MANAGERS of the Scottish American Investment Company (SAINTS) have signalled hope in the growth potential of its holding in Taiwanese cosmetic ingredient manufacturers TCI Bio, as they continue to search for investments to help grow dividends at a faster rate, writes Scott Wright.

The £846 million trust, managed by Baillie Gifford, invested in TCI in the first half of its current financial year, during which it delivered a net asset value total return of 11.3 per cent. This compared with a global equities return of 11.4%.

Notable contributors to returns in the first half included two logistics holdings, UPS and Kuehne + Nagel, which benefited from the “rapid rebound in global trade”.

SAINTS highlighted optimism that it will achieve resilient income growth in the long term, while mulling the type of investments that could help it to grow its equity portfolio further.

“We hope that a number are already in the portfolio – whether it’s Chinese gaming business Netease, or lithium producer Albemarle, or semiconductor designer Analog Devices,” the company said. “But we are continuing to broaden our search for growth... During the first half we added one Taiwanese name to the portfolio, which we think fits this profile.”

The company reported that dividend increases announced by its holdings averaged around 6.5% in the first half.

SAINTS declared a second interim dividend of 3.075p. Alongside the first interim pay-out, the dividends of 6.125p over the period represent a 2.1% increase on the amount paid for the same period last year.