Investment Trusts Discount

Discount Watch

We estimate there to be eight investment companies trading at a 52-week high discounts this week – including Octopus Renewables Infrastructure and Finsbury Growth & Income. Do their appearance herald another rough patch for the renewables and UK equity income sectors or are company-specific reasons the driver?

ByFrank Buhagiar•28 May, 2024•

We estimate that eight investment companies saw their discounts hit 12-month highs over the course of the week ended Friday 24 May 2024 – one more than the previous week’s seven.

Not much change in terms of the headline number, but two new additions to the list of 52-week high discounters worth mentioning. Firstly, Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT). For having dominated the list earlier this year, renewable energy infrastructure companies have seen their share prices bounce off their year-high discounts. So much so that, for the past few weeks, there has not been a renewable energy infrastructure company in sight on the Discount Watch List. So does, ORIT’s reappearance herald another rough patch for the sector or is there a company-specific reason at play here?  ORIT’s share price turned lower from mid-May onward, around the time the company announced it was no longer considering a possible combination with Aquila European Renewables (AERI). The market expressing its disappointment at the failed union perhaps?

Next up, Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT). As with renewables, UK equity income trusts had, up until recently, been a feature but their numbers too have dwindled. Publication of FGT’s latest monthly factsheet on 15 May appears to be the driver, specifically the performance table. NAV/share price off -3.0%/-3.2% respectively during the month of April. The index by contrast was up +2.5%. Another company-specific reason as opposed to a sector-wide issue?

The top-five discounters

The full list