REG - Alliance Witan PLC - Half-year Report
01/08/2025 07:00
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RNS Number : 5093T Alliance Witan PLC 01 August 2025
Alliance Witan PLC ('the Company')
LEI: 213800SZZD4E2IOZ9W55
1 August 2025
Resilient investment performance through volatile period
Results for the six months ended 30 June 2025
Six months to 30 June 2025 Year to 31 December 2024 Change
Share Price 1,222.0p 1,244.0p -1.8%
Net Asset Value (NAV) per Share 1,281.9p 1,304.9p -1.8%
NAV Total Return -0.7% 13.3%
Total Shareholder Return -0.7% 14.3%
MSCI ACWI 0.6% 19.6%
Discount to NAV at period end -4.7% -4.7%
Key Points
· NAV Total Return of -0.7% and Total Shareholder Return of -0.7% vs
0.6% for MSCI ACWI.
· Discount remained stable at 4.7% and narrower than the industry and
the Association of Investment Companies' Global sector averages.
· Second interim dividend of 7.08p declared, the total of the first two
interim dividends declared for 2025 is 14.16p (2024: 13.24p), representing an
increase of 6.9% on the same payments for 2024.
· Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it is anticipated that the
Company's third and fourth interim dividends will be at least equal to the
first and second interim dividends, meaning that the annual dividend for 2025
will increase for the 59(th) consecutive year.
Dean Buckley, Chair of Alliance Witan PLC, commented:
"It has been a hectic six months, marked by volatility and shifting investor
sentiment, and I am pleased to report that the Company's investment
performance has remained resilient."
About Alliance Witan PLC
Alliance Witan aims to be a core investment that beats inflation over the long
term through a combination of capital growth and a rising dividend. The
Company invests in listed, global equities across a wide range of different
sectors and industries to achieve its objective. Our investment manager, WTW,
blends the top stock selections of some of the world's best active managers
into a single diversified portfolio designed to outperform the market while
carefully managing risk and volatility. Alliance Witan is an AIC Dividend Hero
with 58 consecutive years of rising dividends.
https://www.alliancewitan.com/ (https://www.alliancewitan.com/)
For more information, please contact:
Mark Atkinson, Ursula Delaney
WTW Teamspirit PR
Tel: 07918 724303 Tel: 07799 068141
Interim Report for the six months ended 30 June 2025 (unaudited)
Our Performance - Financial Highlights as at 30 June 2025
Share Price Net Asset Value ('NAV') Per Share
1,222.0p 1,281.9p
Share Price Total Return(1) NAV Total Return(1)
( ) ( )
-0.7% -0.7%
Discount to NAV(1) First Two Interim Dividends for 2025(2)
( ) ( )
4.7% 14.16p
1. Alternative Performance Measure.
2. Total dividends declared in the period.
3. for the six months ending 30 June 2025
Notes:
NAV Per Share including income with debt at fair value.
NAV Total Return based on NAV including income with debt at fair value and
after all costs.
Source: Morningstar and Juniper Partners Limited ('Juniper').
Chair's Statement
After a hectic six months, in which President Trump's on-off tariffs and
conflict in the Middle East caused considerable uncertainty and sharp swings
in equity markets, your Company's investment performance has remained
resilient. It produced a NAV Total Return of -0.7% in the six months to the
end of June, which lagged the return of 0.6% from our benchmark, the MSCI All
Country World Index, when measured in sterling. Returns from the index and the
portfolio in US dollars were much stronger, but the appreciation of sterling
versus the US dollar reduced the value of those returns when converted to
sterling.
Although discounts in the investment trust industry have started to narrow,
they remain wide by historical standards across much of the sector. Our
discount, however, continues to trade much narrower than the sector average
and has remained remarkably stable. It started and ended the period at 4.7%,
supported to some degree by buybacks of 4.9m shares, equivalent to 1.2% of the
number of shares in issue at the start of the period. Consequently, Total
Shareholder Return was the same as the NAV Total Return.
There were some notable shifts in the sources of return in the first half of
the year, with US growth stocks losing their market leadership in the first
quarter to better value opportunities in Europe and the UK, only for some to
recover in the second quarter and deliver strong returns over the full six
months as tariffs proved less draconian than feared.
It is somewhat encouraging to see a broadening out of returns from equity
markets, even if only within the first quarter, compared with the highly
concentrated drivers of recent years. However, share prices in the first half
of this year reacted to rolling news from Washington and abrupt shifts in
sentiment rather than corporate fundamentals.
We remain positive about the prospects for performance from here. In the
Annual Report we talked about a number of 'hidden gems' in the portfolio,
namely stocks which have been delivering strong earnings growth, although this
has yet to be fully reflected in the share prices. That is largely still true
today, six months into this year.
A full analysis of the Company's investment performance can be found in the
Investment Manager's Report on pages 9 to 13 of the interim report.
Second interim dividend
We have announced a second interim dividend for 2025 of 7.08p per share (2024:
6.62p). The total of the first two interim dividends declared for 2025 is
14.16p (2024: 13.24p), representing an increase of 6.9% on the same payments
for 2024. This level of dividend is well supported by the Company's investment
strategy and its significant distributable reserves, which stood at over
£3.5bn as at 30 June 2025.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it is anticipated that the Company's
third and fourth interim dividends will be at least equal to the first and
second interim dividends. This would result in a total dividend for the 2025
financial year of at least 28.32p per share which, based on the Company's
share price of 1,222.0p as at 30 June 2025, would represent an annual dividend
yield of 2.3% and a 6.1% increase over dividends paid for the financial year
ended 31 December 2024. The Company is, therefore, on track to deliver its
59th consecutive annual dividend increase.
Board changes
As announced to the market on 16 July 2025, Vicky Hastings stepped down as a
Non-Executive Director of the Company with effect from 31 July 2025.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Vicky for her enormous
contribution to the Company and wish her well in all her future endeavours.
Shareholder engagement
I am delighted to let you know that we will be holding an investor forum at
the office of our Investment Manager, WTW, in Lime Street, London on Thursday,
9 October 2025, when shareholders will be provided with an investment update
from WTW and will hear presentations from two of our Stock Pickers. An on-line
live feed will also be made available for shareholders unable to attend in
person. Shareholders wishing to attend the investor forum in person or view
the live feed will need to pre‑register. Further details of the investor
forum and how to register will be made available on the Company's website in
due course.
If you have not yet done so, I would encourage you to subscribe to receive the
quarterly newsletter, monthly factsheet and other news and events.
Outlook
With the returns from equities broadening out and if geopolitical tensions
continue to ease, we look forward to markets behaving more rationally. But
there are still many risks ahead, including slowing growth in the US, the
possibility of tariffs feeding through to higher inflation and further policy
surprises from the White House. With events moving so quickly and
unpredictably, we believe that this reinforces the need to keep gearing mostly
unchanged, to invest broadly and to focus on high-conviction stock picking to
add value.
The Board is confident this approach will ultimately produce better long term
returns for shareholders than chasing the latest macroeconomic trend or trying
to avoid the next obstacle. As the first half of the year showed, sentiment
and market leadership can shift quickly over short periods of time from one
investment style, sector or country to another and back again, but it's the
performance of individual companies that determine share prices in the long
run.
Dean Buckley
Chair
31 July 2025
Investment Manager's Report
Stock markets rebound after volatile start to 2025
Despite a dramatic sell-off in early April due to President Trump's
"Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, global equity markets staged a
remarkable recovery in the second quarter. They shrugged off both trade and
geopolitical concerns to end the first half of the year in euphoric mood, with
many indices at record highs, underpinned by resilient economic growth and
healthy corporate earnings. Although the second quarter bounce back was led by
'Big Tech' in the US, gains over the first half of the year were spread more
broadly, geographically and by sector. Over the half year, Europe was the
strongest performing market, followed by the UK, and the best performing
sectors were financial and industrial stocks, whereas previously dominant
technology stocks were flat in aggregate, although selective large-cap names
such as Meta and Microsoft delivered double digit returns. There were also
significant currency moves, with uncertainty about US policy contributing to a
weakening of the dollar, which fell approximately 9% against sterling. This
meant that returns from our benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index, in
sterling were more muted than returns denominated in US dollars (0.6% vs 10%),
as the pound's appreciation reduced dollar gains when converted back to
sterling.
Performance versus the index
Our portfolio trailed the market, with a NAV Total Return of -0.7%. With the
discount remaining stable, the Total Shareholder Return was the same as the
NAV Total Return.
Dalton's Japan positioning contributed
Of our eleven Stock Pickers, Dalton, our Japan specialist, was the standout
performer thanks to good stock selection. As anticipated when we added Dalton
to the portfolio, it benefitted from the significant progress made in
corporate governance reform, with more Japanese companies now adopting better
capital allocation strategies, as opposed to their historical habit of holding
excessive cash balances and investing in related businesses to reduce
competition and avoid hostile takeovers. Dalton is a disciplined value
investor which has actively bought undervalued businesses and pressurised them
to reform and focus on improving shareholder returns. Two of its holdings did
particularly well in the first half of the year: broadcaster Fuji Media
returned 93% on the back of a management overhaul after a sexual misconduct
case and increasing share buybacks; and, Square Enix, which makes video games,
such as Dragon Quest, rose 76%, after a Singapore-based activist investor
acquired a stake.
Sands, which specialises in quality growth investing, and Metropolis and
Lyrical, which both focus on finding value stocks, also boosted portfolio
returns. Sands' biggest contributors included Netflix, whose share price rose
37%, Cloudflare, the US internet infrastructure business, whose shares rose
66%, and the Latin American online commerce platform MercadoLibre, whose
shares gained 40%, all after reporting impressive financial performance.
Metropolis's biggest contributors included the Irish airline Ryanair (up 32%),
Andritz, the Austrian industrial group (up 38%), and the UK insurer Admiral
(up 28%). Among Lyrical's best performers were NRG Energy (up 64%), Johnson
Controls (up 23%), and HCA Healthcare (up 17%), all based in the US.
Our relative returns versus the index also benefitted from being underweight
the US generally and having only a small position in Apple, which is perceived
as vulnerable to tariffs.
GQG's defensive positioning detracted from returns
The weakest performing Stock Picker was GQG. It generally suffered from
shifting to what it calls "defensive growth" stocks in what, despite all the
upheavals, ended up being a risk-on environment, although GQG's holding in the
defensive tobacco company Phillip Morris, was one of the biggest contributors
to overall portfolio performance versus the index, rising 40%. Offsetting the
contribution from Phillip Morris were negative returns from the US brokerage
Interactive Brokers and utility Exelon. GQG believes we are still in the very
early innings in terms of the potentially negative economic impact of tariffs,
so remains wary of aggressive growth stocks.
Vulcan's holdings were also a significant drag on performance, notably
Skyworks (down 20%), and Salesforce (down 25%). Skyworks' share price suffered
after the company announced that its CEO was stepping down and that it was
losing its sole-supplier contract with Apple for an iPhone component,
prompting Vulcan to exit the position. Salesforce's shares fell after
reporting revenue below expectations and slower uptake of its new Artificial
Intelligence ('AI')-driven customer relationship management platform.
However, the biggest single stock detractors were Diageo, ICON and
UnitedHealth Group. Diageo, the UK-based drinks giant, has been hit by a
combination of factors including shifts in consumer habits, weak financial
results, and most recently tariffs. But Veritas and Metropolis, which both own
the stock, see Diageo as an attractive value opportunity. Metropolis points
out that the trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada, which exempts
alcoholic beverages from tariffs, remains in place. Scotch Whisky is governed
by the 10% tariff on UK imports (which Metropolis estimate would require only
a small 5% increase in retail price to retain USD margins). Metropolis has
been taking advantage of the stock's weakness to add to its position.
ICON, the Dublin-founded clinical research business, which is in the
industrial sector, faced headwinds from cancelled orders and revised down its
earnings guidance, prompting SGA to liquidate its position in the company
based on its uncertain outlook for growth. Healthcare stocks generally
underperformed in the first half due to the threat of caps on drug prices, but
UnitedHealth's 43% stock price decline was rooted in the company's
idiosyncratic difficulties, and notably the assassination in December of its
CEO Brian Thompson.
It reported disappointing first-quarter results, cut its profit forecast for
the year and suffered from leadership instability.
As a result, SGA decided to exit its position in UnitedHealth to fund a new
higher conviction investment in Universal Music Group, but Veritas remains
invested. Indeed, Veritas added to its position in May on share price
weakness, arguing that investors have overreacted to the company's current
difficulties and underestimate its long-term prospects. Vulcan also initiated
a position in UnitedHealth, which fits into its philosophy of buying high
quality businesses in a contrarian way on material price weakness.
Mixed results from stock picking
In theory, the less concentrated nature of returns should have benefited our
diversified strategy, which has similar country, sector and style exposures to
the index. But the last six months have been a highly unusual period from
which it would be rash to draw firm conclusions. In fact, you could say the
opposite: that it vividly illustrates the vulnerability of markets to
short-term mood swings and the need to remain focused on long term
opportunities. In such environments, we believe it's important to avoid
knee-jerk reactions. Pivoting the portfolio in response to volatility could
lead to better returns in the short term but it is unlikely to boost long term
returns, which rest on a robust Stock Picker selection framework and
diversification across complementary investment styles.
We have, therefore, retained the existing line up of Stock Pickers, only
making small adjustments to their capital allocations to keep the portfolio
balanced. Nevertheless, we regularly stress‑test the portfolio and will not
hesitate to make changes if required. So far this year, the biggest shifts in
the portfolio have been principally driven by the Stock Pickers' investment
selection.
Outlook: Will fundamentals outweigh geopolitical risks?
The outlook for stock markets over the rest of the year is finely balanced.
There are both bullish and bearish signals: strong earnings and a still
healthy economic backdrop supported by hoped-for reductions in interest rates
may support continued share price gains. But there are risks from slowing
growth in the US, high, and in some cases, frothy valuations, and tariffs.
Although the threat of a crippling trade war may have receded, tariffs are
still much higher than they were at the start of the year despite concessions.
There are also geopolitical issues simmering under the surface, such as the
war in Ukraine, and the Middle East is far from stable. In addition, Trump's
"One Big Beautiful Bill Act", which promises tax cuts, is making global bond
markets edgy about the size of the US government's budget deficit. This is
putting downward pressure on the dollar and nervousness about the deficit
could spill over into equity markets, although Trump argues that the revenue
generated by tariffs will more than pay for the Bill. Against this backdrop,
we expect continued market volatility, as the tug of war between bull and bear
market forces plays out.
Though unsettling, this volatility is likely to be a rewarding environment for
active managers. The increasing divergence of returns between countries,
sectors and investment styles creates opportunities for global managers with
the skill to identify fundamentally strong companies who are being under or
overpriced relative to their earnings power. We don't know what the future
holds. However, we strongly believe that stock selection, rather than
aggressive country or sector positions will deliver superior long-term returns
for shareholders, despite anticipated market turbulence.
Contribution to return six months to 30 June 2025 %
Benchmark total return 0.6
Asset allocation 0.3
Stock selection -0.9
Gearing and cash -0.3
Investment Manager impact -0.9
Portfolio total return -0.4
Share buybacks 0.1
Fees/expenses -0.2
NAV including income, debt at par -0.6
Change in fair value of debt -0.1
NAV including income, debt at fair value -0.7
Change in discount 0.0
Total shareholder return -0.7
Source: Performance and attribution data sourced from WTW, Juniper, MSCI,
FactSet and Morningstar as at 30 June 2025. Percentages may not add due to
rounding.
In aggregate, stock turnover was 46% of the portfolio, as the Managers
responded to sharp price changes in volatile markets. Typically, this meant
the Managers sold shares that quickly reached fair value and replaced them
with more attractively valued opportunities. The largest purchases and sales
undertaken by our Stock Pickers during the last six months are listed in the
tables below.
Top 10 largest net purchases - Six months to 30 June 2025 % of equity Net value
portfolio of stock
purchased purchased
(£m)
Taiwan Semiconductor 0.9 49.0
ServiceNow 0.8 42.8
Universal Music Group 0.8 40.7
Verizon Communications 0.7 36.0
ICICI Bank 0.7 35.4
Exelon 0.6 34.6
CME Group 0.6 32.6
Cigna 0.6 30.3
TotalEnergies 0.6 29.7
Chubb 0.5 27.6
Top 10 largest net sales - Six months to 30 June 2025 % of Equity Net value
portfolio of stock
sold sold
(£m)
VISA 1.2 63.3
Eli Lilly 1.0 54.8
Aon 0.8 43.1
Yum! Brands 0.8 42.9
Amazon 0.7 39.4
Autodesk 0.7 37.6
Workday 0.7 37.2
Danaher 0.7 36.4
Southern 0.7 35.4
CVS Health 0.6 32.3
Source: Juniper.
Craig Baker, Stuart Gray, Mark Davis
WTW
Investment Manager
Responsible Investment
As long-term investors, WTW incorporates environmental, social and governance
('ESG') factors into its investment process to manage financial risks. This
includes assessing how the Stock Pickers evaluate ESG risks in the stocks that
they purchase.
As well as engaging with companies on climate change, WTW's Stock Pickers,
together with stewardship provider EOS at Federated Hermes ('EOS'), focused on
a wide range of other issues over the past 6 months.
Overall, EOS engaged with 84 companies in the portfolio on 363 issues and
objectives over the past six months. Key areas of engagement included board
effectiveness, climate change, human and labour rights and human capital,
biodiversity, digital rights and AI. Of these engagements, the environmental
category accounted for 28.9% of the total number of engagements, with 59% of
environmental engagements relating to climate change. Meanwhile the Stock
Pickers cast votes on 3,252 resolutions during the first six months of 2025.
Of these resolutions, they voted against company management on 319 and
abstained from voting on 52 occasions.
How We Manage Our Risks
In order to monitor and manage risks facing the Company, the Board maintains
and regularly reviews a risk register and heat map. The risk register details
all principal and emerging risks thought to face the Company at any given
time. The principal risks facing the Company, as determined by the Board, are
Investment, Operational and Legal and Regulatory Non-Compliance.
As part of its review process, the Board considers input on the principal and
emerging risks facing the Company from its key service providers WTW and
Juniper. Any risks and their associated risk ratings are then discussed, and
the risk register and heat map updated accordingly, with additional measures
put in place to monitor, manage and mitigate risks as required. During the
period the Board carefully reviewed the risks associated with the
implementation of the combination and the post transaction integration risks.
Principal risks
The principal risks facing the Company, how they have changed during the first
six months of the year and how the Board aims to monitor and manage these
risks are detailed below.
Risk and potential impact Risk rating How we monitor and manage the risk
Market risk: loss on the portfolio in absolute terms, caused by economic and Stable · The Board sets investment guidelines and the Investment Manager
political events, interest rate movements and fluctuation in foreign exchange selects Stock Pickers and styles to provide diversification within the
rates. portfolio.
· The Board receives regular updates from the Investment Manager
and monitors adverse movements and impacts on the portfolio.
Investment performance: relative underperformance makes the Company an Stable · The Company's investment performance against its investment
unattractive investment proposition. objective, relevant benchmark and closed and open ended peer group are
reviewed and challenged where appropriate by the Board at every Board meeting.
· The Board receives regular reporting from the Investment Manager
to allow it to review the approach to ESG and climate risk factors embedded
within the investment process from the Company's perspective.
Strategy and market rating: demand for the Company's shares decreases due to Stable · The Board regularly reviews the share register and receives
changes in demand for the Company's strategy or secular changes in investor feedback from the Investment Manager and broker on all marketing and investor
demand. relations and shareholder meetings, to keep informed of investor sentiment and
how the Company is perceived in the market.
· The Board monitors the Company's share price discount and,
working with the broker undertakes periodic share buybacks as appropriate to
meet its strategic objective of maintaining a stable discount.
Capital structure and financial risk: inappropriate capital or gearing Stable · The Board receives regular updates on the capital structure of
structure may result in losses for the Company. the Company including share capital, borrowings, structure of reserves,
compliance with ongoing covenants and shareholder authorities, to allow
ongoing monitoring of the appropriate structure.
· The Board reviews and manages the borrowing limits under which
the Investment Manager operates. As part of the Witan combination, additional
borrowing was novated to the Company. These additional facilities provide an
increased blend of interest rates and maturity dates.
· Shareholder authority is sought annually in relation to share
issuance and buybacks to facilitate ongoing management of the share capital.
Operational
All of the Company's operations are outsourced to third party service Stable · The Board monitors the services provided by the key services
providers. Any failure in the operational controls of the Company's service suppliers and formally reviews the performance of each on an annual basis,
providers could result in financial, legal or regulatory and reputational including the review of audited internal control reports where appropriate. No
damage for the Company. material issues were raised during the first six months of 2025.
· Cyber security continues to be a key focus for the Board. Reports
on the cyber security, IT testing environment and disaster recovery testing of
Operational risks include cyber security, IT systems failure, inadequacy of each key service provider are reviewed by the Board annually.
oversight and control, climate risk and ineffective disaster recovery
planning. · Any breaches in controls which have resulted in errors or
incidents are required to be immediately notified to the Board along with
proposed remediation actions.
Legal and regulatory
Failure to adhere to all legal and regulatory requirements could lead to Stable · The Board has contracted with its key service suppliers,
financial and legal penalties, reputational damage and potential loss of including the Investment Manager and Juniper, in relation to its ongoing legal
investment trust status. and regulatory compliance. The Board receives quarterly reports from each
supplier to monitor ongoing compliance. The Company has complied with all
legal and regulatory requirements during the first six months of 2025.
· Any breaches in controls which have resulted in errors or
incidents are required to be immediately notified to the Board, along with
proposed remediation actions.
· The review of the Annual Report by the independent auditors
provides additional assurance that the Company has met all legal and
regulatory requirements in respect of those disclosures.
Emerging risks
Emerging risks are typified by having a high degree of uncertainty and may
result from sudden events, new potential trends or changing specific risks
where the impact and probable effect is hard to assess. As the assessment
becomes clearer, the risk may be added to the risk matrix of 'known' risks.
The Board is currently monitoring a number of emerging risks: geopolitical
tension continues to be an emerging risk for the Company due to ongoing
conflicts across the world. Along with increased populism and nationalism,
these risks may impact individual economies and global markets. Although
covered in the operational risk section above, the Board recognises the
increased risk that cybercrime and the misuse of AI poses to the Company.
Geopolitical events such as the conflicts in the Middle East region, coupled
with the potential breakdown of post-war alliances and potential new trade
tariffs and changes to US economic and international policies introduced by
President Trump, could bring further uncertainty and fragility to capital
markets during the second half of 2025, including persistent or reacceleration
of inflationary pressures.
Related party transactions
There were no transactions with related parties during the six months ended 30
June 2025.
Going concern statement
Having considered the resources of the Company over the next 12 month and
beyond, the Directors believe that the Company has adequate financial
resources to continue in existence for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the
Directors believe that it is appropriate to continue to adopt the going
concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
The factors impacting on going concern are set out in detail in the Company's
viability statement on pages 61 to 63 of the Annual Report for the year ended
31 December 2024. Factors considered included financial strength, investment,
liquidity, dividends, reserves, discount, significant risks, borrowings,
security and operations.
Responsibility Statement
We confirm to the best of our knowledge that:
· The condensed set of financial statements which have been prepared in
accordance with IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting" as adopted by the UK,
give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and
profit or loss of the Company as required by DTR 4.2.4 of the Disclosure,
Guidance and Transparency Rules;
· The interim management report includes a fair review of the
information required by:
(a) DTR 4.2.7R of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, being an
indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months
of the financial year and their impact on the condensed set of financial
statements, and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the
remaining six months of the year; and
(b) DTR 4.2.8R of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, being
related party transactions that have taken place in the first six months of
the current financial year and that have materially affected the financial
position or performance of the Company during that period, and any changes in
the related party transactions described in the Annual Report for the year
ended 31 December 2024 that could have a material effect on the financial
position or performance of the Company in the first six months of the current
financial year.
Signed on behalf of the Board
Dean Buckley
Chair
31 July 2025
Financial Statements
Condensed Income Statement (unaudited) for the period ended 30 June 2025
6 months to 30 June 2025 6 months to 30 June 2024 Year to
31 December 2024 (audited)
£000 Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
Income 51,960 - 51,960 35,554 320 35,874 72,463 354 72,817
(Losses)/gain on investments held at fair value through profit or loss - (49,125) (49,125) - 298,729 298,729 - 449,551 449,551
Losses on derivatives - - - - - - - (206) (206)
(Losses)/gains on fair value of debt - (7,579) (7,579) - 8,627 8,627 - 16,708 16,708
Total 51,960 (56,704) (4,744) 35,554 307,676 343,230 72,463 466,407 538,870
Investment management fees (2,029) (6,087) (8,116) (2,786) (6,435) (9,221) (5,381) (13,058) (18,439)
Administrative expenses (2,891) (188) (3,079) (1,786) (121) (1,907) (3,661) (281) (3,942)
Finance costs (2,123) (6,369) (8,492) (1,376) (4,127) (5,503) (3,221) (9,662) (12,883)
Foreign exchange losses - (11,130) (11,130) - (1,580) (1,580) - (1,010) (1,010)
Profit before tax 44,917 (80,478) (35,561) 29,606 295,413 325,019 60,200 442,396 502,596
Taxation (5,571) (247) (5,818) (2,872) (5,933) (8,805) (6,545) (5,348) (11,893)
Profit for the period/year 39,346 (80,725) (41,379) 26,734 289,480 316,214 53,655 437,048 490,703
All profit for the period/year is attributable to equity holders.
Earnings per share (pence per share) 9.87 (20.25) (10.38) 9.42 101.99 111.41 17.30 140.95 158.25
The Company does not have any other comprehensive income and hence profit for
the period/year, as disclosed above, is the same as the Company's total
comprehensive income.
All data provided for the 6 months to 30 June 2024 was published prior to the
combination of Alliance Trust and Witan Investment Trust which took place in
October 2024.
Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity (unaudited) for the period ended 30
June 2025
Distributable reserves
£000 Share Share premium account Capital Realised capital Unrealised capital reserve Revenue Total distributable reserves Total
capital
redemption reserve reserve
reserve
Balance at 1 January 2024 7,106 - 11,892 2,658,727 574,645 84,318 3,317,690 3,336,688
Total Comprehensive income:
Profit for the year - - - 458,122 (21,074) 53,655 490,703 490,703
Transactions with owners, recorded directly to equity:
Issue of ordinary shares in respect of the combination with Witan 3,024 1,535,877 - - - - - 1,538,901
Costs in relation to the combination - (4,947) - - - - - (4,947)
Ordinary dividends paid - - - - - (82,414) (82,414) (82,414)
Unclaimed dividends returned - - - - - 9 9 9
Own shares purchased - - - (56,987) - - (56,987) (56,987)
Balance at 31 December 10,130 1,530,930 11,892 3,059,862 553,571 55,568 3,669,001 5,221,953
2024 (audited)
Balance at 1 January 2024 7,106 - 11,892 2,658,727 574,645 84,318 3,317,690 3,336,688
Total Comprehensive income:
Profit for the period - - - 254,730 34,750 26,734 316,214 316,214
Transactions with owners, recorded directly to equity:
Ordinary dividends paid - - - - - (36,802) (36,802) (36,802)
Unclaimed dividends returned - - - - - 9 9 9
Own shares purchased - - - (20,427) - - (20,427) (20,427)
Balance at 30 June 2024 7,106 - 11,892 2,893,030 609,395 74,259 3,576,684 3,595,682
Balance at 1 January 2025 10,130 1,530,930 11,892 3,059,862 553,571 55,568 3,669,001 5,221,953
Total Comprehensive income:
Loss for the period - - - (52,593) (28,132) 39,346 (41,379) (41,379)
Transactions with owners, recorded directly to equity:
Ordinary dividends paid - - - - - (55,020) (55,020) (55,020)
Unclaimed dividends returned - - - - - 19 19 19
Own shares purchased - - - (58,009) - - (58,009) (58,009)
Balance at 30 June 2025 10,130 1,530,930 11,892 2,949,260 525,439 39,913 3,514,612 5,067,564
The £525.4m of unrealised capital reserve (30 June 2024: £609.4m; 31
December 2024: £553.6m) arising on the revaluation of investments and
borrowings is subject to fair value movements and may not be readily
realisable at short notice. As such it may not be entirely distributable. The
unrealised capital reserve includes unrealised gains on borrowings of £14.4m
(30 June 2024: £14.1m; 31 December 2024: £22.8m) and unrealised gains on
unquoted investments of £2.4m (30 June 2024: £nil; 31 December 2024: £3.5m)
which are not distributable.
Condensed Balance Sheet (unaudited) as at 30 June 2025
£000 30 June 2025 31 December 2024 (audited)
30 June 2024
Non-current assets
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss 5,321,019 3,750,562 5,402,381
5,321,019 3,750,562 5,402,381
Current assets
Outstanding settlements and other receivables 32,056 14,716 11,282
Cash and cash equivalents 116,782 115,546 182,725
148,838 130,262 194,007
Total assets 5,469,857 3,880,824 5,596,388
Current liabilities
Outstanding settlements and other payables (32,194) (14,983) (13,057)
Bank loans (46,180) (45,716) (45,245)
(78,374) (60,699) (58,302)
Total assets less current liabilities 5,391,483 3,820,125 5,538,086
Non-current liabilities
Fixed rate loan notes held at fair value (306,855) (206,517) (299,276)
Bank loans (15,000) (15,000) (15,000)
Deferred tax provision (2,064) (2,926) (1,857)
(323,919) (224,443) (316,133)
Net assets 5,067,564 3,595,682 5,221,953
Equity
Share capital 10,130 7,106 10,130
Share premium account 1,530,930 - 1,530,930
Capital redemption reserve 11,892 11,892 11,892
Capital reserve 3,474,699 3,502,425 3,613,433
Revenue reserve 39,913 74,259 55,568
Total equity 5,067,564 3,595,682 5,221,953
All net assets are attributable to equity holders.
Net asset value per ordinary share attributable to equity holders (£) 12.82 12.74 13.05
Condensed Cash Flow Statement (unaudited) for the period ended 30 June 2025
£000 6 months to Year to
30 June 2025 31 December 2024
6 months to (audited)
30 June 2024
Cash flows from operating activities
(Loss)/profit before tax (35,561) 325,019 502,596
Adjustments for:
Losses/(gains) on investments 49,125 (298,729) (449,551)
Losses on derivatives - - 206
Losses/(gains) on fair value of debt 7,579 (8,627) (16,708)
Foreign exchange losses 11,130 1,580 1,010
Finance costs 8,492 5,503 12,883
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital 40,765 24,746 50,436
Decrease/(increase) in receivables 1,556 837 (2,274)
(Decrease)/increase in payables (353) 94 (43)
Net cash inflow from operating activities before tax 41,968 25,677 48,119
Taxes paid (5,651) (6,221) (10,701)
Net cash inflow from operating activities 36,317 19,456 37,418
Cash flows from investing activities
Proceeds on disposal of investments 2,384,346 2,270,716 4,697,547
Purchases of investments (2,355,043) (2,244,807) (4,702,449)
Settlement of derivative financial instruments - - (206)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities 29,303 25,909 (5,108)
Net cash inflow before financing 65,620 45,365 32,310
Cash flows from financing activities
Dividends paid - equity (55,020) (36,802) (82,414)
Unclaimed dividends returned 19 9 9
Net cash acquired following combination with Witan - - 177,581
Costs paid in relation to the combination with Witan - - (4,947)
Purchase of own shares (58,009) (16,801) (56,987)
Repayment of bank debt - (59,000) (59,000)
Drawdown of bank debt - 104,874 104,874
Finance costs paid (8,257) (5,335) (12,033)
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financing activities (121,267) (13,055) 67,083
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents (55,647) 32,310 99,393
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period/year 182,725 84,974 84,974
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes (10,296) (1,738) (1,642)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of period/year 116,782 115,546 182,725
Notes to the Financial Statements
1. General information
The information contained in this Interim Report for the period ended 30 June
2025 does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 434 of the
Companies Act 2006. A copy of the statutory accounts for the year ended 31
December 2024 has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditor's
report on those financial statements was prepared under s495 and s496 of the
Companies Act 2006. The report was not qualified, did not contain an emphasis
of matter paragraph and did not contain statements under section 498(2) or (3)
of the Companies Act.
The interim financial results are unaudited and have not been reviewed by the
Company's auditors. They should not be taken as a guide to the full year.
2. Accounting policies
Basis of preparation
These condensed interim financial statements for the six months to 30 June
2025 have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 'Interim financial
reporting' and also in accordance with the measurement and recognition
principles of UK adopted international accounting standards ('IASs') but are
not the Company's statutory accounts. They include comparators extracted from
the Company's statutory accounts but do not include all of the information
required for full annual financial statements and should be read in
conjunction with the 2024 Annual Report and Accounts, which were prepared in
accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and in accordance
with UK-adopted international accounting standards. Those accounts have been
reported on by the Company's auditors and delivered to the Registrar of
Companies. The report of the auditor was (i) unqualified, (ii) did not include
a reference to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of
emphasis without qualifying their report and (iii) did not contain a statement
under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.
The Association of Investment Companies ('AIC') issued a Statement of
Recommended Practice: Financial Statements of Investment Companies ('SORP') in
July 2022. The Directors have sought to prepare the financial statements in
accordance with the AIC SORP where the recommendations are consistent with
IFRS. The Company qualifies as an investment entity.
Going concern
The Directors having assessed the principal and emerging risks of the Company
have, at the time of approving the financial statements, a reasonable
expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational
existence for at least 12 months from date of approval. The Company's assets,
the majority of which are investments in quoted equity securities and are
readily realisable, significantly exceed its liabilities. They therefore
continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the
financial statements. The Company's business activities, together with the
factors likely to affect its future development and performance are set out in
the Strategic Report of the Annual Report for the financial year ended 31
December 2024.
Segmental reporting
The Company has identified a single operating segment, the investment trust,
which aims to maximise shareholders returns. As such no segmental information
has been included in these financial statements.
Application of accounting policies
The same accounting policies, presentations and methods of computation are
followed in these financial statements as were applied in the Company's annual
audited financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2024.
3. Income
£000 6 months to 6 months to Year to
30 June 2025 30 June 2024 31 December 2024
Revenue:
Income from investments
Listed dividends - UK 8,228 4,651 10,125
Listed dividends - Overseas 43,191 30,083 60,838
51,419 34,734 70,963
Other income
Bank interest 532 798 1,475
Other income 9 22 25
541 820 1,500
Total allocated to revenue 51,960 35,554 72,463
Capital:
Income from investments
Listed dividends - UK - 23 23
Listed dividends - Overseas - 297 331
Total allocated to capital - 320 354
Total income 51,960 35,874 72,817
4. Investment management fees
The investment management fee in the period to 30 June 2025 is net of a fee
waiver of £3,997,000 (six months to 30 June 2024: £nil; year to 31 December
2024: £1,855,000).
Since 10 October 2024, the management fee has been allocated 25% to revenue
and 75% to capital (previously this split applied solely to the part of the
fee paid to the Investment Manager that related to investment management
services, with the fee relating to distribution services allocated wholly to
revenue. As noted in the Annual Report to 31 December 2024, such allowances
for distribution services are no longer incorporated within the management fee
and the Company instead pays such costs directly).
5. Dividends paid
6 months to 6 months to Year to 31
£000 30 June 2025 30 June 2024 December 2024
2023 fourth interim dividend of 6.34p per share - 18,003 18,003
2024 first interim dividend of 6.62p per share - 18,799 18,799
2024 second interim dividend of 6.62p per share - - 18,676
2024 third interim dividend of 6.73p per share - - 26,936
2024 fourth interim dividend of 6.73p per share 26,933 - -
2025 first interim dividend of 7.08p per share 28,087 - -
Total 55,020 36,802 82,414
Availability of Interim Report
The Interim Report will shortly be available to view on the Company's website
at www.alliancewitan.com
A copy of the Interim Report will shortly be submitted to the Financial
Conduct Authority's National Storage Mechanism and will be available for
inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism
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