Herald Investment Trust praises Super Micro Computer as performance up
Herald Investment Trust PLC on Thursday said it believes it can achieve excellent returns as it posted a solid increase in net asset value amid a boom in artificial intelligence.
The London-based investment trust focused on technology, media and communications said net asset value per share as at December 31 rose 12% to 2,488.2 pence from 2,219.2p a year prior.
NAV total return was 12% in 2024, up from 5.7% a year ago and beating its comparative index, Deutsche Numis Smaller Cos plus AIM excluding investment companies, which had a return of 5.0%.
‘Two stocks in particular, Super Micro Computer and Celestica, generated much of the performance,’ Herald highlighted.
Super Micro Computer Inc is a San Jose, California-based technology firm, while Celestica Inc is a Toronto, Canada-based company dedicated to deliver end-to-end product lifecycle solutions.
Herald added: ‘The strong performance in North America was driven mainly by the holdings with exposure to the boom in artificial intelligence related investment. The UK, however, was held back by the very weak performance of the AIM market, stocks on which account for the majority of the UK portfolio. The weakness in AIM was driven in part by the anticipation, following the change of government at the general election, that inheritance tax relief for AIM stocks would be withdrawn. In the event IHT relief was halved in the chancellor’s UK budget in October.’
Herald recommends no dividend for 2024, unchanged from 2023.
Looking ahead, the company said: ‘The board continues to believe that an active manager with the right skills and experience can achieve excellent returns in this sector. To keep pace with the evolution of what constitutes the smaller quoted companies market globally, the board has agreed with the Manager that investments in new positions can be made in companies capitalised at up to $5 billion, compared with up to $3 billion before.’
Herald shares were marginally higher at 2,331.13 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.
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