UK Edition
Questor: our Aim stocks gain 8pc – and coronavirus has given one a 21pc shot in the arm
Questor Inheritance Tax Portfolio: not all our IHT stocks have risen – this is Aim, after all – but the portfolio has made worthwhile gains
Today we publish an update on the performance of our Inheritance Tax Portfolio, Questor selections quoted on the junior Alternative Investment Market (Aim) that should, we believe, qualify for exemption from death duties if held for at least two years before the shareholder’s death.
Aim is a riskier and more volatile place than the main market – it exists to encourage young, entrepreneurial companies to seek funds via a less regulated form of stock market presence – and this is reflected in the wide variation in our returns, which range from an 87.8pc gain on Tristel to a complete loss on Conviviality.
Update: Tristel
Tristel makes disinfectants and its shares have, unsurprisingly, risen strongly, by 20.6pc, this year thanks to the coronavirus crisis.
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In its interim report published on Monday the company said: “This viral outbreak, together with the ever-present threat of anti-microbial resistance, will be a powerful influence on global healthcare systems for greater investment in infection prevention and control.”
The firm also reported a 21.8pc rise in sales and a 25.2pc increase in pre-tax profits compared with the same period last year. A proposed interim dividend for the year ended 30 June 2020 of 2.34p is 14.7pc higher than last year’s 2.04p.
Questor says: hold
Ticker: TSTL
Share price at close: 460p
Update: Northbridge Industrial Services
Shares in Northbridge have lost 15.9pc since we tipped them 10 months ago but Tony Dalwood of Gresham House, the investor who put us on to the stock, said he wasn’t selling.
“Activity in its oil and gas markets is improving and management is now increasingly focused on achieving 15pc returns on capital, which is just starting to generate shareholder value,” he said. “Cash generation is also improving.”
Mr Dalwood’s firm has a stake of about 12pc in Northbridge via its Gresham House Strategic investment trust.
Questor says: hold
Ticker: NBI
Share price at close: 132.5p
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