| Murray Inc Trust PLC – Update on Transition of Portfolio HoldingsDate/Time:02/04/2026 07:00:20 ▼ |
Murray Income Trust PLC (“the Company”)
2 April 2026
Update on Transition of Portfolio Holdings
The Board of Murray Income Trust PLC, the FTSE 250 investment company with net assets of approximately £911 million1, is pleased to announce that, having taken over management of the company on 2 March, as of 31 March Artemis Fund Managers Limited had completed 98.7% of the portfolio transition. This reflects change of approximately 75% of the portfolio.
Peter Tait, Chair of Murray Income Trust, said: “The investment management team at Artemis has been successfully repositioning the portfolio of the Company over the past month despite the very considerable level of volatility in markets resulting from the Middle East conflict.”
Artemis fund manager Andy Marsh said: “During periods of market dislocation we retain our focus on good companies run by good management teams.
“The key is that the businesses are generating sufficient cash – after paying down costs – to leave enough both to pay a dividend to shareholders and fund future investment in their business.”
The portfolio transition will be complete shortly. The top 20 holdings and sector positioning are shown below.
Artemis has also increased net gearing in the portfolio from around 5.3% as at the end of February to 7.0% as at end of March.
At 31 March, the NAV per share (debt at fair value) is 966p and discount to NAV is 8.6%.
Artemis has waived its investment management fee until 2 December 2026.
1 As at 31 March 2026
| Top 20 Holdings | Portfolio % |
| Tesco | 5.1 |
| GSK | 4.9 |
| Lloyds | 4.6 |
| NatWest | 4.5 |
| Aviva | 4.5 |
| Imperial Brands | 4.4 |
| BP | 4.1 |
| Barclays | 3.9 |
| Informa | 3.7 |
| Pearson | 3.7 |
| IG Group | 3.4 |
| LSEG | 3.2 |
| RELX | 3.1 |
| Shell | 2.9 |
| Smith & Nephew | 2.8 |
| Legal & General | 2.7 |
| AstraZeneca | 2.7 |
| 3i | 2.6 |
| SSE | 2.6 |
| Segro | 2.6 |
There are currently 46 holdings in the portfolio, with an expected range of 40-65 going forward. 72.0% of the portfolio is currently accounted for by the top 20 holdings.
| Sector | Portfolio % |
| Financials | 33.7 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 20.8 |
| Consumer Staples | 14.6 |
| Health Care | 12.1 |
| Energy | 7.4 |
| Industrials | 7.3 |
| Real Estate | 4.3 |
| Technology | 4.1 |
| Basic Materials | 2.6 |
| Utilities | 2.6 |
Sources: Artemis as at 31 March 2026
Dividend
The dividend for the year ended 30 June 2025 was increased by 3.9% to 40.0p per share, the 52nd year of consecutive dividend growth. First and second interim dividends of 9.5p per share for the year to 30 June 2026, with pay dates of 11 December 2025 and 12 March 2026 respectively, have been announced. The third and fourth interim dividends have yet to be declared but are expected to result in total dividends for the year ended 30 June 2026 exceeding 40.0p per share.
As noted at this time last year, the Board is aware that listed stocks, in which the Company invests, are currently making greater use of share buybacks. In the main, this is in addition to paying dividends but, in several cases, they are being used as a substitute for dividends. According to Computershare, UK dividends were £88bn and share buybacks were £64bn during calendar year 2025. Whilst this might put pressure on dividend growth in the short term, it is also a sign that UK companies believe that there is good value to be had in their own shares. This bodes well for future market returns as, indeed, was the case during 2025 when the UK FTSE All-Share increased by 24.0%. Such share buybacks also enhance the earnings per share of the underlying companies, potentially giving them more scope for dividend increases in future years.
27/02/26
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