RIT Capital Partners profits after reducing US exposure

Investment trust RIT Capital Partners said it made £151m in profits before dividends of £23m in the last six months.

The group said its total return for the first half of the year was 6.4%, while its share price was up by 11.8% on a total return basis while net assets were up to £2.43bn from £2.3bn.

RIT said it would pay another 15p dividend on 23 October to shareholders registered on 2 October.

The investment trust said its European and Japanese equities gained while its US and UK stocks did not perform as well.

“Against this background your company, by reducing its exposure to US equity markets, has been able to capitalise on the strong performances in Japanese and Eurozone markets," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Gains were also realised from Chinese investments. Overall, our quoted equity investments have meaningfully outperformed market indices."

RIT shares closed down 0.69% to 1,586.00p