Nitl portfolio up 15.4 percent

The National Investment Trust Limited (Nitl), the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)-listed collective investment scheme, has registered a 15.4 percent growth in equity portfolio in the six months ended March 31 2012.

This is against the 12.75 percent jump in the domestic share index (DSI), the measure of domestic counters’ performance, on the MSE during the period.

But Nitl, in its interim results published on Monday, jointly signed by chairperson Dan Kamwaza and director Robert Mdeza, said the decline in dividend income is mainly a result of the change in timing of dividend declarations by investee companies.

Nitl invests in a diversified portfolio of MSE-listed shares and unlisted private securities with the intention of providing both income and capital growth for investors.

The company has interests in listed counters such as Illovo Sugar (Malawi) Limited, Standard Bank, National Bank of Malawi, Mpico Limited, NBS Bank, Press Corporation Limited (PCL) and TNM.

It also has interest in other non-listed companies; Auction Holdings Limited (AHL), Dairibord and Kang’ombe Investment.

In the year, the investment scheme posted a K294 million, a 419 percent increase from last year’s K56.7 million.

Nitl has not been spared from the effects of the recent 49 percent devaluation of the local currency and the three percentage points’ increase in the bank rate to 16 percent from 13 percent.

It said: “Following the devaluation of the Malawi kwacha and the increase in the bank rate, some counters are more exposed to increased risk and cost increases may outweigh income growth.”

The company’s assets have grown to K3 billion from K2.6 billion the year before, an increase of 15 percent.

Going forward, the company said despite the prevailing macroeconomic environment, it expects growth in dividend income arising from its core portfolio investment.

Based on the results, the company’s directors have approved an interim dividend of 30 tambala per share, up from 27 tambala the year before.