Law Debenture Results 2022: Multiple award wins and share price outperformance over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years

Highlights:

·	Share price total return marginally outperformed the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index with a total return of 0.4% for 2022.
·	NAV total return with debt and Independent Professional Services (“IPS”) business at fair value for FY 2022 of 0.6% (-6.8% with debt at par).
·	Another period of consistent performance from IPS with net revenue increasing by 8.6%, profit before tax up by 8.1% and valuation up 18.7% to a record £201.7 million.
·	The Company issued 5.2 million new Ordinary Shares at a premium to NAV during 2022, to existing and new investors, with net proceeds of £41.4 million to support ongoing investment.
·	Continued low ongoing charges of 0.49%[1]^, compared to the industry average of 1.04%[2].

[1] Calculated based on data held by Law Debenture for the year ended 31 December 2022.

[2] Source: Association of Investment Companies (AIC) industry average as at 31 December 2022.

Winner of Investment Week's UK Equity Income Investment Trust of the Year for 2022 (second year running); winner in UK Equity – Active category at the AJ Bell Fund and Investment Awards 2022 and winner for Best Investment Trust for Income at the 2022 Shares Awards.

"Law Debenture aims to provide a steadily increasing income for our shareholders whilst achieving long-term capital growth in real terms. In 2022, we have continued to make progress, exemplified through an IPS valuation uplift and another good increase in our full-year dividend of 5.2%. I am pleased with the consistent long-term outperformance of the share price total return of our benchmark. We are confident that, in the long term, the combination of a robust and well-positioned equity portfolio and continued growth in our IPS business will deliver attractive returns for our shareholders."
Robert Hingley, Chairman

Dividend Highlights

·	2022 full year dividend increased by 5.2% to 30.5 pence per Ordinary Share (2021: 29.0 pence per Ordinary Share).
·	Dividend yield of 3.7% (based on our closing share price of 827 pence on 24 February 2023), proposed Q4 dividend of 8.75 pence per Ordinary Share.
·	7.91% CAGR in dividends over last ten years reflecting strong IPS cashflow and good portfolio performance.

Investment Portfolio Highlights

·	Consistent share price and NAV (with IPS and debt at fair value) outperformance of the benchmark over three, five and ten years (see table below).
·	Strong long-term record with share price total return outperforming FTSE Actuaries All-Share over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years.
·	Revenue from the portfolio of £34.4m (December 2022: £26.2m), representing growth of 31%.

	1 year %	3 years %	5 years %	10 years %
NAV total return[1] (with IPS at fair value and debt at par)	(6.8)	16.8	30.3	141.5
NAV total return³ (with IPS and debt at fair value)	0.6	26.0	39.9	154.6
FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index Total Return⁴	0.3	7.1	15.5	88.2
Share price total return[2]	0.4	37.7	51.6	161.2
Change in Retail Price Index[3]	13.4	23.5	29.6	46.0

[1] NAV is calculated in accordance with the AIC methodology, based on performance data held by Law Debenture including fair value of the IPS business and long-term borrowings. NAV is shown with debt measured at par and with debt measured at fair value and both total returns account for shareholder returns through dividends.

[2] Source: Refinitiv.

[3] Source: Office for National Statistics.

IPS Highlights

·	The Company’s leading wholly-owned independent provider of professional services is a key differentiator to other investment trusts.
·	Accounts for c.21% of 2022 NAV but has funded approximately 34% of dividends paid by the Company in the last 10 years.
·	IPS has now delivered five consecutive years of growth with a 5 year net PBT CAGR of 8.2% and a 2022 valuation of £201.7 million up 113% since 2017.

Longer Term Track Record

·	134 years of history with a long-term track record of valuation creation for shareholders.
·	114% aggregate increase in the dividend over the last 10 years (7.91% CAGR).
·	44 years of increasing or maintaining dividends to shareholders.

“2022 has been a creditable overall year for Law Debenture despite the continued macroeconomic uncertainty. Capital has largely been preserved in a year when many global stock markets fell sharply, and we had our 44th year of maintaining or increasing dividends. Law Debenture is resilient by design. The combination of IPS with the Investment Portfolio offers strong flexibility in stock picking and is a well proven model. Though we are cognisant that 2023 will present challenges, I am cautiously optimistic about the Company’s progress this year and beyond, and our ongoing investment in IPS leaves it well positioned for medium-term growth in-line with our mid to high single percentage target.”
Denis Jackson, Chief Executive Officer

Investment Portfolio

Our portfolio of investments is managed by James Henderson and Laura Foll of Janus Henderson Investors.

Our objective is to achieve long-term capital growth in real terms and steadily increasing income. The aim is to achieve a higher rate of total return than the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index Total Return through investing in a diversified portfolio of stocks.

Independent Professional Services

We are a leading provider of independent professional services, built on three excellent foundations: our Pensions, Corporate Trust and Corporate Services businesses. We operate internationally, with offices in the UK, New York, Ireland, Hong Kong, Delaware and the Channel Islands.

Companies, agencies, organisations and individuals throughout the world rely upon Law Debenture to carry out our duties with the independence and professionalism upon which our reputation is built.

For the full Annual Financial Report click here.

For media enquiries please contact:

Tulchan Communications (Financial PR): +44 (0)20 7353 4200
David Allchurch
Stephanie Mackrell