marsh
and Staunton from the London Business
School, have shown that there is little correlation between
the economic growth of a country and the performance of its stock
market. Encouragingly, given our investment process, they also
argue that real dividend growth is a much more reliable indicator
of likely returns. So, we take an active approach to stay balanced
by the large sector groupings (e.g., energy, healthcare, financials
etc.) and by regions, such that it is the stock-picking that drives
the performance of the Company’s portfolio. In terms of
stock-picking, Marcel and I are very focused on identifying
attractively valued companies which will deliver consistent
dividend growth cycle on cycle. We believe focusing on consistent
dividend growers will deliver better returns in the long run,
rather than chasing “exciting” regions or sectors.
Question
Sam you are coming up to 13 years of managing the Company’s
portfolio, with fantastic comparative performance versus the
Benchmark Index, both in capital growth and dividend growth. What
has been the key to success over the
longer-term?
Answer
Sam:
I am wary of this. Thirteen is an unlucky number and
disclaimers correctly warn that good past performance is no
guarantee of future success! We will, of course, always have good
years and bad years, but Marcel and I remain confident that if we
continue to identify consistent dividend growers that are
attractively valued, we will continue to deliver some
outperformance compared to the Benchmark over time. Gearing will,
of course, also enhance that outperformance over the long-term as
markets rise. The magic of the compounding of consistent
outperformance over time, coupled with a very sharp focus on
assessing potential downside to avoid banana skins, is what has
allowed the Company’s relative performance to pull ahead from its
Benchmark over time.
SAM
MORSE
Portfolio Manager
19 March 2024
MARCEL STÖTZEL
Co-Portfolio Manager
19 March 2024
VOTING CASE STUDIES: ESSILORLUXOTTICA AND
PUMA
BACKGROUND
Fidelity International (“Fidelity”) has long encouraged European
investee companies to adopt long-term incentive plans (“LTIPs”) for
senior management with a minimum share release period of five
years. This is intended to focus management’s attention beyond the
quarterly reporting cycle by linking a substantial portion of their
remuneration with shareholders over a five year time horizon.
Fidelity will generally vote against agenda items related to
executive remuneration at European investee companies if their
long-term incentive plan does not have a share exposure or sales
restriction period of at least five years from grant, measured on a
weighted-average basis.
In addition to this, we periodically engage with companies to
influence their behaviour in setting remuneration levels for senior
employees. We wrote to companies in November and asked them to be
mindful of granting significant executive pay rises in the current
environment. We have taken the view that in order to support a
large pay increase that is misaligned with the broader workforce,
the rationale would need to be exceptionally convincing, and the
boards of such companies would need to demonstrate that it had also
considered how best to support lower paid workers during the
cost-of-living crisis.
These policies informed our decision to vote against PUMA’s
remuneration policy at the 2023 AGM because their long-term
incentive awards do not have a five year restriction period. We
also decided to vote against EssilorLuxottica’s remuneration
policies for the Chairman/CEO for the reasons outlined
below.
ANALYSIS ON OUR VOTING DECISIONS AND COMPANY
ENGAGEMENT
Fidelity wrote to the chairs of holdings in major European indices
to highlight the importance of responsible corporate responses to
the challenges posed by the cost-of-living crisis. This initiative
formed part of our ongoing engagement with boards and management
teams ahead of their annual general meetings in 2023.
We shared best practices learned from our various engagements,
including prioritising lower-paid employees in pay reviews, and
providing one-off cost-of-living support payments or providing
other forms of non-financial support to lower-paid staff. More
broadly, we encouraged responsible corporate responses to the
cost-of-living challenges faced by employees and broad alignment
between workforce and executive pay outcomes.
On executive remuneration, we encouraged boards to ensure pay
decisions reflected the principles of fairness and equitable
treatment. When setting executive pay, we asked remuneration
committees to consider the broader workforce experience and
generally avoid above-workforce base salary increases. We also
asked boards to remain mindful of the theoretical potential for
windfall LTIP awards.
PUMA:
We communicated our voting intentions with the company to explain
our position on LTIPs before casting our vote against the
remuneration policy.
EssilorLuxottica:
We decided to vote against the remuneration policies for the
Chairman/CEO, Francesco Milleri. We
carried out peer
analysis and concluded that the 20% base salary increase given to
Milleri did not align his remuneration with peers. We believe that
his total compensation package was already competitive compared to
European luxury goods peers, especially when taking into account
the large quantum of company shares awarded to him. Furthermore, we
felt the performance hurdles on the long-term incentive plan and
bonus were not best-in-class and were not sufficiently
stretching.
We engaged with the company ahead of the AGM and decided that we
were unable to vote with management on this proposal.
OUTCOMES
PUMA:
In the case of PUMA, other shareholders were aligned with our
stance and the remuneration report was voted down at the AGM
by a majority of 54% of votes cast.
EssilorLuxottica:
In contrast, the result for this vote did not go our way. The
proposal was passed with around 30% of votes cast against
the resolution.
In both cases, we will continue to monitor the company’s
remuneration practices.
HIGH CONVICTION HOLDINGS
PUMA:
is well known as the world’s third largest sportswear manufacturer
behind Nike and Adidas. There is double digit growth in the
sporting goods market annually and, as the lines blur between
luxury and ‘athleisure’, PUMA is well placed in the oligopoly-like
market structure. PUMA has been through a dramatic brand
reinvigoration that has resulted in strong growth and margin
improvement over the past few years. The share price weakness at
the beginning of 2023 on fears of a consumer slowdown provided an
attractive entry point as the long-term thesis is sound.
Importantly for us, the company also has a strong balance sheet and
cash generation that supports double digit dividend
growth.
EssilorLuxottica
is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of
ophthalmic lenses, frames and sunglasses. Formed by
the merger in 2018 of Essilor (founded in 1849) and Luxottica
(founded in 1961), the combined company has over 11,000 patents and
over 180,000 employees. The result is a vertically integrated
business that seeks to provide innovative lenses and frames to
improve the lives of its customers. EssilorLuxottica is the global
leader in ophthalmic lenses (51% sales), frames (20% sales) and
sunglasses (25% sales). Around 70% of the business is related to
prescription eye care making it one of the best ways to gain
exposure to the structurally growing demand for
eye-solutions.
Strategic Report
RISK FRAMEWORK
Principal Risks and Uncertainties and Risk
Management
As required by provisions 28 and 29 of the 2018 UK Corporate
Governance Code, the Board has a robust ongoing process for
identifying, evaluating and managing the principal and emerging
risks and uncertainties faced by the Company, including those that
could threaten its business model, future performance, solvency or
liquidity. The Board, with the assistance of the Alternative
Investment Fund Manager (FIL Investment Services (UK) Limited/the
“Manager”), has developed a risk matrix which, as part of the risk
management and internal controls process, identifies the key
existing and emerging risks and uncertainties that the Company
faces. The Audit Committee continues to identify any new emerging
risks and take any action necessary to mitigate their potential
impact. The risks identified are placed on the Company’s risk
matrix and graded appropriately. This process, together with the
policies and procedures for the mitigation of existing and emerging
risks, is updated and reviewed regularly in the form of
comprehensive reports by the Audit Committee. The Board determines
the nature and extent of any risks it is willing to take in order
to achieve the Company’s strategic objectives.
Climate change, which refers to a large scale shift in the planet’s
weather patterns and average temperatures, continues to be a key
emerging as well as a principal risk confronting asset managers and
their investors. Globally, climate change effects are already being
experienced in the form of changing weather patterns. Extreme
weather events can potentially impact the operations of investee
companies, their supply chains and their customers. The Board notes
that the Manager has integrated ESG considerations, including
climate change, into the Company’s investment process. Further
details are in the Annual Report. The Board will continue to
monitor how this may impact the Company as a risk to investment
valuations and potentially shareholder returns.
Other emerging risks may continue to evolve from unforeseen
geopolitical and economic events, and also from artificial
intelligence (AI).
The Manager also has responsibility for risk management for the
Company. It works with the Board to identify and manage the
principal and emerging risks and uncertainties and to ensure that
the Board can continue to meet its UK corporate governance
obligations.
The Board considers the risks listed below as the principal risks
and uncertainties faced by the Company.
Principal Risks
|
Description and Risk Mitigation
|
Geopolitical,
Economic and
Market Risks
|
The Company and its assets may be impacted by geopolitical,
economic and market related risks, in particular concerns over
global economic growth, inflation and financial
distress.
The Company is exposed to a number of geopolitical risks. The
fast-changing global geopolitical landscape is largely shaped by
the ongoing war effects, deglobalisation trends and significant
supply disruption, as well as fears of global recession amid
inflationary pressures and financial distress. Russia and Ukraine
are both significant net exporters of oil, natural gas and a
variety of soft commodities and supply limitations have fuelled
global inflation and economic instability, specifically within
Western nations. The conflict in the Middle East has added to
geopolitical risk and economic instability, including social unrest
across Europe. More recently, the conflict in the Red Sea has
disrupted shipping routes and the supply and cost of goods, thereby
affecting the global economy and trade. Globally, geopolitical
uncertainty is significantly impacted by deglobalisation trends
driven by the prioritisation of the resiliency of supply chains as
well as from political pressure. The ramifications of onshoring
include regulatory protectionism across regions, heightening
geopolitical tensions on the continent and overseas. US-China
tensions over trade and technology rivalry increase the concerns of
China-Taiwan relations potentially escalating to military conflict
as well as increasing tensions over trade and economic issues due
to competing territorial claims.
As the year progresses, political risks are also set to increase
heading towards the US elections in November, and coupled with
ongoing geopolitical conflicts, could lead to higher volatility for
broader markets and oil in particular. China, following its
reopening post the pandemic, is seeing tentative signs of
stabilisation, but its growth story remains challenging.
The Company may be affected by market and economic risks. The
principal market related risks are market downturn, interest rate
movements, inflation and market shocks, such as the post pandemic
global economic recovery, volatility from the war in Ukraine and
more recently conflict in the Middle East and conflicts in the Red
Sea. The Company may also be impacted by concerns over global
economic growth and major political events affecting markets and
economies and the consequences of this. Although inflation is
starting to stabilise across most economies, risks remain driven by
a combination of continued increased demand following the pandemic
restrictions being lifted, global labour shortages in some sectors
and supply chain shortages, including energy and food security.
Inflation and economic instability continue to add to a prolonged
cost-of-living crisis and potentially impacting investors’ risk
appetite.
The Company’s portfolio is made up mainly of listed securities. The
Portfolio Managers success or failure to protect and increase the
Company’s value against the above background is core to the
Company’s continued success. The investment philosophy of
stock-picking and investing in attractively valued companies should
outperform the Benchmark Index over time.
The risk from the likely effects of unforeseen economic and market
events is somewhat mitigated by the Company’s investment trust
structure which means no forced sales need to take place to deal
with any redemptions. Therefore, investments can be held over a
longer time horizon.
The Board reviews market, economic and political risks and
legislative changes at each Board meeting. The Portfolio Managers
provide an investment review at each meeting which includes a
review of the economic and political environment and any risks and
challenges faced by the Company. The Company has no direct
investments in Russia and Ukraine or the Middle East. Whilst the
companies in the portfolio are exposed to these risks, most of
these companies are global businesses and, therefore, exposed to
global economic trends. The Chairman’s Statement and the Portfolio
Managers’ Review above provide more detail.
Risks to which the Company is exposed to in the market risk
category are included in Note 17 to the Financial Statements below
together with summaries of the policies for managing these
risks.
|
Investment
Performance Risk
(including the use
of derivatives and
gearing)
|
The achievement of the Company’s investment performance objective
relative to the market requires the taking of risk such as
investment strategy, asset allocation and stock selection, and may
lead to NAV and share price underperformance compared to the
Benchmark Index and/or peer group companies. The Board relies on
the Portfolio Managers’ skills and judgement to make investment
decisions based on research and analysis of individual stocks and
sectors. The Board reviews the performance of the asset value of
the portfolio against the Company’s Benchmark Index and its
competitors and also considers the outlook for the market with the
Portfolio Managers at each Board meeting. The emphasis is on
long-term investment performance as there is a risk for the Company
of volatility of performance in the shorter-term.
Derivative instruments are used to protect and enhance investment
conviction and returns. There is a risk that the use of derivatives
may lead to higher volatility in the NAV and the share price due to
leverage effect than might otherwise be the case. The Board has put
in place policies and limits to control the Company’s use of
derivatives and exposures. These are monitored on a daily basis by
the Manager’s Compliance team and regular reports are provided to
the Board. Further detail on derivative instruments risk is
included in Note 17 to the Financial Statements below.
The Company gears through the use of long CFDs which provide
greater flexibility and are generally cheaper than bank loans as a
form of financing. The principal risk is that the Portfolio Manager
fails to use gearing effectively, resulting in a failure to
outperform in a rising market or increasing underperformance in a
falling market. The Board regularly considers the level of gearing
and gearing risk and sets limits within which the Manager must
operate.
|
Regulatory Risk
|
The Company may be impacted by changes in legislation, taxation,
regulation or other external influence that require changes to the
nature of the Company’s business. More recently, there have been
increased concerns around investment cost disclosures and its
impact in the industry. Regulatory changes for investment companies
are monitored regularly by the Board and managed through active
engagement with regulators and trade bodies by the
Manager.
|
Key Person
|
The loss of the Portfolio Manager or key operational individuals
could lead to potential performance, operational or regulatory
issues.
The Portfolio Manager’s style is intrinsically linked with the
Company’s investment philosophy and strategy and, therefore, the
Company has a key person dependency on him. Fidelity has succession
plans in place for its portfolio managers which have been discussed
with the Board and provides some assurance in this regard. There is
a Co-Portfolio Manager who works alongside the Portfolio Manager
and has extensive experience in European markets and companies and
shares a common investment approach and complementary investment
experience with the Portfolio Manager. This helps strengthen the
investment process by introducing greater challenge and also
increases the ability to be able to meet more companies.
The Manager identifies key dependencies which are then addressed
through succession plans, particularly for portfolio
managers.
|
Environmental, Social
and Governance
(“ESG”) Risk
|
There is a risk that the value of the assets of the Company are
negatively impacted by ESG related risks, including climate change
risk, such as the risk of extreme weather events that may impact
global supply chains for companies and customers. ESG risks include
investor expectations and how the Company is positioned from a
marketing perspective and whether it is compliant with its ESG
disclosure requirements. Fidelity has embedded ESG factors in its
investment decision-making process. ESG integration is carried out
at the fundamental research analyst level within its investment
teams, primarily through Fidelity’s Proprietary Sustainability
Rating which is designed to generate a forward-looking and holistic
assessment of a company’s ESG risks and opportunities based on
sector-specific key performance indicators across 127 individual
and unique sub-sectors. The Portfolio Managers are also active in
analysing the effects of ESG when making investment decisions. The
Board continues to monitor developments in this area and the
positioning of the Company’s portfolio considering ESG
factors.
Further detail on ESG considerations in the investment process and
sustainable investing is in the Annual Report. ESG ratings of the
companies within the Company’s portfolio compared to MSCI ratings
are provided in the Annual Report.
|
Cybercrime and
Information Security
Risks
|
The operational risk and business impact from heightened external
levels of cybercrime and the risk of data loss is significant.
Cybercrime threats evolve rapidly and consequently the risk is
regularly re-assessed and the Board receives regular updates from
the Manager in respect of the type and possible scale of
cyberattacks. The Manager’s technology and risk teams have
developed a number of initiatives and controls in order to provide
enhanced mitigating protection to this ever-increasing threat, and
also potentially addressing the risks of artificial intelligence
(AI). The risk is regularly re-assessed by Fidelity’s information
security teams and risk frameworks are continually enhanced. This
has resulted in the implementation of additional tools and
processes, including improvements to existing ones. Fidelity has a
dedicated cybersecurity team which provides continuous oversight,
regular awareness updates and best practice guidance.
Risks also remain due to the Russia/Ukraine conflict and the trend
to more working from home following the pandemic. These primarily
relate to phishing, ransomware, remote access threats, extortion
and denial of services attacks. The Manager has dedicated detect
and respond resources specifically to monitor the cyber threats
associated within the workplace and there are a number of
mitigating actions in place including, control strengthening,
geo-blocking and phishing mitigants, combined with enhanced
resilience and recovery options.
The Company’s third-party service providers are also subject to
regular oversight and provide assurances and have similar control
measures in place to detect and respond to cyber threats and
activity.
|
Discount Control Risk
|
Due to the nature of investment companies, the price of the
Company’s shares and its discount to NAV are factors which are not
totally within the Company’s control. The Board has an active
discount management policy in place, the primary purpose of which
is to reduce discount volatility and maintain the Company’s
discount in single digits in normal market conditions. Some
short-term influence over the discount may be exercised by the use
of share repurchases at acceptable prices and within the parameters
set by the Board. The demand for shares can be influenced through
good performance and an active investor relations
program.
The Company’s share price, NAV and discount volatility are
monitored daily by the Manager with the Company’s Broker and
considered by the Board at each of its meetings.
|
Business Continuity
Risk
|
There continues to be increased focus from financial services
regulators around the world on the contingency plans of regulated
financial firms. The top risks globally are cybersecurity,
geopolitical events and natural disasters. There are also ongoing
risks from the Russia/Ukraine war, specifically regarding
cyberattacks and the potential loss of power and/or broadband
services. Variants of Covid continue to evolve and some risks
remain.
The Manager continues to take all reasonable steps to meet its
regulatory obligations, assess its ability to continue operating
and the steps it needs to take to support its clients, including
the Board, and has an appropriate control environment in place. The
Manager has provided the Board with assurance that the Company has
appropriate operational resilience and business continuity plans
and the provision of services has continued to be supplied without
interruption.
Specific risks posed by the pandemic continue to ease with
increasing levels of staff returning to routine office-based
working, albeit under hybrid working arrangements which allows
greater flexibility on remote working as part of the new operating
model.
The Company relies on a number of third-party service providers,
principally the Registrar, Custodian and Depositary. They are all
subject to a risk-based programme of risk oversight and internal
audits by the Manager and their own internal controls reports are
received by the Board on an annual basis and any concerns are
investigated. The third-party service providers have also confirmed
the implementation of appropriate measures to ensure no business
disruption.
Risks associated with these services are generally rated as low,
but the financial consequences could be serious, including
reputational damage to the Company. These are mitigated through
operational resilience frameworks.
|
Other risks facing the Company include:
Tax and Regulatory Risks
There is a risk of the Company not complying with tax and
regulatory requirements.
A breach of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 could lead
to a loss of investment trust status, resulting in the Company
being subject to tax on capital gains.
There is a risk that outstanding withholding tax reclaims may not
be recoverable from some jurisdictions and may need to be
written-off. The Manager’s tax team works closely with the
Custodian to keep these under review and the Board is kept updated
on the recoverability of the withholding tax reclaims at each Audit
Committee meeting.
The Board monitors tax and regulatory changes at each Board meeting
and through active engagement with regulators and trade bodies by
the Manager.
Continuation Vote
A continuation vote takes place every two years. There is a risk
that shareholders do not vote in favour of the continuation of the
Company during periods when performance of the Company’s NAV and
its share price is poor. At the AGM held on 10 May 2023, 99.86% of the votes cast by
shareholders were in favour of the continuation of the Company. The
next continuation vote will take place at the AGM in
2025.
Viability Statement
In accordance with provision 31 of the 2018 UK Corporate Governance
Code, the Directors have assessed the prospects of the Company over
a longer period than the twelve month period required by the “Going
Concern” basis. The Company is an investment trust with the
objective of achieving long-term growth in both capital and income.
The Board considers long-term to be at least five years, and
accordingly, the Directors believe that five years is an
appropriate investment horizon to assess the viability of the
Company, although the life of the Company is not intended to be
limited to this or any other period.
In making an assessment on the viability of the Company, the Board
has considered the following:
· The
ongoing relevance of the investment objective in prevailing market
conditions;
· The
Company’s level of gearing;
· The
Company’s NAV and share price performance compared to its Benchmark
Index;
· The
principal and emerging risks and uncertainties facing the Company
and their potential impact, as set out above;
· The
likely future demand for the Company’s shares;
· The
Company’s share price discount to the NAV;
· The
liquidity of the Company’s portfolio;
· The
level of income generated by the Company; and
· Future
income and expenditure forecasts.
The Company’s performance for the five year reporting period to
31 December 2023 was well ahead of
the Benchmark Index, with a NAV total return of 89.9% and a share
price total return of 99.4% compared to the Benchmark Index total
return of 65.3%. The Board regularly reviews the investment policy
and considers whether it remains appropriate. The Board has
concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the Company
will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as
they fall due over the next five years based on the following
considerations:
· The
Investment Manager’s compliance with the Company’s investment
objective and policy, its investment strategy and asset
allocation;
· The
fact that the portfolio mainly comprises readily realisable
securities which can be sold to meet funding requirements if
necessary;
· The
Board’s discount management policy; and
· The
ongoing processes for monitoring operating costs and income which
are considered to be reasonable in comparison to the Company’s
total assets.
In preparing the Financial Statements, the Directors have
considered the impact of climate change as detailed above. The
Board has also considered the impact of regulatory changes,
unforeseen market events, the ongoing implications of the
Russia and Ukraine war and conflicts in the Middle East and how this may affect the
Company.
In addition, the Directors’ assessment of the Company’s ability to
operate in the foreseeable future is included in the Going Concern
Statement which is below.
GOING CONCERN STATEMENT
The Directors have considered the Company’s investment objective,
risk management policies, liquidity risk, credit risk, capital
management policies and procedures, the nature of its portfolio and
its expenditure and cash flow projections. The Directors, having
considered the liquidity of the Company’s portfolio of investments
(being mainly securities which are readily realisable) and the
projected income and expenditure, are satisfied that the Company is
financially sound and has adequate resources to meet all of its
liabilities and ongoing expenses and continue in operational
existence for the foreseeable future. The Board has, therefore,
concluded that the Company has adequate resources to continue to
adopt the going concern basis for the period to 31 March 2025 which is at least twelve months
from the date of approval of the Financial Statements. This
conclusion also takes into account the Board’s assessment of the
ongoing risks from the war in Ukraine, the Middle
East conflict and significant market events.
Accordingly, the Financial Statements of the Company have been
prepared on a going concern basis.
The prospects of the Company over a period longer than twelve
months can be found in the Viability Statement above.
PROMOTING THE SUCCESS OF THE COMPANY
Under Section 172(1) of the Companies Act 2006, the Directors of a
company must act in a way they consider, in good faith, would be
most likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit
of its members as a whole, and in doing so have regard (amongst
other matters) to the likely consequences of any decision in the
long-term; the need to foster relationships with the Company’s
suppliers, customers and others; the impact of the Company’s
operations on the community and the environment; the desirability
of the Company maintaining a reputation for high standards of
business conduct; and the need to act fairly as between members of
the Company.
As an externally managed investment company, the Company has no
employees or physical assets, and a number of the Company’s
functions are outsourced to third parties. The key outsourced
function is the provision of investment management services by the
Manager, but other professional service providers support
the
Company by providing administration, custodial, banking and audit
services. The Board considers the Company’s key stakeholders to be
the existing and potential shareholders, the externally appointed
Manager (FIL Investment Services (UK) Limited) and other
third-party professional service providers. The Board considers
that the interest of these stakeholders is aligned with the
Company’s objective of delivering long-term capital growth to
investors, in line with the Company’s stated objective and
strategy, while providing the highest standards of legal,
regulatory and commercial conduct.
The Board, with the Portfolio Managers, sets the overall investment
strategy and reviews this at an annual strategy day which is
separate from the regular cycle of board meetings. In order to
ensure good governance of the Company, the Board has set various
limits on the investments in the portfolio, whether in the maximum
size of individual holdings, the use of derivatives, the level of
gearing and others. These limits and guidelines are regularly
monitored and reviewed and are set out in the Annual
Report.
The Board places great importance on communication with
shareholders. The Annual General Meeting provides the key forum for
the Board and the Portfolio Manager to present to the shareholders
on the Company’s performance and future plans and the Board
encourages all shareholders to attend in person or virtually and
raise any questions or concerns. The Chairman and other Board
members are available to meet shareholders as appropriate.
Shareholders may also communicate with Board members at any time by
writing to them at the Company’s registered office at FIL
Investments International, Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 6RP
or via the Company Secretary at the same address or by email
at
investmenttrusts@fil.com.
The Portfolio Managers meet with
major shareholders, potential investors, stock market analysts,
journalists and other commentators throughout the year. These
communication opportunities help inform the Board in considering
how best to promote the success of the company over the
long-term.
The Board seeks to engage with the Manager and other service
providers and advisers in a constructive and collaborative way,
promoting a culture of strong governance, while encouraging open
and constructive debate, in order to ensure appropriate and regular
challenge and evaluation. This aims to enhance service levels and
strengthen relationships with service providers, with a view to
ensuring shareholders’ interests are best served, by maintaining
the highest standards of commercial conduct while keeping cost
levels competitive.
Whilst the Company’s direct operations are limited, the Board
recognises the importance of considering the impact of the
Company’s investment strategy on the wider community and
environment. The Board believes that a proper consideration of
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) issues aligns with the
Company’s investment objective to deliver long-term growth in both
capital and income, and the Board’s review of the Manager includes
an assessment of its ESG approach which is set out in the Annual
Report.
In addition to ensuring that the Company’s investment objective was
being pursued, key decisions and actions taken by the Board during
the reporting year, and up to the date of this report, have
included:
· The
decision to pay an interim dividend of 3.26
pence per share and a final dividend of 4.99 pence per share (a total of 8.25 pence per share), to maintain the Board’s
policy to pay progressive dividends in normal circumstances. The
Company has paid an increased dividend for 13 years in a
row;
· Carrying
out a due diligence trip to Paris
and visiting Dassault Systemes and Fidelity’s Paris office and meeting with two of its
portfolio managers and discussing the ESG journey in Europe;
· The
decision to carry out an external Board evaluation using the
services of Lintstock Ltd. in accordance with the UK Corporate
Governance Code; and
· The
decision to once again hold hybrid AGMs in 2023 and 2024 in order
to make the AGM more accessible to those shareholders who are
unable to or prefer not to attend in person.
STATEMENT OF DIRECTORS’
RESPONSIBILITIES
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and
Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and
regulations.
Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements
for each financial period. Under that law, the Directors have
elected to prepare the Financial Statements in accordance with UK
Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK Accounting Standards and
applicable law), including Financial Reporting Standard FRS 102:
The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and
Republic of Ireland (“FRS 102”).
Under company law, the Directors must not approve the Financial
Statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair
view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or
loss for the reporting period.
In preparing these Financial Statements, the Directors are required
to:
· Select
suitable accounting policies in accordance with Section 10 of FRS
102 and then apply them consistently;
· Make
judgements and estimates that are reasonable and
prudent;
· Present
information, including accounting policies, in a fair and balanced
manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and
understandable information;
· State
whether applicable UK Accounting Standards, including FRS 102, have
been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and
explained in the Financial Statements; and
· Prepare
the Financial Statements on the going concern basis, unless it is
inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in
business.
The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting
records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company’s
transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time,
the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure
that the Company and the Financial Statements comply with the
Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the
assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the
prevention and detection of fraud and other
irregularities.
Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also
responsible for preparing a Strategic Report, a Directors’ Report,
a Corporate Governance Statement and a Directors’ Remuneration
Report which comply with that law and those regulations.
The Directors have delegated the responsibility for the maintenance
and integrity of the corporate and financial information included
on the Company’s pages of the Manager’s website at
www.fidelity.co.uk/europe
to the Manager. Visitors to the website need to be aware that
legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination
of the Financial Statements may differ from legislation in their
own jurisdictions.
The Directors confirm that to the best of their
knowledge:
· The
Financial Statements, prepared in accordance with UK Generally
Accepted Accounting Practice, including FRS 102, give a true and
fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit
of the Company;
· The
Annual Report, including the Strategic Report, includes a fair
review of the development and performance of the business and the
position of the Company, together with a description of the
principal risks and uncertainties it faces; and
· The
Annual Report and Financial Statements, taken as a whole, are fair,
balanced and understandable and provide the information necessary
for shareholders to assess the Company’s performance, business
model and strategy.
The Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities was approved by the
Board on 19 March 2024 and signed on
its behalf by:
VIVIAN
BAZALGETTE
Chairman
INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
|
|
Year ended 31 December 2023
|
Year ended 31 December 2022
|
|
Notes
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Gains/(losses) on investments
|
10
|
–
|
165,905
|
165,905
|
–
|
(63,812)
|
(63,812)
|
Gains/(losses) on derivative instruments
|
11
|
–
|
50,441
|
50,441
|
–
|
(22,034)
|
(22,034)
|
Income
|
3
|
47,221
|
–
|
47,221
|
43,042
|
–
|
43,042
|
Investment management fees
|
4
|
(2,625)
|
(7,877)
|
(10,502)
|
(2,362)
|
(7,087)
|
(9,449)
|
Other expenses
|
5
|
(967)
|
–
|
(967)
|
(919)
|
–
|
(919)
|
Foreign exchange losses
|
|
–
|
(1,464)
|
(1,464)
|
–
|
(372)
|
(372)
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities before finance
costs and taxation
|
|
43,629
|
207,005
|
250,634
|
39,761
|
(93,305)
|
(53,544)
|
Finance costs
|
6
|
(2,138)
|
(6,414)
|
(8,552)
|
(196)
|
(586)
|
(782)
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities before
taxation
|
|
41,491
|
200,591
|
242,082
|
39,565
|
(93,891)
|
(54,326)
|
Taxation on return/(loss) on ordinary activities
|
7
|
(3,390)
|
–
|
(3,390)
|
(2,641)
|
–
|
(2,641)
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities after taxation for
the year
|
|
38,101
|
200,591
|
238,692
|
36,924
|
(93,891)
|
(56,967)
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
Return/(loss) per ordinary share
|
8
|
9.32p
|
49.08p
|
58.40p
|
9.00p
|
(22.88p)
|
(13.88p)
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
The Company does not have any other comprehensive income.
Accordingly, the net return/(loss) on ordinary activities after
taxation for the year is also the total comprehensive income for
the year and no separate Statement of Comprehensive Income has been
presented.
The total column of this statement represents the Income Statement
of the Company. The revenue and capital columns are supplementary
and presented for information purposes as recommended by the
Statement of Recommended Practice issued by the AIC.
No operations were acquired or discontinued in the year and all
items in the above statement derive from continuing
operations.
The Notes below form an integral part of these Financial
Statements.
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED
31 DECEMBER 2023
|
Notes
|
Share
capital
£’000
|
Share
premium
account
£’000
|
Capital
redemption
reserve
£’000
|
Capital
reserve
£’000
|
Revenue
reserve
£’000
|
Total
shareholders’
funds
£’000
|
Total shareholders’ funds at 31 December
2022
|
|
10,411
|
58,615
|
5,414
|
1,271,996
|
34,559
|
1,380,995
|
Net return on ordinary activities after taxation for the
year
|
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
200,591
|
38,101
|
238,692
|
Dividends paid to shareholders
|
9
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(32,208)
|
(32,208)
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Total shareholders’ funds at 31 December
2023
|
|
10,411
|
58,615
|
5,414
|
1,472,587
|
40,452
|
1,587,479
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
Total shareholders’ funds at 31 December
2021
|
|
10,411
|
58,615
|
5,414
|
1,372,360
|
27,433
|
1,474,233
|
Net (loss)/return on ordinary activities after taxation for the
year
|
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(93,891)
|
36,924
|
(56,967)
|
Repurchase of ordinary shares
|
14
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(6,473)
|
–
|
(6,473)
|
Dividends paid to shareholders
|
9
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(29,798)
|
(29,798)
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Total shareholders’ funds at 31 December
2022
|
|
10,411
|
58,615
|
5,414
|
1,271,996
|
34,559
|
1,380,995
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
The Notes below form an integral part of these Financial
Statements.
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER
2023
Company Number 2638812
|
Notes
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Fixed assets
|
|
|
|
Investments
|
10
|
1,518,875
|
1,325,389
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Current assets
|
|
|
|
Derivative instruments
|
11
|
886
|
521
|
Debtors
|
12
|
11,449
|
8,128
|
Amounts held at futures clearing houses and brokers
|
|
8,384
|
12,891
|
Cash and cash equivalents
|
|
52,804
|
44,884
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
|
73,523
|
66,424
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Current liabilities
|
|
|
|
Derivative instruments
|
11
|
(3,521)
|
(9,633)
|
Other creditors
|
13
|
(1,398)
|
(1,185)
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
|
(4,919)
|
(10,818)
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Net current assets
|
|
68,604
|
55,606
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Net assets
|
|
1,587,479
|
1,380,995
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Capital and reserves
|
|
|
|
Share capital
|
14
|
10,411
|
10,411
|
Share premium account
|
15
|
58,615
|
58,615
|
Capital redemption reserve
|
15
|
5,414
|
5,414
|
Capital reserve
|
15
|
1,472,587
|
1,271,996
|
Revenue reserve
|
15
|
40,452
|
34,559
|
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Total shareholders’ funds
|
|
1,587,479
|
1,380,995
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Net asset value per ordinary share
|
16
|
388.39p
|
337.87p
|
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
The Financial Statements above and below were approved by the Board
of Directors on 19 March 2024 and
were signed on its behalf by:
VIVIAN
BAZALGETTE
Chairman
The Notes below form an integral part of these Financial
Statements.
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1
PRINCIPAL ACTIVITY
Fidelity European Trust PLC is an Investment Company incorporated
in England and Wales with a premium listing on the London
Stock Exchange. The Company’s registration number is 2638812, and
its registered office is Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth,
Surrey KT20 6RP. The Company has been approved by HM Revenue
& Customs as an Investment Trust under Section 1158 of the
Corporation Tax Act 2010 and intends to conduct its affairs so as
to continue to be approved.
2
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The Company has prepared its Financial Statements in accordance
with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (“UK GAAP”),
including FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in
the UK and Republic of Ireland”, issued by the Financial Reporting
Council (“FRC”). The Financial Statements have also been prepared
in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Financial
Statements of Investment Trust Companies and Venture Capital Trusts
(“SORP”) issued by the Association of Investment Companies (“AIC”)
in July 2022. The Company is exempt
from presenting a Cash Flow Statement as a Statement of Changes in
Equity is presented and substantially all of the Company’s
investments are highly liquid and are carried at market
value.
a) Basis of accounting
The Financial Statements have been prepared on a going concern
basis and under the historical cost convention, except for the
measurement at fair value of investments and derivative
instruments. The Directors have a reasonable expectation that the
Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence
up to 31 March 2025 which is at least
twelve months from the date of approval of these Financial
Statements. In making their assessment the Directors have reviewed
income and expense projections, reviewed the liquidity of the
investment portfolio and considered the Company’s ability to meet
liabilities as they fall due. This conclusion also takes into
account the Director’s assessment of the risks faced by the Company
as detailed in the Going Concern Statement above.
In preparing these Financial Statements the Directors have
considered the impact of climate change risk as an emerging and a
principal risk as set out above, and have concluded that there was
no further impact of climate change to be taken into account as the
investments are valued based on market pricing. In line with FRS
102, investments are valued at fair value, which for the Company
are quoted bid prices for investments in active markets at the
balance sheet date and therefore reflect the market participants
view of climate change risk on the investments held by the
Company.
The Company’s Going Concern Statement above takes account of all
events and conditions up to 31 March
2025 which is at least twelve months from the date of
approval of these Financial Statements.
b) Significant accounting estimates and
judgements
The Directors make judgements and estimates concerning the future.
Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on
historical experience and other factors, such as expectations of
future events, and are believed to be reasonable under the
circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates. The
Company’s Financial Statements contain no key sources of estimation
or uncertainty.
c) Segmental reporting
The Company is engaged in a single segment business and, therefore,
no segmental reporting is provided.
d) Presentation of the Income Statement
In order to better reflect the activities of an investment company
and in accordance with guidance issued by the AIC, supplementary
information which analyses the Income Statement between items of a
revenue and capital nature has been prepared alongside the Income
Statement. The net revenue return/(loss) after taxation for the
year is the measure the Directors believe appropriate in assessing
the Company’s compliance with certain requirements set out in
Section 1159 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.
e) Income
Income from equity investments is accounted for on the date on
which the right to receive the payment is established, normally the
ex-dividend date. Overseas dividends are accounted for gross of any
tax deducted at source. Amounts are credited to the revenue column
of the Income Statement. Where the Company has elected to receive
its dividends in the form of additional shares rather than cash,
the amount of the cash dividend foregone is recognised in the
revenue column of the Income Statement. Any excess in the value of
the shares received over the amount of the cash dividend is
recognised in the capital column of the Income Statement. Special
dividends are treated as a revenue receipt or a capital receipt
depending on the facts and circumstances of each particular
case.
Derivative instrument income received from dividends on long
contracts for difference (“CFDs”) is accounted for on the date on
which the right to receive the payment is established, normally the
ex-dividend date. The amount net of tax is credited to the revenue
column of the Income Statement.
Interest received on CFDs, bank deposits, collateral and money
market funds is accounted for on an accruals basis and credited to
the revenue column of the Income Statement. Interest received on
CFDs represent the finance costs calculated by reference to the
notional value of the CFDs.
f) Investment management fees and other
expenses
Investment management fees and other expenses are accounted for on
an accruals basis and are charged as follows:
· The
investment management fee is allocated 25% to revenue and 75% to
capital in line with the Board’s expected long-term split of
revenue and capital return from the Company’s portfolio of
investments; and
· All
other expenses are allocated in full to revenue with the exception
of those directly attributable to share issues or other capital
events.
g) Functional currency and foreign
exchange
The functional and reporting currency of the Company is UK
sterling, which is the currency of the primary economic environment
in which the Company operates. Transactions denominated in foreign
currencies are reported in UK sterling at the rate of exchange
ruling at the date of the transaction. Assets and liabilities in
foreign currencies are translated at the rates of exchange ruling
at the Balance Sheet date. Foreign exchange gains and losses
arising on translation are recognised in the Income Statement as a
revenue or a capital item depending on the nature of the underlying
item to which they relate.
h) Finance costs
Finance costs comprises interest paid on collateral and bank
deposits and finance costs paid on CFDs, which are accounted for on
an accruals basis. Finance costs are allocated 25% to revenue and
75% to capital in line with the Board’s expected long term split of
revenue and capital return from the Company’s portfolio of
investments.
i) Taxation
The taxation charge represents the sum of current taxation and
deferred taxation.
Current taxation is taxation suffered at source on overseas income
less amounts recoverable under taxation treaties. Taxation is
charged or credited to the revenue column of the Income Statement,
except where it relates to items of a capital nature, in which case
it is charged or credited to the capital column of the Income
Statement. Where expenses are allocated between revenue and capital
any tax relief in respect of the expenses is allocated between
revenue and capital returns on the marginal basis using the
Company’s effective rate of corporation tax for the accounting
period. The Company is an approved Investment Trust under Section
1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 and is not liable for UK
taxation on capital gains.
Deferred taxation is the taxation expected to be payable or
recoverable on timing differences between the treatment of certain
items for accounting purposes and their treatment for the purposes
of computing taxable profits. Deferred taxation is based on tax
rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted when the
taxation is expected to be payable or recoverable. Deferred tax
assets are only recognised if it is considered more likely than not
that there will be sufficient future taxable profits to utilise
them.
j) Dividend paid
Dividends payable to equity shareholders are recognised when the
Company’s obligation to make payment is established.
k) Investments
The Company’s business is investing in financial instruments with a
view to profiting from their total return in the form of income and
capital growth. This portfolio of investments is managed and its
performance evaluated on a fair value basis, in accordance with a
documented investment strategy, and information about the portfolio
is provided on that basis to the Company’s Board of Directors.
Investments are measured at fair value with changes in fair value
recognised in profit or loss, in accordance with the provisions of
both Section 11 and Section 12 of FRS 102. The fair value of
investments is initially taken to be their cost and is subsequently
measured as follows:
· Listed
investments are valued at bid prices, or last market prices,
depending on the convention of the exchange on which they are
listed.
In accordance with the AIC SORP, the Company includes transaction
costs, incidental to the purchase or sale of investments, within
gains/(losses) on investments in the capital column of the Income
Statement and has disclosed these costs in Note 10
below.
l) Derivative instruments
When appropriate, permitted transactions in derivative instruments
are used. Derivative transactions into which the Company may enter
include long and short CFDs and futures. Derivatives are classified
as other financial instruments and are initially accounted and
measured at fair value on the date the derivative contract is
entered into and subsequently measured at fair value as
follows:
· Long
and short CFDs – the difference between the strike price and the
value of the underlying shares in the contract; and
· Futures
– the difference between the contract price and the quoted trade
price.
Where transactions are used to protect or enhance income, if the
circumstances support this, the income and expenses derived are
included in net income in the revenue column of the Income
Statement. Where such transactions are used to protect or enhance
capital, if the circumstances support this, the income and expenses
derived are included in gains/(losses) on derivative instruments in
the capital column of the Income Statement. Any positions on such
transactions open at the year end are reflected on the Balance
Sheet at their fair value within current assets or current
liabilities.
m) Debtors
Debtors include accrued income, taxation recoverable and other
debtors and prepayments incurred in the ordinary course of
business. If collection is expected in one year or less (or in the
normal operating cycle of the business, if longer) they are
classified as current assets. If not, they are presented as
non-current assets. They are recognised initially at fair value
and, where applicable, subsequently measured at amortised cost
using the effective interest rate method.
n) Amounts held at futures clearing houses and
brokers
These are amounts held in segregated accounts on behalf of brokers
as collateral against open derivative contracts. These are carried
at amortised cost.
o) Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents may comprise cash at bank and money
market funds which are short term, highly liquid and are readily
convertible to a known amount of cash. These are subject to an
insignificant risk of changes in value.
p) Other creditors
Other creditors include investment management fees and other
creditors and expenses accrued in the ordinary course of business.
If payment is due within one year or less (or in the normal
operating cycle of the business, if longer) they are classified as
current liabilities. If not, they are presented as non-current
liabilities. They are recognised initially at fair value and, where
applicable, subsequently measured at amortised cost using the
effective interest rate method.
q) Capital reserve
The following are accounted for in the capital reserve:
· Gains
and losses on the disposal of investments and derivative
instruments;
· Changes
in the fair value of investments and derivative instruments held at
the year end;
· Foreign
exchange gains and losses of a capital nature;
· 75%
of investment management fees and finance costs;
· Dividends
receivable which are capital in nature; and
· Cost
of repurchasing shares.
Technical guidance issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants
in England and Wales in TECH 02/17BL, guidance on the
determination of realised profits and losses in the context of
distributions under the Companies Act 2006, states that changes in
the fair value of investments which are readily convertible to
cash, without accepting adverse terms at the Balance Sheet date,
can be treated as realised. Capital reserves realised and
unrealised are shown in aggregate as capital reserve in the
Statement of Changes in Equity and the Balance Sheet. At the
Balance Sheet date, the portfolio of the Company consisted of
investments listed on a recognised stock exchange and derivative
instruments contracted with counterparties having an adequate
credit rating, and the portfolio was considered to be readily
convertible to cash.
3
INCOME
|
Year ended
31.12.23
£’000
|
Year ended
31.12.22
£’000
|
Investment income
|
|
|
Overseas dividends
|
37,484
|
35,333
|
Overseas scrip dividends
|
957
|
1,052
|
UK dividends
|
1,679
|
1,910
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
40,120
|
38,295
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Derivative income
|
|
|
Income recognised from futures contracts
|
2,392
|
1,208
|
Dividends received on long CFDs
|
3,570
|
3,025
|
Interest received on CFDs1
|
333
|
422
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
6,295
|
4,655
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Investment and derivative income
|
46,415
|
42,950
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Other interest
|
|
|
Interest received on collateral, bank deposits and money market
funds
|
798
|
88
|
Interest received on tax reclaims
|
8
|
4
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
806
|
92
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Total income
|
47,221
|
43,042
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
1 Due
to negative interest rates in the prior year, the Company received
interest on its long CFDs.
Special dividends of £710,000 (2022: £1,115,000) have been
recognised in capital.
4
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FEES
|
Year ended 31 December 2023
|
Year ended 31 December 2022
|
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Investment management fees
|
2,625
|
7,877
|
10,502
|
2,362
|
7,087
|
9,449
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
FIL Investment Services (UK) Limited is the Company’s Alternative
Investment Fund Manager and has delegated portfolio management to
FIL Investments International (“FII”). Both companies are Fidelity
group companies.
FII charges investment management fees at an annual rate of 0.85%
of net assets up to £400 million and 0.65% of net assets in excess
of £400 million. Fees are payable monthly in arrears and are
calculated on a daily basis.
Investment management fees have been allocated 75% to capital
reserve in accordance with the Company’s accounting
policies.
5
OTHER EXPENSES
|
Year ended
31.12.23
£’000
|
Year ended
31.12.22
£’000
|
AIC fees
|
21
|
21
|
Custody fees
|
81
|
123
|
Depositary fees
|
54
|
61
|
Directors’ fees1
|
169
|
174
|
Legal and professional fees
|
94
|
60
|
Marketing expenses
|
260
|
209
|
Printing and publication expenses
|
127
|
132
|
Registrars’ fees
|
86
|
75
|
Fees payable to the Company’s Independent Auditor for the audit of
the Financial Statements
|
48
|
45
|
Other expenses
|
27
|
19
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
967
|
919
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
1 Details
of the breakdown of Directors’ fees are disclosed in the Directors’
Remuneration Report in the Annual Report.
6
FINANCE COSTS
|
Year ended 31 December 2023
|
Year ended 31 December 2022
|
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Interest paid on collateral and bank deposits1
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
28
|
82
|
110
|
Interest paid on CFDs2
|
1,601
|
4,803
|
6,404
|
168
|
504
|
672
|
Costs recognised from futures contracts
|
537
|
1,611
|
2,148
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
2,138
|
6,414
|
8,552
|
196
|
586
|
782
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
1 Due
to negative interest rates in the prior year, the Company paid
interest on its collateral and bank deposits.
2 The
interest paid on CFDs is higher in the current reporting year due
to an increase on long CFDs exposures and interest rates. As a
result, the Company has been exposed to significantly higher
interest charges.
Finance costs have been allocated 75% to capital reserve in
accordance with the Company’s accounting policies.
7
TAXATION ON RETURN/(LOSS) ON ORDINARY
ACTIVITIES
|
Year ended 31 December 2023
|
Year ended 31 December 2022
|
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
a) Analysis of the taxation charge for the
year
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overseas taxation
|
3,390
|
–
|
3,390
|
2,641
|
–
|
2,641
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Taxation charge for the year (see Note
7b)
|
3,390
|
–
|
3,390
|
2,641
|
–
|
2,641
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
b) Factors affecting the taxation charge for the
year
The taxation charge for the year is lower than the standard rate of
UK corporation tax for an investment trust company of 25.00% (2022:
19.00%). A reconciliation of the standard rate of UK corporation
tax to the taxation charge for the year is shown below:
|
Year ended 31 December 2023
|
Year ended 31 December 2022
|
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities before
taxation
|
41,491
|
200,591
|
242,082
|
39,565
|
(93,891)
|
(54,326)
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation multiplied
by the blended rate of UK corporation tax of 23.52% (2022:
19.00%)
|
9,758
|
47,179
|
56,937
|
7,517
|
(17,839)
|
(10,322)
|
Effects of:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Capital (gains)/losses not taxable1
|
–
|
(50,540)
|
(50,540)
|
–
|
16,381
|
16,381
|
Income not taxable
|
(9,436)
|
–
|
(9,436)
|
(7,276)
|
–
|
(7,276)
|
Expenses not deductible
|
–
|
1,509
|
1,509
|
–
|
111
|
111
|
Excess management expenses
|
(322)
|
1,852
|
1,530
|
(241)
|
1,347
|
1,106
|
Overseas taxation
|
3,390
|
–
|
3,390
|
2,641
|
–
|
2,641
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Total taxation charge for the year (see Note
7a)
|
3,390
|
–
|
3,390
|
2,641
|
–
|
2,641
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
1 The
Company is exempt from UK taxation on capital gains as it meets the
HM Revenue & Customs criteria for an investment company set out
in Section 1159 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.
c)
Deferred taxation
A deferred tax asset of £17,127,000 (2022: £15,501,000), in respect
of excess expenses of £63,004,000 (2022: £56,499,000) and excess
loan interest of £5,505,000 (2022: £5,505,000), has not been
recognised as it is unlikely that there will be sufficient future
taxable profits to utilise these expenses.
The UK corporation tax rate increased from 19.00% to 25.00% from
1 April 2023. The rate of 25.00% has
been applied to calculate the unrecognised deferred tax asset for
the current year (2022: 25.00%).
8
RETURN/(LOSS) PER ORDINARY SHARE
|
Year ended
31.12.23
|
Year ended
31.12.22
|
Revenue return per ordinary share
|
9.32p
|
9.00p
|
Capital return/(loss) per ordinary share
|
49.08p
|
(22.88p)
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Total return/(loss) per ordinary share
|
58.40p
|
(13.88p)
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
The return/(loss) per ordinary share is based on the net
return/(loss) on ordinary activities after taxation for the year
divided by the weighted average number of ordinary shares held
outside of Treasury during the year, as shown below:
|
£’000
|
£’000
|
Net revenue return on ordinary activities after taxation
|
38,101
|
36,924
|
Net capital return/(loss) on ordinary activities after
taxation
|
200,591
|
(93,891)
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Total return/(loss) on ordinary activities after
taxation
|
238,692
|
(56,967)
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
|
Number
|
Number
|
Weighted average number of ordinary shares held outside
Treasury
|
408,730,523
|
410,346,447
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
9 DIVIDENDS PAID TO SHAREHOLDERS
|
Year ended
31.12.23
£’000
|
Year ended
31.12.22
£’000
|
Dividends paid
|
|
|
Interim dividend of 3.26 pence per ordinary share paid for the year
ended 31 December 2023
|
13,325
|
–
|
Final dividend of 4.62 pence per ordinary share paid for the year
ended 31 December 2022
|
18,883
|
–
|
Interim dividend of 3.08 pence per ordinary share paid for the year
ended 31 December 2022
|
–
|
12,618
|
Final dividend of 4.18 pence per ordinary share paid for the year
ended 31 December 2021
|
–
|
17,180
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
32,208
|
29,798
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Dividends proposed
|
|
|
Final dividend of 4.99 pence per ordinary share proposed for the
year ended 31 December 2023
|
20,396
|
–
|
Final dividend of 4.62 pence per ordinary share proposed for the
year ended 31 December 2022
|
–
|
18,883
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
20,396
|
18,883
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
The Directors have proposed the payment of a final dividend for the
year ended 31 December 2023 of
4.99 pence per ordinary share which
is subject to approval by shareholders at the Annual General
Meeting on 8 May 2024 and has not
been included as a liability in these Financial Statements. The
dividend will be paid on 14 May 2024
to shareholders on the register at the close of business on
2 April 2024 (ex-dividend date
28 March 2024).
10 INVESTMENTS
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Investments held at fair value
|
1,518,875
|
1,325,389
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Opening book cost
|
872,694
|
862,576
|
Opening investment holding gains
|
452,695
|
585,421
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Opening fair value
|
1,325,389
|
1,447,997
|
Movements in the year
|
|
|
Purchases at cost
|
275,931
|
136,091
|
Sales – proceeds
|
(248,350)
|
(194,887)
|
Gains/(losses) on investments
|
165,905
|
(63,812)
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Closing fair value
|
1,518,875
|
1,325,389
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
Closing book cost
|
943,460
|
872,694
|
Closing investment holding gains
|
575,415
|
452,695
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
Closing fair value
|
1,518,875
|
1,325,389
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
The Company received £248,350,000 (2022: £194,887,000) from
investments sold in the year. The book cost of these investments
when they were purchased was £205,165,000 (2022: £125,973,000).
These investments have been revalued over time and until they were
sold any unrealised gains/losses were included in the fair value of
the investments.
Investment transaction costs
Transaction costs incurred in the acquisition and disposal of
investments, which are included in the gains/(losses) on
investments above, were as follows:
|
Year ended
31.12.23
£’000
|
Year ended
31.12.22
£’000
|
Purchases transaction costs
|
286
|
164
|
Sales transaction costs
|
121
|
57
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
407
|
221
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
The portfolio turnover for the year was 18.1% (2022: 12.7%). The
portfolio turnover rate measures the Company’s trading activity. It
is calculated by taking the average of the total amount of
securities purchased and the total amount of the securities sold in
the reporting year divided by the average investment portfolio
value of the Company.
11 DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS
|
Year ended
31.12.23
£’000
|
Year ended
31.12.22
£’000
|
Gains/(losses) on derivative
instruments
|
|
|
Gains/(losses) on long CFD positions closed
|
32,223
|
(4,300)
|
Gains on short CFD positions closed
|
2,257
|
–
|
Gains/(losses) on futures contracts closed
|
9,484
|
(4,612)
|
Movement in investment holding gains/(losses) on long
CFDs
|
4,229
|
(9,718)
|
Movement in investment holding gains on short CFDs
|
142
|
–
|
Movement in investment holding gains/(losses) on futures
|
2,106
|
(3,404)
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
50,441
|
(22,034)
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
|
2023
Fair value
£’000
|
2022
Fair value
£’000
|
Derivative instruments recognised on the Balance
Sheet
|
|
|
Derivative instrument assets
|
886
|
521
|
Derivative instrument liabilities
|
(3,521)
|
(9,633)
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
(2,635)
|
(9,112)
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
|
Fair value
£’000
|
2023
Asset
exposure
£’000
|
Fair value
£’000
|
2022
Asset
exposure
£’000
|
At the year end the Company held the following derivative
instruments
|
|
|
|
|
Long CFDs
|
(2,429)
|
199,945
|
(6,658)
|
152,446
|
Short CFDs
|
142
|
12,736
|
–
|
–
|
Long futures
|
(348)
|
64,492
|
(2,454)
|
65,056
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
(2,635)
|
277,173
|
(9,112)
|
217,502
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
=========
|
12 DEBTORS
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Accrued income
|
933
|
784
|
Taxation recoverable
|
10,393
|
7,232
|
Other debtors and prepayments
|
123
|
112
|
|
---------------
|
---------------
|
|
11,449
|
8,128
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
13 OTHER CREDITORS
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Creditors and accruals
|
1,398
|
1,185
|
|
=========
|
=========
|
14 SHARE CAPITAL
|
2023
|
2022
|
|
Number of
shares
|
Nominal
value
£’000
|
Number of
shares
|
Nominal
value
£’000
|
Issued, allotted and fully paid
|
|
|
|
|
Ordinary shares of 2.5 pence each held outside of
Treasury
|
|
|
|
|
Beginning of the year
|
408,730,523
|
10,218
|
411,016,049
|
10,275
|
Ordinary shares repurchased into Treasury
|
–
|
–
|
(2,285,526)
|
(57)
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
End of the year
|
408,730,523
|
10,218
|
408,730,523
|
10,218
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
Ordinary shares of 2.5 pence each held in
Treasury1
|
|
|
|
|
Beginning of the year
|
7,717,387
|
193
|
5,431,861
|
136
|
Ordinary shares repurchased into Treasury
|
–
|
–
|
2,285,526
|
57
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
End of the year
|
7,717,387
|
193
|
7,717,387
|
193
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
Total share capital
|
|
10,411
|
|
10,411
|
|
|
==========
|
|
==========
|
1 Ordinary
shares held in Treasury carry no rights to vote, to receive a
dividend or to participate in a winding up of the
Company.
No ordinary shares were repurchased into Treasury during the year
(2022: £6,473,000).
15 CAPITAL AND RESERVES
|
Share
capital
£’000
|
Share
premium
account
£’000
|
Capital
redemption
reserve
£’000
|
Capital
reserve
£’000
|
Revenue
reserve
£’000
|
Total
shareholders’
funds
£’000
|
At 1 January 2023
|
10,411
|
58,615
|
5,414
|
1,271,996
|
34,559
|
1,380,995
|
Gains on investments (see Note 10)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
165,905
|
–
|
165,905
|
Gains on derivative instruments (see Note 11)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
50,441
|
–
|
50,441
|
Foreign exchange losses
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(1,464)
|
–
|
(1,464)
|
Investment management fees (see Note 4)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(7,877)
|
–
|
(7,877)
|
Finance costs (see Note 6)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(6,414)
|
–
|
(6,414)
|
Repurchase of ordinary shares (see Note 14)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
Revenue return on ordinary activities after taxation for the
year
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
38,101
|
38,101
|
Dividends paid to shareholders (see Note 9)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(32,208)
|
(32,208)
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
At 31 December 2023
|
10,411
|
58,615
|
5,414
|
1,472,587
|
40,452
|
1,587,479
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
At 1 January 2022
|
10,411
|
58,615
|
5,414
|
1,372,360
|
27,433
|
1,474,233
|
Losses on investments (see Note 10)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(63,812)
|
–
|
(63,812)
|
Losses on derivative instruments (see Note 11)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(22,034)
|
–
|
(22,034)
|
Foreign exchange losses
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(372)
|
–
|
(372)
|
Investment management fees (see Note 4)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(7,087)
|
–
|
(7,087)
|
Finance costs (see Note 6)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(586)
|
–
|
(586)
|
Repurchase of ordinary shares (see Note 14)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(6,473)
|
–
|
(6,473)
|
Revenue return on ordinary activities after taxation for the
year
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
36,924
|
36,924
|
Dividends paid to shareholders (see Note 9)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
(29,798)
|
(29,798)
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
At 31 December 2022
|
10,411
|
58,615
|
5,414
|
1,271,996
|
34,559
|
1,380,995
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
The capital reserve balance at 31 December
2023 includes investment holding gains of £575,415,000
(2022: gains of £452,695,000) as detailed in Note 10. See Note 2
(q) for further details. The revenue and capital reserves are
distributable by way of dividends.
16 NET ASSET VALUE PER ORDINARY SHARE
The calculation of the net asset value per ordinary share is based
on the total shareholders’ funds divided by the number of ordinary
shares held outside of Treasury.
|
2023
|
2022
|
Total shareholders’ funds
|
£1,587,479,000
|
£1,380,995,000
|
Ordinary shares held outside of Treasury at year end
|
408,730,523
|
408,730,523
|
Net asset value per ordinary share
|
388.39p
|
337.87p
|
|
============
|
============
|
It is the Company’s policy that shares held in Treasury will only
be reissued at net asset value per ordinary share or at a premium
to net asset value per ordinary share and, therefore, shares held
in Treasury have no dilutive effect.
17 FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
Management of risk
The Company’s investing activities in pursuit of its investment
objective involve certain inherent risks. The Board confirms that
there is an ongoing process for identifying, evaluating and
managing the risks faced by the Company. The Board with the
assistance of the Manager, has developed a risk matrix which, as
part of the internal control process, identifies the risks that the
Company faces. Principal risks identified are geopolitical,
economic and market, investment performance, regulatory, key person
and operational support, environmental, social and governance
(“ESG”), cybercrime and information security, discount control and
business continuity. Other risks identified are tax and regulatory.
Risks are identified and graded in this process, together with
steps taken in mitigation, and are updated and reviewed on an
ongoing basis. These risks and how they are identified, evaluated
and managed are shown in the Strategic Report above.
This note refers to the identification, measurement and management
of risks potentially affecting the value of financial instruments.
The Company’s financial instruments may comprise:
· Equity
shares held in accordance with the Company’s investment objective
and policies;
· Derivative
instruments which comprise CFDs and futures on equity indices;
and
· Cash,
liquid resources and short term debtors and creditors that arise
from its operations.
The risks identified arising from the Company’s financial
instruments are market price risk (which comprises interest rate
risk, foreign currency risk and other price risk), liquidity risk,
counterparty risk, credit risk and derivative instrument risk. The
Board reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks,
which are summarised below. These policies are consistent with
those followed last year.
Market price risk
Interest rate risk
The Company finances its operations through its share capital and
reserves. In addition, the Company has gearing through the use of
derivative instruments. The level of gearing is reviewed by the
Board and the Lead Portfolio Manager. The Company is exposed to a
financial risk arising as a result of any increases in interest
rates associated with the funding of the derivative
instruments.
Interest rate risk exposure
The values of the Company’s financial instruments that are exposed
to movements in interest rates are shown below:
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Exposure to financial instruments that bear
interest
|
|
|
Long CFDs – exposure less fair value
|
202,374
|
159,104
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Exposure to financial instruments that earn
interest
|
|
|
Short CFDs – exposure plus fair value
|
12,878
|
–
|
Amounts held at futures clearing houses and brokers
|
8,384
|
12,891
|
Cash and cash equivalents
|
52,804
|
44,884
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
74,066
|
57,775
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
Net exposure to financial instruments that bear
interest
|
128,308
|
101,329
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
Foreign currency risk
The Company’s net return/(loss) on ordinary activities after
taxation for the year and its net assets can be affected by foreign
exchange rate movements because the Company has income, assets and
liabilities which are denominated in currencies other than the
Company’s functional currency which is UK sterling. The Company can
also be subject to short term exposure from exchange rate
movements, for example, between the date when an investment is
purchased or sold and the date when settlement of the transaction
occurs.
Three principal areas have been identified where foreign currency
risk could impact the Company:
· Movements
in exchange rates affecting the value of investments and derivative
instruments;
· Movements
in exchange rates affecting short term timing differences;
and
· Movements
in exchange rates affecting income received.
Currency exposure of financial assets
The currency exposure profile of the Company’s financial assets is
shown below:
|
|
|
|
|
2023
|
Currency
|
Investments
held at
fair value
£’000
|
Long
exposure
to derivative
instruments
£’000
|
Debtors1
£’000
|
Cash and
cash
equivalents2
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Euro
|
877,629
|
228,019
|
6,389
|
52,691
|
1,164,728
|
Swiss franc
|
357,739
|
–
|
3,947
|
–
|
361,686
|
Danish krone
|
96,102
|
–
|
465
|
–
|
96,567
|
Swedish krona
|
93,135
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
93,135
|
US dollar
|
–
|
36,418
|
–
|
113
|
36,531
|
Norwegian krone
|
25,052
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
25,052
|
UK sterling
|
69,218
|
–
|
9,032
|
–
|
78,250
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
1,518,875
|
264,437
|
19,833
|
52,804
|
1,855,949
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
1 Debtors
include amounts held at futures clearing houses and
brokers.
2 Cash
and cash equivalent are made up of £3,900,000 cash at bank and
£48,904,000 held in Fidelity Institutional Liquidity
Fund.
|
|
|
|
|
2022
|
Currency
|
Investments
held at
fair value
£’000
|
Long
exposure
to derivative
instruments
£’000
|
Debtors1
£’000
|
Cash and
cash
equivalents2
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Euro
|
788,014
|
217,502
|
5,086
|
17,473
|
1,028,075
|
Swiss franc
|
323,257
|
–
|
1,798
|
3,724
|
328,779
|
Danish krone
|
83,544
|
–
|
414
|
1,548
|
85,506
|
Swedish krona
|
39,892
|
–
|
–
|
19,362
|
59,254
|
Norwegian krone
|
31,369
|
–
|
–
|
378
|
31,747
|
UK sterling
|
59,313
|
–
|
13,721
|
2,399
|
75,433
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
1,325,389
|
217,502
|
21,019
|
44,884
|
1,608,794
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
1 Debtors
include amounts held at futures clearing houses and
brokers.
2 Cash
and cash equivalent are made up of £44,878,000 cash at bank and
£6,000 held in Fidelity Institutional Liquidity Fund.
Currency exposure of financial
liabilities
The currency profile of the Company’s financial liabilities is
shown below:
Currency
|
Short
exposure
to derivative
instruments
£’000
|
Other
creditors
£’000
|
2023
Total
£’000
|
Euro
|
12,736
|
245
|
12,981
|
US dollar
|
–
|
48
|
48
|
UK sterling
|
–
|
1,105
|
1,105
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
12,736
|
1,398
|
14,134
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
Currency
|
Short
exposure
to derivative
instruments
£’000
|
Other
creditors
£’000
|
2022
Total
£’000
|
Euro
|
–
|
126
|
126
|
UK sterling
|
–
|
1,059
|
1,059
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
–
|
1,185
|
1,185
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
Other price risk
Other price risk arises mainly from uncertainty about future prices
of financial instruments used in the Company’s business. It
represents the potential loss the Company might suffer through
holding market positions in the face of price movements. The Board
meets quarterly to consider the asset allocation of the portfolio
and the risk associated with particular industry sectors within the
parameters of the investment objective. The Portfolio Managers are
responsible for actively monitoring the existing portfolio selected
in accordance with the overall asset allocation parameters
described above and seek to ensure that individual stocks also meet
an acceptable risk/reward profile.
Liquidity risk
Due to the closed-ended nature of the Company, the liquidity risk
is limited. Liquidity risk is the risk that the Company will
encounter difficulties in meeting obligations associated with
financial liabilities. The Company’s assets mainly comprise readily
realisable securities and derivative instruments which can be sold
easily to meet funding commitments if necessary. Short term
flexibility is achieved by the use of a bank overdraft, if
required.
Liquidity risk exposure
At 31 December 2023, the undiscounted
gross cash outflows of the financial liabilities were all repayable
within one year and consisted of derivative instrument liabilities
of £3,521,000 (2022: £9,633,000) and creditors of £1,398,000 (2022:
£1,185,000).
Counterparty risk
Certain derivative instruments in which the Company invests are not
traded on an exchange but instead will be traded between
counterparties based on contractual relationships, under the terms
outlined in the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s
(“ISDA”) market standard derivative legal documentation. These are
known as Over The Counter (“OTC”) trades. As a result, the Company
is subject to the risk that a counterparty may not perform its
obligations under the related contract. In accordance with the risk
management process which the Manager employs, this risk is
minimised by only entering into transactions with counterparties
which are believed to have an adequate credit rating at the time
the transaction is entered into, by ensuring that formal legal
agreements covering the terms of the contract are entered into in
advance, and through adopting a counterparty risk framework which
measures, monitors and manages counterparty risk by the use of
internal and external credit agency ratings and by evaluating
derivative instrument credit risk exposure.
For derivative transactions, collateral is used to reduce the risk
of both parties to the contract. Collateral is managed on a daily
basis for all relevant transactions. At 31
December 2023, £60,000 (2022: £nil) was held by the brokers
in cash denominated in UK sterling in a segregated collateral
account on behalf of the Company to reduce the credit risk exposure
of the Company. This collateral comprised: UBS AG £60,000 (2022:
£nil). £8,384,000 (2022: £12,891,000), shown as amounts held at
futures clearing houses and brokers on the Balance Sheet, was held
by the Company in cash denominated in UK sterling in a segregated
collateral account on behalf of the brokers, to reduce the credit
risk exposure of the brokers. This collateral comprised of: J.P.
Morgan Securities plc £2,460,000 (2022: £4,540,000), Goldman Sachs
International Ltd £810,000 (2022: £nil) and UBS AG £5,114,000
(2022: £8,351,000) in cash.
Credit risk
Financial instruments may be adversely affected if any of the
institutions with which money is deposited suffer insolvency or
other financial difficulties. All transactions are carried out with
brokers that have been approved by the Manager and are settled on a
delivery versus payment basis. Limits are set on the amount that
may be due from any one broker and are kept under review by the
Manager. Exposure to credit risk arises on unsettled security
transactions and derivative instrument contracts and cash at
bank.
Derivative instrument risk
The risks and risk management processes which result from the use
of derivative instruments, are set out in a documented Risk
Management Process Document. Derivative instruments are used by the
Manager for the following purposes:
· to
gain unfunded long exposure to equity markets, sectors or single
stocks. Unfunded exposure is exposure gained without an initial
flow of capital; and
· to
position short exposures in the Company’s portfolio. These
uncovered exposures benefit from falls in the prices of shares
which the Portfolio Managers believe to be overvalued. These
positions, therefore, distinguish themselves from other short
exposures held for hedging purposes since they are expected to add
risk to the portfolio.
RISK SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
Interest rate risk sensitivity analysis
Based on the financial instruments held and interest rates at
31 December 2023, an increase of
1.00% in interest rates throughout the year, with all other
variables held constant, would have decreased the net return on
ordinary activities after taxation for the year and decreased the
net assets of the Company by £1,283,000 (2022: increased the net
loss and decreased the net assets by £1,013,000). A decrease of
1.00% in interest rates throughout the year would have had an equal
but opposite effect.
Foreign currency risk sensitivity
analysis
Based on the financial instruments held and currency exchange rates
at the Balance Sheet date, a 10% strengthening of the UK sterling
exchange rate against foreign currencies, with all other variables
held constant, would have decreased the Company’s net return on
ordinary activities after taxation for the year and decreased the
Company’s net assets (2022: increased the net loss and decreased
the net assets) by the following amounts:
Currency
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Euro
|
104,704
|
93,450
|
Swiss franc
|
32,881
|
29,889
|
Danish krone
|
8,779
|
7,773
|
Swedish krona
|
8,467
|
5,387
|
US dollar
|
3,317
|
–
|
Norwegian krone
|
2,277
|
2,886
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
160,425
|
139,385
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
Based on the financial instruments held and currency exchange rates
at the Balance Sheet date, a 10% weakening of the UK sterling
exchange rate against foreign currencies, with all other variables
held constant, would have increased the Company’s net return on
ordinary activities after taxation for the year and increased the
Company’s net assets (2022: decreased the net loss and increased
the net assets) by the following amounts:
Currency
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Euro
|
127,972
|
114,216
|
Swiss franc
|
40,187
|
36,531
|
Danish krone
|
10,730
|
9,501
|
Swedish krona
|
10,348
|
6,584
|
US dollar
|
4,054
|
–
|
Norwegian krone
|
2,784
|
3,527
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
196,075
|
170,359
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
Other price risk – exposure to investments sensitivity
analysis
Based on the investments held and share prices at 31 December 2023, an increase of 10% in share
prices, with all other variables held constant, would have
increased the Company’s net return on ordinary activities after
taxation for the year and increased the net assets of the Company
by £151,888,000 (2022: decreased the net loss and increased the net
assets by £132,539,000). A decrease of 10% in share prices would
have had an equal and opposite effect.
Other price risk – net exposure to derivative instruments
sensitivity analysis
Based on the derivative instruments held and share prices at
31 December 2023, an increase of 10%
in the share prices underlying the derivative instruments, with all
other variables held constant, would have increased the Company’s
net return on ordinary activities after taxation for the year and
increased the net assets of the Company by £25,170,000 (2022:
decreased the net loss and increased the net assets by
£21,750,000). A decrease of 10% in share prices of the investments
underlying the derivative instruments would have had an equal and
opposite effect.
Fair Value of Financial Assets and
Liabilities
Financial assets and liabilities are stated in the Balance Sheet at
values which are not materially different to their fair values. As
explained in Notes 2 (k) and (l), investments and derivative
instruments are shown at fair value. In the case of cash and cash
equivalents, book value approximates to fair value due to the short
maturity of the instruments.
Fair Value Hierarchy
The Company is required to disclose the fair value hierarchy that
classifies its financial instruments measured at fair value at one
of three levels, according to the relative reliability of the
inputs used to estimate the fair values.
Classification
|
Input
|
Level 1
|
Valued using quoted prices in active markets for identical
assets
|
Level 2
|
Valued by reference to inputs other than quoted prices included in
level 1 that are observable (i.e. developed using market data) for
the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly
|
Level 3
|
Valued by reference to valuation techniques using inputs that are
not based on observable market data
|
Categorisation within the hierarchy has been determined on the
basis of the lowest level input that is significant to the fair
value measurement of the relevant asset. The valuation techniques
used by the Company are explained in Notes 2 (k) and (l). The table
below sets out the Company’s fair value hierarchy:
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss
|
Level 1
£’000
|
Level 2
£’000
|
Level 3
£’000
|
2023
Total
£’000
|
Investments
|
1,518,875
|
–
|
–
|
1,518,875
|
Derivative instrument assets
|
–
|
886
|
–
|
886
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
1,518,875
|
886
|
–
|
1,519,761
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or
loss
|
|
|
|
|
Derivative instrument liabilities
|
(348)
|
(3,173)
|
–
|
(3,521)
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss
|
Level 1
£’000
|
Level 2
£’000
|
Level 3
£’000
|
2022
Total
£’000
|
Investments
|
1,325,389
|
–
|
–
|
1,325,389
|
Derivative instrument assets
|
–
|
521
|
–
|
521
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
|
1,325,389
|
521
|
–
|
1,325,910
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or
loss
|
|
|
|
|
Derivative instrument liabilities
|
(2,454)
|
(7,179)
|
–
|
(9,633)
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
18 CAPITAL RESOURCES AND GEARING
The Company does not have any externally imposed capital
requirements. The financial resources of the Company comprise its
share capital and reserves, as disclosed in the Balance Sheet
above, and any gearing, which is managed by the use of derivative
instruments. Financial resources are managed in accordance with the
Company’s investment policy and in pursuit of its investment
objective, both of which are detailed in the Strategic Report in
the Annual Report. The principal risks and their management are
disclosed in the Strategic Report and in Note 17 above.
The Company’s gross gearing and net gearing at the year end is set
out below:
|
2023
|
|
Gross gearing
|
Net gearing
|
|
Asset
exposure
£’000
|
%1
|
Asset
exposure
£’000
|
%1
|
Investments
|
1,518,875
|
95.6
|
1,518,875
|
95.6
|
Long CFDs
|
199,945
|
12.6
|
199,945
|
12.6
|
Long futures
|
64,492
|
4.1
|
64,492
|
4.1
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Total long exposures
|
1,783,312
|
112.3
|
1,783,312
|
112.3
|
Short CFDs
|
12,736
|
0.8
|
(12,736)
|
(0.8)
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Gross asset exposure/net market
exposure
|
1,796,048
|
113.1
|
1,770,576
|
111.5
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Shareholders’ funds
|
1,587,479
|
|
1,587,479
|
|
|
==========
|
|
==========
|
|
Gearing2
|
|
13.1
|
|
11.5
|
|
|
==========
|
|
==========
|
1 Asset
exposure to the market expressed as a percentage of shareholders’
funds.
2 Gearing
is the amount by which gross asset exposure/net market exposure
exceeds shareholders’ funds expressed as a percentage of
shareholders’ funds.
|
2022
|
|
Gross gearing
|
Net gearing
|
|
Asset
exposure
£’000
|
%1
|
Asset
exposure
£’000
|
%1
|
Investments
|
1,325,389
|
96.0
|
1,325,389
|
96.0
|
Long CFDs
|
152,446
|
11.0
|
152,446
|
11.0
|
Long futures
|
65,056
|
4.7
|
65,056
|
4.7
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Total long exposures
|
1,542,891
|
111.7
|
1,542,891
|
111.7
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
==========
|
Short CFDs
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Gross asset exposure/net market
exposure
|
1,542,891
|
111.7
|
1,542,891
|
111.7
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Shareholders’ funds
|
1,380,995
|
|
1,380,995
|
|
|
==========
|
|
==========
|
|
Gearing2
|
|
11.7
|
|
11.7
|
|
|
==========
|
|
==========
|
1 Asset
exposure to the market expressed as a percentage of shareholders’
funds.
2 Gearing
is the amount by which gross asset exposure/net market exposure
exceeds shareholders’ funds expressed as a percentage of
shareholders’ funds.
19 TRANSACTIONS WITH THE MANAGERS AND RELATED
PARTIES
FIL Investment Services (UK) Limited is the Company’s Alternative
Investment Fund Manager and has delegated portfolio management and
the role of company secretary to FIL Investments International
(“FII”). Both companies are Fidelity group companies.
Details of the current fee arrangements are given in the Directors’
Report in the Annual Report and in Note 4. During the year, fees
for portfolio management services of £10,502,000 (2022: £9,449,000)
were payable to FII. At the Balance Sheet date, fees for portfolio
management services of £925,000 (2022: £832,000) were accrued and
included in other creditors. FII also provides the Company with
marketing services. The total amount payable for these services
during the year was £260,000 (2022: £209,000). At the Balance Sheet
date, marketing services of £14,000 (2022: £nil) were accrued and
included in other creditors.
Disclosures of the Directors’ interests in the ordinary shares of
the Company and Directors’ fees and taxable expenses relating to
reasonable travel expenses paid to the Directors are given in the
Directors’ Remuneration Report in the Annual Report. In addition to
the fees and taxable expenses disclosed in the Directors’
Remuneration Report, £17,000 (2022: £18,000) of Employers’ National
Insurance Contributions was also paid by the Company. As at
31 December 2023, Directors’ fees of
£14,000 (2022: £14,000) were accrued and payable.
ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES
DISCOUNT/PREMIUM
The discount/premium is considered to be an Alternative Performance
Measure. It is the difference between the Net Asset Value (“NAV”)
per ordinary share of the Company and the ordinary share price and
is expressed as a percentage of the NAV per ordinary share. Details
of the Company’s discount are on the Financial Highlights page in
the Annual Report and are both defined in the Glossary of Terms in
the Annual Report.
GEARING
Gearing (both gross and net) is considered to be an Alternative
Performance Measure. See Note 18 above for details of the Company’s
gearing. Gearing is defined in the Glossary of Terms in the Annual
Report.
NET ASSET VALUE (“NAV”) PER ORDINARY
SHARE
The NAV per ordinary share is considered to be an Alternative
Performance Measure. See the Balance Sheet and Note 16 above for
further details.
ONGOING CHARGES RATIO
The ongoing charges ratio is considered to be an Alternative
Performance Measure. It has been calculated in accordance with
guidance issued by the AIC as the total of management fees and
other expenses expressed as a percentage of the average net assets
throughout the year.
|
2023
|
2022
|
Investment management fees (£’000)
|
10,502
|
9,449
|
Other expenses (£’000)
|
967
|
919
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Ongoing charges (£’000)
|
11,469
|
10,368
|
Average net assets (£’000)
|
1,493,277
|
1,330,434
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Ongoing charges ratio
|
0.77%
|
0.78%
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
REVENUE, CAPITAL AND TOTAL RETURNS PER
SHARE
Revenue, capital and total returns per ordinary share are
considered to be Alternative Performance Measures. See the Income
Statement and Note 8 above for further details.
TOTAL RETURN PERFORMANCE
Total return performance is considered to be an Alternative
Performance Measure. The NAV per ordinary share total return
includes reinvestment of the dividend in the NAV of the Company on
the ex-dividend date. The ordinary share price total return
includes the reinvestment of the net dividend in the month that the
share price goes ex-dividend.
The tables below provide information relating to the NAV per
ordinary share and the ordinary share price of the Company, the
impact of the dividend reinvestments and the total returns for the
years ended 31 December 2023 and
31 December 2022.
2023
|
Net asset
value per
ordinary
share
|
Ordinary
share
price
|
31 December 2022
|
337.87p
|
319.50p
|
31 December 2023
|
388.39p
|
360.00p
|
Change in year
|
+15.0%
|
+12.7%
|
Impact of dividend reinvestments
|
+2.5%
|
+2.6%
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Total return for the year
|
+17.5%
|
+15.3%
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
2022
|
Net asset
value per
ordinary
share
|
Ordinary
share
price
|
31 December 2021
|
358.68p
|
340.50p
|
31 December 2022
|
337.87p
|
319.50p
|
Change in year
|
-5.8%
|
-6.2%
|
Impact of dividend reinvestments
|
+2.2%
|
+2.4%
|
|
-----------------
|
-----------------
|
Total return for the year
|
-3.6%
|
-3.8%
|
|
==========
|
==========
|
The Annual Financial Report Announcement is not the Company's
statutory accounts. The above results for the year ended
31 December 2023 are an abridged
version of the Company's full Annual Report and Financial
Statements, which have been approved and audited with an
unqualified report. The 2022 and 2023 statutory accounts received
unqualified reports from the Company's Auditor and did not include
any reference to matters to which the Auditor drew attention by way
of emphasis without qualifying the reports and did not contain a
statement under s.498 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial
information for 2022 is derived from the statutory accounts for
2022 which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The
2023 Financial Statements will be filed with the Registrar of
Companies in due course.
A copy of the Annual Report will shortly be submitted to the
National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at:
www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM
The Annual Report will be posted to shareholders later this month
and additional copies will be available from the registered office
of the Company and on the Company's website:
www.fidelity.co.uk/europe where up to date information on the
Company, including daily NAV and share prices, factsheets and other
information can also be found.
Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of
any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or
any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this
announcement.
ENDS