Alliance Trust hikes dividend amid performance turnaround

Alliance Trust has upped its dividend by 7% and posted a turnaround in performance in its annual results, with the trust leaping to top quartile in its sector.

The trust declared a fourth interim dividend of 2.577p, taking the total dividend for the year to 9p, an increase of 7.2%. The dividend increase is the largest annual rise in 20 years and the 45th consecutive year the group has hiked its income payout. The trust reported a decline in its share price for the year of 5.8% to 343p, while the NAV per share also fell 7.6% to 406p, to 31 December 2011. However, the relative performance of Alliance Trust will give shareholders comfort, after it outperformed its global growth benchmark by 5.1% in share price terms, and by 2.3% in NAV. T...