Caledonia has 'satisfactory' six months

Investment trust Caledonia Investments said it had outperformed the FTSE in the last six months and was boosting its dividend.

The company boasted 3.8% net asset value (NAV) total return over the six months to the end of September, which it said was "satisfactory" in the current economic climate.

This performance was driven by the quoted, unquoted and property pools, which produced strong investment returns over the half-year.

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Its Asia group took a hit, down 9.1% over the period, driven by a fall in the share price of Dewan Housing Finance.

The figures amounted to a 1.9% total return outperformance of NAV against the FTSE All-Share over the six month period.

However, over the last 12 months the trust has under-performed that benchmark by 6.7%.

Caledonia announced a 10.3% increase in interim dividend, which it said reflected continued growth in income from its portfolio.

"We will continue to execute our strategic plan, evidenced by the disposal of non-core assets, a reduction in the number of core investments and a strong increase in the level of income flowing from the portfolio," the statement said.

"The underlying performance of our portfolio is satisfactory considering the difficult economic times."