Alliance fares better against the competition

Alliance Trust has announced a record increase in its 2011 dividend following a recovery from a poor 2010.

The full year dividend will be 9p per share, a 7.2% rise on the prior year and will be covered by current year earnings.

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The comparatives are more flattering than the actual numbers with the NAV per share dropping 7.6% to 405.8p during 2011. The share price during the year dropped 5.8% to 342.8p by the end of December. A steady rally since then has seen Alliance gain 8% to hit 369p, although, following today's results, the stock had dropped 0.5% by 09:06.

The firm's Chief Executive, Katherine Garrett-Cox, said she was "pleased" with the comparative performance against Alliance's peers and emphasised the significant dividend boost.

While acknowledging volatility in equity markets she said: "in certain cases corporate balance sheets look extremely robust and there are opportunities out there to invest in world class companies at attractive valuations."

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