JPMorgan China Growth & Income PLC on Monday said it swung to pretax profit in the first half of the financial year, as total return on assets grew positive from a year ago.
The investor in Chinese companies on Monday said it recorded first half pretax return of £9.2 million in the six months to March 31 compared to a £30.6 million loss a year ago.
First half total return on net assets was 4.2%, swung from negative 13% a year ago but lower than the benchmark MSCI China Index return of 10.4% in the same period.
Net asset value per share rose to 278.8 pence from 234.5p.
Chair Alexandra Mackesy commented: ‘While the short-term performance is certainly disappointing when compared with the company’s benchmark, it should be noted that much of the rise of the MSCI China Index during the period was again driven by value stocks, particularly state controlled financial companies.’
‘The company’s disciplined portfolio managers focus on the long-term prospects of quality growth companies, which lagged behind. We note that, over the longer term, our company has made positive absolute returns, outperforming the benchmark over ten years.’
Total dividends in the half totalled 5.46 pence, down from 5.52p in the first half of 2024. The annual dividend for the year ending September 30 will be 10.92p per share compared to 11.04p in 2024.
Portfolio Managers Rebecca Jiang, Howard Wang and Li Tan added: ‘We have adapted the portfolio to reflect new realities and are comfortable that our holdings are either concentrated in domestically focused businesses with immunity from tariffs, or in exporters that have strong pricing power and well-diversified supply chains and are thus well-positioned to weather the challenges presented by higher tariffs.’
‘In addition, the portfolio is positioned to benefit from China’s evolving regulatory landscape, which now prioritises a pro-entrepreneurs and pro-equities stance . The long-term outlook is bolstered by resilient entrepreneurial innovation, particularly in technology-driven sectors . Combined with policy makers’ renewed balance between fostering growth and modifying excess capacity, these dynamics support a constructive trajectory for growth-oriented equities.’
JPMorgan China Growth & Income shares closed up 0.2% at 225.00p in London on Monday.
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