Witan raises dividend for 37th consecutive year

The Witan Investment Trust will continue 37 years of rising dividends with a 5p increase to its second interim payment for 2011.

The £1.2 billion trust will pay 6.55p per ordinary share to investors on 30 March, taking the total dividend payment for 2011 to 12p. This is a 10.1% increase on the previous year and compares favourably with a 4.2% rise in the consumer price index in the year to December 2011.

On a total return basis the trust has returned 53.7% over the last three years versus a 50.1% increase in the FTSE World index.

‘The dividend increase is more than twice the rate of inflation and reflects strong growth in the company’s revenue earnings per share,’ said Andrew Bell (pictured), CEO of Witan Investment Trust.

He confirmed the trust would stick to its dividend policy, revised last year, setting the first interim payment at 50% of the previous year’s total payment, announcing a 6p first interim dividend for 2012.

At 1.30pm Witan shares were trading at 484.4p, representing a 12.2% discount to net asset value.

The fund has 113% gearing and its biggest holdings include a 2.65% allocation to Electra Private Equity, a 2.55% holding in 3i Group and a 1.94% allocation to Vodafone Group.