Midas trust beats its benchmark

The trust’s unaudited results for the period between August 19, 2005 and April 30, 2006 show that the total return on net asset value was 8.9 per cent compared with the benchmark return of 8 per cent, which equates to 6.3 per cent over the period.

The share price rose by 14.8 per cent, rising to 16.8 per cent with net dividends reinvested.

A C-share issue in February doubled the size of the trust and, along with a 0.2 per cent reduction in the annual charge, has resulted in the total expense ratio falling from 2.7 to 2.2 per cent or 2.5 per cent including performance fees.

The results show that the previous discount to NAV has disappeared, with the trust trading at a 2.5 per cent premium to NAV at the end of the financial year. The trust now has shareholder approval for a 14.99 per cent share buyback policy to manage widening discounts in the future.

Head of business development David Thomas says: “We are very pleased with the performance of the trust since Midas took over. The fund is managed to an absolute return benchmark of 8 per cent a year, which we have outperformed.”