Scottish Mortgage increases dividend despite underperformance

1.60p per share

The board of the £13.9bn Scottish Mortgage investment company is increasing the dividend by 5% from last year’s payment, despite a 15% decrease in the trust’s Net Asset Value in the six months to the end of September.

In its interim report published today (11 November), the board said the dividend of 1.60p per share would not have "any bearing" on investment decisions or "unduly constrain future capital appreciation". The call came as the company reported underperformance during the past six months, dropping over double the index, the FTSE All-Word, which fell 7% from the end of March. The largest holding of the trust is Moderna, and the managers Tom Slater and Lawrence Burns  stated that it was continuing to make progress. Moderna, which makes up 6.9% of the portfolio, was paid $250m by pharmac...