Smithson Investment Trust PLC Market Update 30.3.20 (date of AGM) (0930I)

TIDMSSON

RNS Number : 0930I

Smithson Investment Trust PLC

30 March 2020

Smithson Investment Trust plc (the "Company")

Market Update 30.3.20

Further to the Company's Annual General Meeting (AGM), held today, the Board has issued a statement regarding the performance of the trust during the period of market volatility caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

From January 1(st) 2020 up to and including the 26(th) March 2020, the net asset value (NAV) of the trust has fallen 8.4% while the reference equity index, the MSCI World Small and Midcap Index, is down 20.4%. In the same period, the Smithson Investment Trust share price is down 14.3% and is now trading at a discount to NAV for the first time.

Simon Barnard, portfolio manager, commented: "The portfolio has held up well in relative terms during this challenging period. Although we own one travel related company which has been hit hard by the reduction in flights and hotel stays, we also own several healthcare related companies, including a company which makes respiratory equipment, which have benefited from an increase in demand related to Covid-19. The high quality of the companies which we own, including the very low levels of debt within these companies, means that they should exit this crisis in a strong position.

We continue to have confidence in the long-term outlook for the companies in the portfolio and have used the opportunity of recent share price falls to selectively purchase more shares in those companies using the cash we had available."

Due to the current UK government advice not to travel, the manager did not attend the AGM, but will instead provide the annual presentation as a pre-recorded webcast which will be made available on the Smithson Investment Trust plc website (smithson.co.uk) later today.

The Company's LEI is: 52990070BDK2OKX5TH79.

Enquiries:

PraxisIFM Fund Services (UK) Limited

Company Secretary

Contact Guy Dixon or Martin Darragh

Tel: [phone]

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March 30, 2020 09:41 ET (13:41 GMT)