REG - City of Lon Inv Grp - SIX MONTH TRADING UPDATE AND DIVIDEND DECLARATION

City of London InvestmentAnnouncement

22/01/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240122:nRSV3692Aa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 3692A  City of London Investment Group PLC  22 January 2024

City of London Investment Group PLC

22 January 2024



 

 CITY OF LONDON INVESTMENT GROUP PLC

("City of London", "the Group" or "the Company")

 

FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT ("FuM") AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023,

SIX MONTHS TO 31 DECEMBER 2023 TRADING UPDATE AND DIVIDEND DECLARATION

 

City of London (LSE: CLIG), a leading specialist asset management group
offering a range of institutional and retail products investing primarily in
closed-end funds (CEFs), announces that on a consolidated basis, as at 31
December 2023, FuM were US$9.6 billion. This compares with US$9.4 billion at
the Group's year end on 30 June 2023.  A breakdown by strategy follows:

 

         FuM ($ million)                                Strategy Index
         Dec-23      Jun-23  %               Net                                      %
         (estimate)          increase/       Flows                                    increase/
                             (decrease)                                               (decrease)
 EM      3,578       3,580   0%              (171)      MSCI EM Net TR                4.7%
 KIM     3,618       3,520   3%              (46)       Not applicable
 INTL    2,004       1,983   1%              (90)       MSCI ACWI ex US               5.6%
 OV      278         244     14%             15         ACWI/Barclays Global Agg      5.8%
 Other*  98          97      1%              (2)
         9,576       9,424                   (294)

* includes Frontier, REIT and seed investments

Funds under Management figures are rounded

 

IM Performance

 

Relative investment performance of the Group's strategies was mainly positive
over the period, with OV and Fixed Income strategies outperforming,
International Equity neutral and EM slightly negative. Significant CEF
discount widening through late 2023 was partly reversed in Q4 which helped
relative performance into year-end while NAV performance was positive.

 

Over the six-month period, there were net outflows of circa US$294 million
across the Group's strategies, led by EM redemptions at CLIM and required
minimum distributions for KIM clients at year end.

 

Marketing and sales activity has picked up significantly in January as clients
and prospects review their investment allocations. We are focused on new
mandates in a number of the Group's asset classes with very good long-term
performance as CEF discounts are at compelling levels and there is ample
capacity.

 

Operations

 

The Group's income currently accrues at a weighted average rate of
approximately 70 basis points, net of third party commissions. "Fixed" costs
are c. US$2.3 million per month, and accordingly the current run-rate for
operating profit before profit-share is approximately US$3.2 million per
month based upon current FuM.

 

The Group has proactively undertaken cost reductions as part of normal
operations reflecting the current market environment. Based on actions
initiated to date, savings of c. US$2.5 million of costs per annum will be
fully realised in the next financial year.

 

The Group estimates the unaudited profit before amortisation and taxation for
the six months ended 31 December 2023 to be approximately US$13.9 million (six
months ended 31 December 2022: US$13.8 million, restated in USD based on
average exchange rate).

 

Inclusive of our regulatory and statutory capital requirements, cash and cash
equivalents stood at US$28.8 million at the end of the calendar year (US$28.6
million as at 30 June 2023, restated in USD based on closing exchange rate),
in addition to the seed investments of US$2.4 million. Our cash reserves will
allow us to continue managing the business conservatively through volatile
markets while following our dividend policy for our shareholders.

 

The Company is currently in a close period which will end with the publication
of results for the six months ended 31 December 2023 on 23 February 2024.

 

Dividend

 

The Board declares an interim dividend of 11p per share, which will be paid on
28 March 2024 to shareholders registered at the close of business on 1 March
2024 (2022: 11 pence).

 

Shareholders may choose to reinvest their dividends using the company's
Dividend Reinvestment Plan, to do this please visit www.signalshares.com
(http://www.signalshares.com) or if you hold your shares through a broker
please contact them. The deadline to lodge your election is 8 March 2024.

 

The Board confirms the following interim dividend timetable:

 

 ·     ex-dividend date:                                         29 February 2024
 ·     dividend record date:                                     1 March 2024
 ·     DRIP election date/ deadline for currency election:       8 March 2024
 ·     announcement of USD dividend conversion                   14 March 2024
 rate:
 ·     dividend payment date:                                    28 March 2024

 

City of London Investment Group is a UK registered company, listed on the
London Stock Exchange and declares its dividends in GBP.  Shareholders based
in the US can elect to receive dividends in USD, should they wish to do so.
The currency conversion rate from GBP to USD will be fixed two weeks before
the dividend payment date. The currency election form can be found on our
website at
https://clig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Currency-Election-Form-2022.pdf
(https://clig.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Currency-Election-Form-2022.pdf)

 

Alternatively, overseas shareholders may be able to use the International
Payment Service (IPS) and receive dividend payments direct to their bank
account in local currency. Further information regarding the IPS including
terms and conditions, costs and forms for signing up are available from Link
Group at https://ww2.linkgroup.eu/ips (https://ww2.linkgroup.eu/ips) .

 

Dividend cover template

 

Please see dividend cover template attached here.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3692A_1-2024-1-20.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3692A_1-2024-1-20.pdf)

 

The dividend cover template shows the quarterly estimated cost of dividend
against actual post-tax profits for last year, the current six months and the
assumed post-tax profit for the remainder of the current year and the next
financial year based upon specified assumptions.

 

 

For further information, please visit http://www.clig.com/
(http://www.clig.co.uk/) or contact:

 

Tom Griffith, CEO

City of London Investment Group PLC

Tel: 001-610-380-0435

 

Martin Green / James Hornigold

Zeus Capital Limited

Financial Adviser & Broker

Tel: +44 (0)20 3829 5000

 

This release includes forward-looking statements, which may differ from actual
results.  Any forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and
assumptions, which may prove incorrect, and are subject to risks,
uncertainties and assumptions relating to future events, the Group's
operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTPPUAWGUPCGPU