THE Scottish Investment Trust has highlighted good performances by banks within its “ugly ducklings” portfolio as it unveiled a share price total return of five per cent in the six months ended April 30, writes Scott Wright.

Unveiling the £1 billion trust’s half-year report, manager Alasdair McKinnon said its holdings in ING and BNP Paribas had produced two of its larger gains over the period, at £3.9 million and £2.3m respectively. But its holding in Tesco produced a £3.6m loss, with the grocer’s turnaround “obscured” by its proposed acquisition of cash and carry firm Booker.

In investments where the trust believes “change is afoot”, its holding in Rentokil Initial gained £3.1m while its stake in Treasury Wine Estates, its biggest holding at £42.5m, gained £2.6m.

The trust, focused on international equities, does not have a formal benchmark. But it said the sterling total return of the international MSCI All Country World Index was 5.5 per cent, while the UK-based MSCI UK All Cap Index total return was seven per cent. It declared an interim dividend up 4.8 per cent at 5.5p per share.

Mr McKinnon noted the likely change in “policy backdrop” following the political events of the last year, including the Brexit vote and the Trump win, “will undoubtedly change the investment environment”.