| Although the company — the UK’s largest general investment trust — performed well in relation to global financial markets, the huge loss is a reflection on the massive value of investments it administers, currently standing at just over £2 billion.
The previous year, the Trust recorded a loss of just over £77 million. In both cases, the losses are mainly attributable to a drop in value of the company’s assets.
The company’s financial results for the year to January 31 come just as it prepares to transfer some 250 staff from its present HQ in Reform Street and two other sites to the new building in West Marketgait.
The move is expected to take around two months to complete, with staff transferring in stages.
The company’s IT experts are already on site setting up the computer and telecoms infrastructure around which much of its business is conducted.
It is expected that the first real transfer of staff will take place in about a fortnight.
The new six-storey building has been built on the site of the former Burns and Harris print works in Long Wynd.
The company said the future of 19th century Meadow House in Reform Street, the former Lamb’s Hotel before being taken over by the Alliance Trust 90 years ago, has yet to be decided. A number of different options are being explored.
The company, one of the largest in Scotland, embarked upon its biggest ever expansion two years ago before the global credit crunch and the subsequent economic recession began to take hold.
Chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox said the last year had been “one of the most testing periods in memory” for investors.
However, by increasing its cash balances and investing in well-run companies, the Trust managed to improve its investment performance in comparison with its peers.
The dividend increased for the 42nd consecutive year to 8p per share — as a result of a continuing strong flow of earnings from its equity portfolio — and the Trust also announced a special dividend of 0.5p per share. |
