The announcement caps off a turbulent year for the investment trust which has seen a power struggle with major shareholders and the departure of chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox.
The trust said its total dividend for 2015 will be 12.43p, up 0.4% on 2014 and representing a yield of 2.4% for the year.
The year-end discount has narrowed to 8.1%, compared to 12.4% a year earlier.
Total shareholder return was 10.7% and net asset value total return was 5.4%, compared to the MSCI ACWI benchmark return of 3.8%.
Chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin said: “2015 was an eventful year for Alliance Trust and highlighted that shareholders expected change. In order to deliver this, we set out a package of changes on 1 October to enhance shareholder value and the process to implement them is well under way. We have already made good progress. In particular, the investment team is continuing to deliver improved investment returns, significantly outperforming the benchmark. At the same time the discount to NAV has narrowed and we are on target to achieve our cost cutting objectives.”
Richard Troue, head of investment analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted the positive changes.
“It’s been a turbulent year for Alliance Trust, as activist investor Elliot Associates challenged the trust’s strategy and ultimately forced change at the top. Improvements have been made to the structure of the board and management team, while a cost cutting programme is aiming to save £6 million across the business during 2016,” he said.
“Some progress has been made bringing the trust back to its roots – a core, low-cost global equity portfolio that is well diversified, capable of steady growth and a rising income,” Troue continued. “Shareholders will be pleased to see some outperformance, though one swallow doesn’t make a summer. It’s still early days for the investment team, but they are off to a positive start.”
