(Alliance News) - Law Debenture Corp PLC on Tuesday reported a rise in net asset value, despite citing challenges such as macroeconomic uncertainty and elevated interest rates.

The London-based investment trust and professional services business said NAV per share rose 5.4% to 802.67 pence at December 31 from 761.69p a year prior.

Law Debenture shares were 0.2% lower at 779.69 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.

The company reported a NAV total return of 8.1% for 2023. This outperformed its benchmark, the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index, which had a return of 7.9%.

Chair Robert Hingley said: "Law Debenture's long-term record of benchmark outperformance remains strong, with share price outperformance of the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index over the last five years of around 48%."

The company added that it expects the 2023 full-year dividend to rise by 4.9% to 32.0 pence per share from 30.5p in 2022.

Chief Executive Officer Denis Jackson said: "Law Debenture is resilient by design and has demonstrated strong performance over the short, medium and longer term. The combination of independent professional services with the investment portfolio offers additional flexibility in stock picking and is a well proven and differentiated model."

He added: "Despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty in 2024, I am cautiously optimistic about the company's prospects for this year and beyond. The investment portfolio is well diversified and attractively valued. Our ongoing investment in IPS leaves it well positioned for medium-term growth in-line with our mid to high single percentage target."

By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor

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