The £200 million Aberdeen Equity Income Trust plc said its share price total return was 25.7% and net asset value (NAV) total return was 21.8%, both significantly ahead of the FTSE All-Share Index return of 16.2%, for the year ended September 30, 2025.
Total dividend for the year increased slightly to 23p per share, marking the 25th consecutive year of growth.
Aberdeen Equity Income Trust portfolio manager Thomas Moore wrote: “Our Top 10 holdings in Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco each surged over 50% as the market recognised their success in generating cash flow from their core businesses, underpinning attractive dividends, share buybacks and investment in new categories. We also benefited from not owning Diageo and Unilever whose share prices fell in response to weak trading announcements.
“Construction: Galliford Try was the single biggest contributor to performance at a stock level in response to stronger than expected results, highlighting a growing order book and continued progress towards their 4% operating margin target.
“Energy: The Ithaca Energy share price more than doubled in response to stronger than expected production, supporting one of the largest dividends in the market. The stock was also supported by speculation that the Government may reform the Energy Profit Levy in support North Sea employment and energy security.
“Financials: The Company’s holding in Petershill Partners moved sharply upwards after a bid from Goldman Sachs at a 34% premium. International Personal Finance also rose on the announcement of a bid offer from private equity. OSB responded well to a series of positive trading updates and a plan to diversify into adjacent lending niches.
“Healthcare: We avoided the sector completely during a period of significant regulatory and political upheaval, seeing better opportunities elsewhere.
“The largest detractors to performance were:
“Consumer Discretionary: The Company’s holdings in Berkeley Group and Barratt Redrow detracted from performance as the market responded badly to evidence of slowing volumes due to the sluggish macro backdrop and the slow pace of regulatory and planning reform.
“Aerospace & Defence: Performance suffered from being underweight this sector at a time of severe geopolitical tensions. Not owning Rolls Royce hit relative performance by nearly 2 percentage points.
“Non-life insurance: The positive contribution from Financials was partially offset by Conduit which fell on news of larger than expected losses, in particular those relating to the Californian wildfires.”