Murray International Trust reports strong full-year gains

(Sharecast News) - Murray International Trust reported strong gains in 2025, with both net asset value and share price returns outperforming its benchmark as global equities rallied despite a volatile geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop. The London-listed global equity income trust delivered a net asset value total return of 21.9% for the year ended 31 December, while the share price total return was 36.0%.

That compared with a 12.6% total return from its benchmark and a 4.2% rise in the UK Retail Price Index.

Net asset value per share rose 16.9% to 325.4p, while the share price climbed 30.1% to 335.0p.

Total assets increased to £2.03bn from £1.79bn and net assets rose to £1.92bn from £1.68bn.

Market capitalisation reached £1.98bn, up from £1.55bn a year earlier.

"By almost any metric, this has been a strong year for your Company which has delivered robust absolute and relative performance," said chair Virginia Holmes.

"The net asset value total return was 21.9%, while the share price total return was 36.0%, compared with a benchmark total return of 12.6%."

The trust's shares moved from trading at a 7.5% discount to net asset value at the end of 2024 to a 3.0% premium by the end of 2025 as demand strengthened.

During the year the company repurchased 12.9 million shares at a cost of £35.1m when they traded at a discount, which increased NAV per share by 0.16%.

Since the year-end it had also sold more than 1.5 million shares from treasury at a premium to NAV.

Performance was driven by the portfolio's diversified global exposure, particularly holdings outside the United States.

Strong contributors included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Singapore Telecommunications, Broadcom, Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco.

Taiwan Semiconductor reported a 31.6% rise in annual revenue to TWD 3.81trn, while Singtel posted a 9% increase in underlying net profit to SGD 2.47bn.

Broadcom recorded consolidated revenue of $64bn, while Philip Morris continued to expand reduced-risk and smoke-free products, which now accounted for around 40% of revenue.

British American Tobacco also delivered strong results, with cost savings expected to exceed £1.2bn by year-end.

Healthcare and alcohol producers were among the weakest performers in the portfolio, including Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Diageo and Pernod Ricard.

Revenue generation also strengthened, with revenue return per share rising to 13.9p from 11.6p, supported by portfolio income increasing to £95.9m from £84.2m.

The board recommended a final dividend of 4.6p per share, up from 4.3p a year earlier, bringing the total dividend for the year to 12.4p compared with 11.8p in 2024.

Dividend cover improved to 1.12 times from 0.98 times, and the company's revenue reserves increased to £85.4m.

Holmes said the dividend would be fully funded from revenue generated during the year and reiterated the trust's commitment to a progressive dividend policy.

The trust adopted the MSCI ACWI High Dividend Yield Index as its benchmark from 1 July 2025 following a review by the board, replacing the FTSE All-World Index reference benchmark.

Net gearing stood at 4.4% at year-end compared with 6.1% a year earlier, with total borrowings unchanged at £110m in unsecured fixed-rate sterling loan notes maturing from 2031 onwards.

The weighted cost of borrowing was 2.56%.

Looking ahead, Holmes said the global investment environment was likely to remain volatile as geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty persisted.

However, she added that a disciplined global income strategy should continue to provide opportunities for long-term investors.

"Against this backdrop, we believe that a disciplined, diversified, and truly global income-focused strategy, remains well positioned to support long-term wealth creation for shareholders," she said.

At 1052 GMT, shares in Murray International Trust were up 0.23% at 353.81p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.