Monks to pay lower annual dividend to boost share buybacks

17.6% NAV total return

The Monks investment trust plans to pay a single annual dividend of 2.1p to shareholders after posting a net asset value total return of 17.6% for the year to 30 April 2024 compared to 19.1% for the FTSE World index.

In its annual report published today (2 July), Monks investment trust chair Karl Sternberg said the NAV growth came on the back of stronger results in the second half of the year. This performance saw a NAV total return of 21.6% at a share price total return of 28.5% compared to 16.6% from the index. The board of the trust said it will pay shareholders 2.1p in dividends this year, which is lower than the 3.15p the year before. This decision was made to enable further buybacks and close the vehicle's discount trading. Since January 2022, Monks has spent £406m to buy back 39 million in ...