Canny trades benefit RIT Capital

Related Quotes

Symbol	Price	Change
RCP.L	1,056.00	-8.00

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LONDON (ShareCast) - Popular investment trust RIT Capital Partners (LSE: RCP.L - news) has seen its net asset value (NAV) per share rise 21.7% in the first half of its financial year thanks to the global rally and some smart trades.

RIT's NAV jumped to 1,064p from 992p at the half-way point in 2008 and 874p at the end of March.

It increased public market exposure from 35% of net assets at the start of the financial year to 64% at 30 September. Including unquoted investments, exposure rose from 71% to 95%.

The trust attributed the rise in NAV to the increase in market exposure, combined with a number of profitable positions, including long commodities and short treasury bonds.

RIT points out that NAV in US dollar terms would have risen by 35.8% and not sits just 7.9% below its all-time high. NAV at 13 November was 1,036p.

Net profit for the period was £298.3m versus a loss of £150.9m a year earlier. Pre-tax profit was £313.1m.