Jupiter Emerging and Frontier celebrates good year – Jupiter Emerging and Frontier Markets has published results for the year ended 30 September 2019. The share price and NAV total returns were +4.0% and +10.5%, respectively. This compares with a total return of +3.7% for the benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The dividend was increased by 9.5% to 4.6p.Once the interim dividend for the 2018/19 financial year of 2.4 pence per share has been paid to shareholders on 17 January 2020, the intention is to adopt a system of four approximately equal dividends annually, to be paid in January, April, July and October.
The board is disappointed that the discount widened – from a 0.8% premium to a 5.4% discount over the period. It is 4.5% today. We discussed this in our last note on the company – Unjustified discount . Extract from manager’s report
[ we love how detailed this is – it helps investors a lot when managers explain their thinking ]
“ Positive contributors to performance included Taiwan chip designer, Mediatek, Indian refiner and fuel marketing company, HPCL, Taiwan electrical component supplier, Bizlink and East African bank, KCB. Detractors from performance included South African health and wellness products company, Ascendis, and Bank of Georgia.
Mediatek was one of the best performing holdings in the portfolio over the period, rising by over 55% in sterling terms. As the world’s number two mobile phone chipset designer after Qualcomm, the company is very well positioned to capitalise on rising demand for 5G handsets. Our recent discussions with the company and other firms within the technology sector lead us to expect that sales and margins should both rise materially for Mediatek in 2020 on the back of new products, higher average selling prices and better volumes.
For HPCL, our long-term investment thesis is premised on increasing profitability and good growth prospects across multiple divisions, including refining, pipelines, branded lubricants and fuel retailing. Strong performance over the period was driven by several factors, including the cuts to Indian corporate tax rates, announced by the government in September of this year. HPCL will see a material benefit, as its tax rate will fall from 35% to 25% under new rules. Additionally, expectations of improving refining margins and the potential sale of stakes in domestic refining and marketing businesses to international buyers helped attract new buyers into the stock.
Bizlink, which supplies […]
