Fidelity Special Values Plc - Half-year Financial Report
Half-Yearly Results for the six months ended
Financial Highlights:
-- The Board of Fidelity Special Values PLC (the “Company”) declares an
interim dividend of 3.49 pence per share, an increase of 3.9% from the
prior year interim dividend.
-- During the six months ended 28 February 2026 , the Company reported an
ordinary share price total return of +23.1% and Net Asset Value (NAV)
total return of +17.1%.
-- Over the same period, the Benchmark, the FTSE All-Share Index,
returned +18.9%.
-- Financials, select defensive positions and resources among top
contributors.
-- The Portfolio Managers believe UK market’s defensive sector
composition should offer some resilience compared with other regions.
Contacts
For further information, please contact:
Company Secretary
01737 836347
Chair’s Statement
Overview and Performance
This is my first report to you as Chair of the Company, and also the first time since
It is encouraging to see Alex and his co-Portfolio Manager
Dividends
While your Company’s investment approach is focused on long-term capital growth rather than income generation, dividends have historically formed an important part of the total shareholder return. The Board’s policy is to pay dividends twice a year, in order to smooth the dividend payments for the Company’s financial year.
The Company’s revenue return for the six months to
Discount Management and Share Issuance
Investment trust discounts remain wide, standing at an average of 13.4% on 28
1 Source: Winterflood Investment Trusts, Refinitiv
Just as your Board seeks to maximise value for shareholders by using share buybacks to limit the discount when supply exceeds demand (and thereby enhance NAV per share), we also look to maintain an orderly market by issuing shares when excess demand pushes the price above the NAV per share. During the period under review, no shares were repurchased. However, with the shares trading at a premium to NAV from late
While continued strong performance has undoubtedly helped to maintain demand for your Company’s shares, the Board would also like to note our appreciation of Fidelity’s ongoing efforts to raise the profile of the strategy, and in particular the time that both Alex and Jonathan take to promote the Company in the media and at investor events.
Board Changes
As noted above, I took over as Chair of the Company following the Company’s Annual General Meeting on
Board Strategy Day
In
Outlook
Recent developments in global trade policy and the war between the US,
The success of the Company is borne out not only by its investment performance, but also its long-term dividend record, and by the fact that strong investor demand has meant that we have been able to issue new shares and grow the capital base. This was further underlined by the three-yearly continuation vote held at December’s AGM, in which 97.12% of those voting approved the continuation of the Company as an investment trust. I would like to thank all shareholders for their continued support, and I look forward to reporting further progress at the year end.
Chair
Portfolio Manager’s Half-Yearly Review
Performance
In the six month reporting period to
The Company’s NAV underperformance against the Benchmark was primarily driven by the performance divergence between large and mid-cap stocks in the
Market Review
The reporting period for this investment review is
2026 started on a strong note, supported by an improving growth narrative and continued rotation towards more value-oriented areas of the market. Performance was broad-based, with gains across the market-cap spectrum, led by mid and small-caps. However, this was short lived, as February’s rally was driven strongly by large-cap stocks, given its favourable sector mix and rotation away from artificial intelligence (“AI”) companies. Global geopolitics remained an important theme, contributing to volatility in energy and metals prices. For the
From a sector perspective, market gains were primarily led by basic materials, utilities and health care, supported by a constructive environment for commodity prices, while defensive sectors benefited from earnings resilience and a more favourable growth backdrop. Technology was the only sector to post negative returns, reflecting market concerns around AI disruption, notably in software and information services companies. Against this backdrop, both value and growth segments advanced, but value outperformed by a significant margin. Similarly, large-cap stocks were the strongest performers, as investors favoured greater international revenue exposure, while mid and small-cap stocks underperformed.
Portfolio Review
Over the period, the Company’s NAV delivered strong absolute returns but underperformed its Benchmark.
Beverages company
Elsewhere, shares in staffing companies Hays and PageGroup were a source of weakness. Both companies were weighed down by weak underlying recruitment markets, reflecting caution among both corporates and candidates when it comes to undertaking job searches. Investor concerns have also centred around the potential for disintermediation and job displacement from AI. We believe these concerns are overstated and have yet to see clear evidence that AI has structurally impaired these businesses. Current challenges appear largely cyclical, and we are already seeing signs of improvement in staffing activity in certain markets, such as the US, where AI adoption is the most advanced.
Within the consumer discretionary sector, our holdings in media agency WPP and digital media company Future declined. WPP’s performance has been weaker than expected, as we had believed the company was further along in its turnaround journey following its previous restructuring. The company has since lost meaningful market share, driven by client account losses and a cyclical downturn in advertising spending. Concerns around potential disruption from AI have also weighed on its shares. However, WPP remains an interesting turnaround opportunity and its shares are trading at very attractive levels. The company is under new management and has seen recent improvements in client account wins. Future’s underperformance was driven by a valuation de-rating, reflecting concerns over the impact of AI on its web traffic. The company has taken steps to mitigate this, improving the diversification and monetisation of its content, including a shift towards more direct, owned distribution channels. Its shares are trading on low single-digit multiples, with the valuation underpinned by its price comparison business. The company is highly cash generative and is carrying out significant share buybacks, which is highly accretive to its earnings power.
Stock selection among large-cap companies contributed positively to performance, driven by our lack of exposure to expensive ‘quality’ companies. Several of these companies were impacted by market fears of AI disruption, such as RELX, Experian,
Integrated utility company SSE was the top owned contributor to relative performance. Its shares rose after it announced a multi-year investment plan focused on regulated networks and renewables. In November, the company unveiled a £33 billion five-year investment programme, including a £2 billion equity raise, as it seeks to upgrade the UK’s regulated electricity networks, bolster its renewables business and strengthen its balance sheet. Geotechnical engineering company Keller also outperformed, supported by a continued run of earnings upgrades. The business has become more streamlined and is benefiting from strong demand linked to data centre activity and infrastructure-related projects in the US.
Gold miners have benefited from the continued shift in central bank reserves away from US Treasuries, as well as strong retail demand for precious metals, both of which underpinned the rally in the commodity price.
Defence remained a key market theme, supporting our holdings in defence contractor Babcock and outsourcing company Serco. Babcock’s highly specialised operations, growing international order book and ongoing self-help initiatives continued to support share price performance. Serco, which has around 40% revenue exposure to defence, gained from securing major contract wins and renewals in both the US and the
Within the banking sector, Standard Chartered was among the top contributors, following a strong trading update in
Portfolio Positioning
We have actively recycled capital from areas of strong performance and leaned into unloved businesses with attractive turnaround potential. While the investment process is driven by bottom-up stock selection, we group the market into four super sectors – financials, resources, defensives and other GDP sensitive companies.
Financials remain our largest absolute sector weight, but this is highly diversified across a variety of sub-sectors, geographies and business models. We maintain a positive view on banks and continue to see value across our holdings. These include emerging market-focused Standard Chartered, domestic lenders Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and Close Brothers, Irish banks AIB Group and Permanent TSB Group Holdings, as well as a couple of smaller banking positions. Over the period, we recycled part of our NatWest holding into Lloyds. Our insurance exposure moderated as we took profits, while the
Defensive companies generally performed well, and we have opportunistically taken profits in several positions. These included consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser, tobacco companies Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco, regulated grid operator National Grid and defence-related businesses Babcock and Serco. In contrast, we added to our DCC position. The company has shifted focus towards its core energy business with the disposal of its health care business last year and planned sale of its technology division. While the market has been cautious around the restructuring and the challenges of navigating the energy transition, we believe these concerns are overdone and the company is focusing on its higher return business.
We increased our position in a variety of cyclical areas, where we see attractive valuations and turnaround potential. For example, staffing companies (Hays, PageGroup and Sthree) are trading at trough valuation levels and offer an attractive risk/reward profile over three to five years. Current valuations reflect significant disruption to the businesses, while offering substantial upside should a recovery in hiring materialise. We also see opportunities in consumer-related sectors, alongside housing and construction, where valuations remain depressed and stocks are pricing in significant negativity. Many of these businesses combine attractive stock-specific opportunities with depressed industry volumes, offering multiple catalysts to support a turnaround. We exited low-cost carrier Ryanair following strong performance, as the investment thesis had largely played out. Similarly, we sold Rolls Royce after strong execution in its civil aerospace business and a significant improvement in margins, delivered strong share price performance which led to more demanding valuations levels.
Within resources, our underweight position increased as the basic materials sector sharply outperformed, notably precious metals and mining companies. Against this strong performance backdrop, we trimmed our two small gold mining positions and exited two copper miners. While we remain underweight large-cap miners, reflecting our negative view on iron ore, we added to our Glencore position, supported by its attractive commodity mix and our constructive long-term outlook for copper. We also hold Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, which benefits from its low-cost position and favourable supply and demand dynamics. The Company holds around 4.5% in oil companies, representing a meaningful underweight relative to the
Use of Gearing
We have continued to use contracts for difference (CFDs) to gear the portfolio’s long exposure and eliminate some of the currency exposure for those holdings listed outside of the
Outlook
We remain positive on the long-term outlook for
There were early signs of an economic inflection, particularly across industrial and consumer-facing sectors that have faced a prolonged period of weakness. However, developments in the
As in previous periods of uncertainty, we are spending significant time engaging with companies to understand how current conditions are affecting them and the resilience of balance sheets. We are closely monitoring developments and leveraging Fidelity’s extensive analyst network, both globally and across industries, to see how wider trends could impact the portfolio. Our focus remains on bottom-up fundamentals, with positioning decisions driven by valuations and contrarian investment opportunities, rather than macro-economic events.
Another recent development has been increased volatility linked to AI. Companies perceived to be sensitive to AI disruption have sold off sharply. Markets have indiscriminately punished anything with even indirect AI exposure, often without clear evidence of structural impairment. We believe this environment increasingly tilts in favour of value investors and plays to Fidelity’s strengths in fundamental research. Companies trading on rich multiples leave little margin for error. When investors assume a company’s monopoly advantage will endure, even a modest shift in competitive dynamics, including the risk of AI-driven disruption, can justify a meaningful de-rating. We have seen this dynamic in information services and software businesses, where valuations have rightly fallen from very high levels. However, in most cases they still remain expensive, although there are areas of opportunity. Generally, the outlook for many industries is less predictable and businesses regarded as having unassailable moats or monopoly positions may not enjoy the same dominance in the future.
We avoid companies where their stretched valuations rely on long-term certainty. Instead, we focus on attractively valued businesses where the market has overreacted to perceived AI threats and where balance sheets provide strong downside support. The low valuation multiples we pay for stocks means that we do not need to take a decisive view on the outlook beyond the next ten years. We also look for cheap, underappreciated beneficiaries - companies with genuine exposure to structural change that the market has yet to fully recognise, such as outsourcing company Mitie, which supports the design and delivery of data centres. Integrated utility company SSE also benefits from AI-related growth through higher need for electricity grids and renewable energy demands.
We continue to believe that market conditions favour our value contrarian investment style. When uncertainty is rife, this typically results in more opportunities to pick up very attractively valued stocks. The large divergences in performance between different parts of the market create good opportunities to make attractive returns over a three-to-five-year view. The portfolio benefits from a favourable upside/downside profile and our holdings trade at a meaningful discount to the broader
Portfolio Manager
Twenty
As at
The Asset Exposures shown below measure exposure to market price movements as a result of owning shares, bonds and derivative instruments. The Fair Value is the realisable value of the portfolio as reported in the Balance Sheet. Where the Company holds shares and bonds, the Asset Exposure and Fair Value will be the same. For derivative instruments, Asset Exposure is the market value of the underlying asset to which the Company is exposed, while the Fair Value reflects the profit or loss on the contract since it was opened, and is based on how much the share price of the underlying asset has moved.
Asset Exposure Fair Value
£’000 % 1 £’000
Exposures – shares unless
otherwise stated
Standard Chartered
Banks 64,407 4.4 64,407
DCC
Industrial Support Services 62,306 4.3 62,306
Lloyds Banking Group
Banks 51,278 3.5 51,278
TotalEnergies (long CFDs)
Oil Gas & Coal 49,211 3.4 402
Aviva
Life Insurance 48,169 3.3 48,169
SSE
Electricity 47,980 3.3 47,980
British American Tobacco
Tobacco 44,162 3.0 44,162
Smith & Nephew
Medical Equipment & Services 41,454 2.8 41,454
AstraZeneca
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 41,104 2.8 41,104
Glenveagh Properties (shares
and long CFDs)
Household Goods & Home 39,867 2.7 39,464
Construction
Imperial Brands
Tobacco 36,888 2.5 36,888
NatWest Group
Banks 35,576 2.4 35,576
AIB Group (long CFDs)
Banks 33,754 2.3 (496)
Mitie Group
Industrial Support Services 33,566 2.3 33,566
Just Group
Life Insurance 31,449 2.2 31,449
Serco Group
Industrial Support Services 31,210 2.1 31,210
Greencore Group
Food Producers 30,757 2.1 30,757
Cairn Homes (long CFDs)
Household Goods & Home 29,034 2.0 1,302
Construction
Keller Group
Construction & Materials 26,693 1.8 26,693
Glencore
Industrial Metals & Mining 26,371 1.8 26,371
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Twenty largest exposures 805,236 55.0 694,042
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Other exposures 784,250 53.5 717,134
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Gross Asset Exposure (114 1,589,486 108.5
holdings)
Portfolio Fair Value ========= ========= 1,411,176
=========
1 Asset Exposure is expressed as a percentage of Shareholders’ Funds.
Interim Management Report and Directors’ Responsibility Statement
Principal and Emerging Risks
The Board, with the assistance of the Manager (
The Board considers that the principal risks and uncertainties faced by the Company continue to fall into the following categories: economic, geopolitical and market; competition and marketplace threats impacting business growth; investment performance (including the use of derivatives and gearing); changes in legislation, taxation or regulation; cybercrime and information security; business continuity and crisis management; operational; key person and operational support; and discount control. Information on each of these risks is given on pages 26 to 29 in the Strategic Report section of the Annual Report for the year ended
Although the principal risks and uncertainties remain the same as those at the last year end, the magnitude of their uncertainty continues to change. Geopolitical risks facing the company continue to increase, including political and trade tensions globally, trade sanctions and a challenging regulatory environment hindering investment. Global economic uncertainty is raised by the recent
Other emerging risks may continue to evolve from future geopolitical and economic events.
In recent months, there have been developments around the FCA’s proposed
There continues to be an increase in the threats facing the investment trust sector and this has resulted in a rise in merger and acquisition activity. The Board, the Manager, and the Company’s Broker closely monitor industry activity and the peer group and actively manage supply and demand through its discount polices and mechanisms. In addition, an annual strategy review is undertaken by the Board to ensure that the Company continues to offer a relevant product to shareholders.
The investment company sector has generally suffered from wider discounts compared to long-term averages. Against this background, the Company has not needed to use its discount management policy and was trading at a premium during part of and at the end of the reporting period.
Climate change continues to be a key emerging and principal risk confronting asset managers and how this may impact the Company as a risk on investment valuations and potentially shareholder returns. It can potentially impact the operations of investee companies, their supply chains and their customers. Additional risks may also arise from increased regulations, costs and net-zero programmes which can all impact investment returns. The Board notes the Manager’s ESG considerations, including climate change, in the Company’s investment process and how it may affect investment valuations and potentially shareholder returns.
The Board and the Manager are also monitoring the emerging risks and opportunities posed by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and technology and how this may threaten the Company’s activities and its potential impact on the portfolio and investee companies. AI can provide asset managers with powerful tools, such as enhancing data analysis, risk management, trading strategies, operational efficiency and client servicing, all of which can lead to better investment outcomes and more efficient operations. However, with these advances in computer power, there are risks from its increasing use and manipulation with the potential to harm, including a heightened threat to cybersecurity.
Market fluctuations will impact the value of shares in the Company and investors should remember that holding shares in the Company should be considered to be a long-term investment. Risks are mitigated by the investment trust structure of the Company which means that the Portfolio Manager is not required to trade to meet investor redemptions. Therefore, investments in the Company’s portfolio can be held over a longer-time horizon.
The Manager has appropriate business continuity and operational resilience plans in place to ensure the continued provision of services. This includes investment team key activities, including those of portfolio managers, analysts and trading/support functions. The Manager reviews its operational resilience strategies on an ongoing basis and continues to take all reasonable steps in meeting its regulatory obligations, assess its ability to continue operating and the steps it needs to take to serve and support its clients, including the Board.
The Company’s other third-party service providers also have similar measures in place to ensure that business disruption is kept to a minimum.
Transactions with the Manager and Related Parties
The Manager has delegated the Company’s portfolio management of assets and company secretariat services to
Going Concern Statement
The Directors have considered the Company’s investment objective, risk management policies, liquidity risk, credit risk, capital management policies and procedures, the nature of its portfolio, its expenditure and cash flow projections. The Directors, having considered the liquidity of the Company’s portfolio of investments (being mainly securities which are readily realisable) and the projected income and expenditure, are satisfied that the Company is financially sound and has adequate resources to meet all of its liabilities and ongoing expenses and can continue in operational existence for a period of at least twelve months from the date of this Half-Yearly Report.
This conclusion also takes into account the Board’s assessment of the ongoing risks as outlined above.
Accordingly, the Financial Statements of the Company have been prepared on a going concern basis.
Continuation votes are held every three years and the last continuation vote was put to shareholders at the AGM on
By Order of the Board
Directors’ Responsibility Statement
The Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (“DTR”) of the
The Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge that:
a) the condensed set of Financial Statements contained within the Half-Yearly Report has been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Council’s Standard: FRS 104: Interim Financial Reporting; and
b) the Chair’s Statement, Portfolio Manager’s Half-Yearly Review and the Interim Management Report above, include a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R.
In line with previous years, the Half-Yearly Report has not been audited by the Company’s Independent Auditor.
The Half-Yearly Report was approved by the Board on
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Income Statement
For the six months ended
Six months ended 28 February 2026 Six months ended 28 February 2025 Year ended 31 August 2025
unaudited unaudited audited
Notes Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Gains on – 186,400 186,400 – 9,427 9,427 – 117,016 117,016
investments
Gains/
(losses) on – 20,154 20,154 – (1,264) (1,264) – 2,195 2,195
derivative
instruments
Investment
and 4 13,514 – 13,514 17,399 – 17,399 51,646 – 51,646
derivative
income
Other 4 1,627 – 1,627 845 – 845 2,375 – 2,375
interest
Investment
management 5 (4,002) – (4,002) (3,315) – (3,315) (6,857) – (6,857)
fees
Other (497) – (497) (470) – (470) (944) – (944)
expenses
Foreign
exchange – 18 18 – (66) (66) – (546) (546)
gains/
(losses)
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Net return
on ordinary
activities
before 10,642 206,572 217,214 14,459 8,097 22,556 46,220 118,665 164,885
finance
costs and
taxation
Finance 6 (2,612) – (2,612) (2,956) – (2,956) (6,225) – (6,225)
costs
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Net return
on ordinary
activities 8,030 206,572 214,602 11,503 8,097 19,600 39,995 118,665 158,660
before
taxation
Taxation on
return on 7 (31) – (31) (118) – (118) (272) – (272)
ordinary
activities
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Net return
on ordinary
activities
after 7,999 206,572 214,571 11,385 8,097 19,482 39,723 118,665 158,388
taxation
for the
period
======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= =======
Return per
ordinary 8 2.48p 63.92p 66.40p 3.51p 2.50p 6.01p 12.28p 36.67p 48.95p
share
======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= ======= =======
The Company does not have any other comprehensive income. Accordingly, the net return on ordinary activities after taxation for the period is also the total comprehensive income for the period and no separate Statement of Comprehensive Income has been presented.
The total column of this statement represents the Income Statement of the Company. The revenue and capital columns are supplementary and presented for information purposes as recommended by the Statement of Recommended Practice issued by the AIC.
No operations were acquired or discontinued in the period and all items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.
Statement of Changes in Equity
For the six months ended
Capital
Share Share premium Other Capital Revenue Total
redemption non-distributable reserve reserve shareholders’
Notes capital account reserve funds
reserve £’000 £’000
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
£’000
Six months
ended 28
February 2026
(unaudited)
Total
Shareholders’ 16,205 238,442 3,256 5,152 949,776 54,357 1,267,188
funds at 31
August 2025
New ordinary 11 12 1,125 – – – – 1,137
shares issued
Issue of
ordinary 11 – 1,236 – – 3,469 – 4,705
shares from
Treasury
Net return on
ordinary
activities – – – – 206,572 7,999 214,571
after
taxation for
the period
Dividend paid
to 9 – – – – – (22,097) (22,097)
Shareholders
--------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Total
Shareholders’ 16,217 240,803 3,256 5,152 1,159,817 40,259 1,465,504
funds at 28
February 2026
======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ========
Six months
ended 28
February 2025
(unaudited)
Total
Shareholders’ 16,205 238,442 3,256 5,152 834,580 45,906 1,143,541
funds at 31
August 2024
Repurchase of
ordinary 11 – – – – (2,628) – (2,628)
shares into
Treasury
Net return on
ordinary
activities – – – – 8,097 11,385 19,482
after
taxation for
the period
Dividend paid
to 9 – – – – – (20,418) (20,418)
Shareholders
--------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Total
Shareholders’ 16,205 238,442 3,256 5,152 840,049 36,873 1,139,977
funds at 28
February 2025
======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ========
Year ended
31 August
2025
(audited)
Total
Shareholders’ 16,205 238,442 3,256 5,152 834,580 45,906 1,143,541
funds at 31
August 2024
Repurchase of
ordinary 11 – – – – (3,469) – (3,469)
shares into
Treasury
Net return on
ordinary
activities – – – – 118,665 39,723 158,388
after
taxation for
the year
Dividends
paid to 9 – – – – – (31,272) (31,272)
Shareholders
--------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Total
Shareholders’ 16,205 238,442 3,256 5,152 949,776 54,357 1,267,188
funds at 31
August 2025
======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ========
Balance Sheet
as at
Company number 2972628
28 February 31 August 28 February
2026 2025 2025
Notes
unaudited audited unaudited
£’000 £’000 £’000
Fixed assets
Investments 10 1,410,180 1,164,423 1,094,910
========= ========= =========
Current assets
Derivative instruments 10 2,489 1,213 4,028
Debtors 7,745 10,672 12,374
Amounts held at
futures clearing 120 1,300 795
houses and brokers
Cash and cash 48,690 94,109 41,676
equivalents
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
59,044 107,294 58,873
========= ========= =========
Current liabilities
Derivative instruments 10 (1,493) (3,530) (6,096)
Other creditors (2,227) (999) (7,710)
(3,720) (4,529) (13,806)
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net current assets 55,324 102,765 45,067
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net assets 1,465,504 1,267,188 1,139,977
========= ========= =========
Capital and reserves
Share capital 11 16,217 16,205 16,205
Share premium account 240,803 238,442 238,442
Capital redemption 3,256 3,256 3,256
reserve
Other
non-distributable 5,152 5,152 5,152
reserve
Capital reserve 1,159,817 949,776 840,049
Revenue reserve 40,259 54,357 36,873
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Total shareholders’ 1,465,504 1,267,188 1,139,977
funds
========= ========= =========
Net asset value per 12 451.83p 392.26p 352.61p
ordinary share
========= ========= =========
Cash Flow Statement
for the six months ended
28 February 28 February 31 August
2026 2025 2025
unaudited unaudited audited
£’000 £’000 £’000
Operating activities
Investment income received 17,565 18,750 42,920
Net derivative income 3,287 1,796 5,969
received
Interest received 1,627 822 2,352
Investment management fee (3,950) (3,361) (6,820)
paid
Directors’ fees paid (129) (93) (181)
Other cash payments (402) (141) (801)
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net cash inflow from
operating activities before 17,998 17,773 43,439
finance costs and taxation
========= ========= =========
Finance costs paid (2,655) (2,974) (6,228)
Overseas taxation (27) 251 (223)
(suffered)/recovered
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net cash inflow from 15,316 15,050 36,988
operating activities
========= ========= =========
Investing activities
Purchases of investments (268,815) (162,160) (352,069)
Sales of investments 207,368 194,529 425,818
Receipts on long CFDs 39,275 27,326 70,434
Payments on long CFDs (21,914) (21,241) (61,062)
Receipts on short CFDs – 460 460
Payments on short CFDs – (1,621) (1,622)
Movement on amounts held at
futures clearing houses and 1,180 (795) (1,300)
brokers
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net cash (outflow)/inflow (42,906) 36,498 80,659
from investing activities
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net cash (outflow)/inflow (27,590) 51,548 117,647
before financing activities
========= ========= =========
Financing activities
Dividends paid (22,097) (20,418) (31,272)
Repurchase of ordinary – (1,137) (3,469)
shares
Net proceeds from issue of 4,250 – –
ordinary shares
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net cash outflow from (17,847) (21,555) (34,741)
financing activities
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net (decrease)/increase in (45,437) 29,993 82,906
cash and cash equivalents
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Cash and cash equivalents
at the beginning of the 94,109 11,749 11,749
period
Effect of movement in 18 (66) (546)
foreign exchange
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Cash and cash equivalents 48,690 41,676 94,109
at the end of the period
========= ========= =========
Represented by:
Cash at bank 2,501 2,408 1,937
Amount held in Fidelity 46,189 39,268 92,172
Institutional Liquidity Fund
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
48,690 41,676 94,109
========= ========= =========
Notes to the Financial Statements
1 Principal Activity
2 Publication of Non-statutory Accounts
The Financial Statements in this Half-Yearly Report have not been audited by the Company’s Independent Auditor and do not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 434 of the Companies Act 2006 (the “Act”). The financial information for the year ended
3 Accounting Policies
(i) Basis of Preparation
The Company prepares its Financial Statements on a going concern basis and in accordance with
(ii) Going Concern
The Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of these Financial Statements. Accordingly, the Directors consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing these Financial Statements. This conclusion also takes into account the Directors’ assessment of the risks faced by the Company as detailed in the Interim Management Report above.
4 Income
Six months ended Six months Year
ended
28 February 2026 28 February 2025 ended
31 August 2025
unaudited unaudited
audited
£’000 £’000
£’000
Investment income
UK dividends 8,882 11,409 33,971
UK property income 304 788 1,522
distributions
UK scrip dividends – 512 512
UK property income scrip 264 – –
dividends
Interest on securities 180 964 1,512
Overseas dividends 1,540 2,283 7,562
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
11,170 15,956 45,079
Derivative income
Dividends received on long 2,344 1,443 6,567
CFDs
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Investment and derivative 13,514 17,399 51,646
income
Other interest
Interest received on bank
deposits, collateral and 1,627 823 2,352
money market funds
Interest received on CFDs – 22 23
1,627 845 2,375
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Total income 15,141 18,244 54,021
========= ========= =========
Special dividends of £1,133,000 have been recognised in capital during the period (six months ended
5 Investment Management Fees
Six months Year
Six months ended ended
ended
28 February 2026 28 February 2025
31 August 2025
unaudited unaudited
audited
£’000 £’000
£’000
Investment management fees 4,002 3,315 6,857
========= ========= =========
FII charges investment management fees at an annual rate of 0.60% of net assets. Fees are accrued on a daily basis and payable monthly.
6 Finance Costs
Six months Year
Six months ended
ended ended
28 February 2026
28 February 2025 31 August 2025
unaudited
unaudited audited
£’000
£’000 £’000
Interest paid on CFDs 2,581 2,938 6,122
Interest paid on bank 31 18 103
overdrafts
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
2,612 2,956 6,225
========= ========= =========
7 Taxation on Return on Ordinary Activities
Six months Year
Six months ended
ended ended
28 February 2026
28 February 2025 31 August 2025
unaudited
unaudited audited
£’000
£’000 £’000
Overseas taxation 31 118 272
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Total taxation charge for 31 118 272
the period
========= ========= =========
8 Return per Ordinary Share
Six months Year
Six months ended
ended ended
28 February 2026
28 February 2025 31 August 2025
unaudited
unaudited audited
Revenue return per ordinary 2.48p 3.51p 12.28p
share
Capital return per ordinary 63.92p 2.50p 36.67p
share
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Total return per ordinary 66.40p 6.01p 48.95p
share
========= ========= =========
The return per ordinary share is based on the net return on ordinary activities
after taxation for the period divided by the weighted average number of ordinary
shares held outside of Treasury during the period, as shown below:
£’000 £’000 £’000
Net revenue return on
ordinary activities after 7,999 11,385 39,723
taxation
Net capital return on
ordinary activities after 206,572 8,097 118,665
taxation
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Net total return on
ordinary activities after 214,571 19,482 158,388
taxation
========= ========= =========
Number Number Number
Weighted average number of
ordinary shares held outside 323,151,130 324,066,047 323,570,427
of Treasury
========= ========= =========
9 Dividends Paid to Shareholders
Six months Year
Six months ended
ended ended
28 February 2026
28 February 2025 31 August 2025
unaudited
unaudited audited
£’000
£’000 £’000
Final dividend of 6.84 pence
per ordinary share paid for 22,097 – –
the year ended 31 August
2025
Interim dividend of 3.36
pence per ordinary share – – 10,854
paid for the year ended 31
August 2025
Final dividend of 6.30 pence
per ordinary share paid for – 20,418 20,418
the year ended 31 August
2024
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
22,097 20,418 31,272
========= ========= =========
The Company has declared an interim dividend for the six month period to
10 Fair Value Hierarchy
The Company is required to disclose the fair value hierarchy that classifies its financial instruments measured at fair value at one of three levels, according to the relative reliability of the inputs used to estimate the fair values.
Classification Input
Level 1 Valued using quoted prices in active markets for identical
assets
Valued by reference to inputs other than quoted prices included
Level 2 in level 1 that are observable (i.e. developed using market
data) for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly
Level 3 Valued by reference to valuation techniques using inputs that
are not based on observable market data
Categorisation within the hierarchy has been determined on the basis of the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the relevant asset. The valuation techniques used by the Company are as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended
28 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
February
2026 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
(unaudited)
Financial
assets at
fair value
through
profit or
loss
Investments 1,407,596 2,391 193 1,410,180
Derivative
instrument – 2,489 – 2,489
assets
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
1,407,596 4,880 193 1,412,669
========= ========= ========= =========
Financial
liabilities
at fair
value
through
profit or
loss
Derivative
instrument – (1,493) – (1,493)
liabilities
========= ========= ========= =========
31 August Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
2025
(audited) £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Financial
assets at
fair value
through
profit or
loss
Investments 1,159,745 2,357 2,321 1,164,423
Derivative
instrument – 1,213 – 1,213
assets
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
1,159,745 3,570 2,321 1,165,636
========= ========= ========= =========
Financial
liabilities
at fair
value
through
profit or
loss
Derivative
instrument – (3,530) – (3,530)
liabilities
========= ========= ========= =========
28 February Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
2025
(unaudited) £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Financial
assets at
fair value
through
profit or
loss
Investments 1,070,007 24,358 545 1,094,910
Derivative
instrument – 4,028 – 4,028
assets
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
1,070,007 28,386 545 1,098,938
========= ========= ========= =========
Financial
liabilities
at fair
value
through
profit or
loss
Derivative
instrument – (6,096) – (6,096)
liabilities
========= ========= ========= =========
11 Share Capital
28 February 2026 31 August 2025 28 February 2025
unaudited audited unaudited
Number of shares Nominal Number of shares Nominal Number of shares Nominal
value £’000 value £’000 value £’000
Issued,
allotted
and fully
paid
ordinary
shares of 5
pence each
held
outside of
Treasury
Beginning
of the 323,048,920 16,152 324,098,920 16,205 324,098,920 16,205
period
Ordinary
shares 1,050,000 53 – – – –
issued out
of Treasury
New
ordinary 250,000 12 – – – –
shares
issued
Ordinary
shares
repurchased – – (1,050,000) (53) (800,000) (40)
into
Treasury
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
End of the 324,348,920 16,217 323,048,920 16,152 323,298,920 16,165
period
Ordinary
shares of 5
pence each
held in
Treasury
1
Beginning
of the 1,050,000 53 – – – –
period
Ordinary
shares (1,050,000) (53) – – – –
issued out
of Treasury
Ordinary
shares
repurchased – – 1,050,000 53 800,000 40
into
Treasury
End of the – – 1,050,000 53 800,000 40
period
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
Total
share 16,217 16,205 16,205
capital
========= ========= ========= ========= ========= =========
1
Ordinary shares held in
During the period, 250,000 new ordinary shares were issued (year ended
In addition, 1,050,000 ordinary shares held in
No ordinary shares were repurchased into
12 Net Asset Value per Ordinary Share
The calculation of the net asset value per ordinary share is based on the total shareholders’ funds divided by the number of ordinary shares held outside of
28 February 2026 31 August 2025 28 February 2025
unaudited audited unaudited
Total shareholders’ funds £1,465,504,000 £1,267,188,000 £1,139,977,000
Ordinary shares held outside 324,348,920 323,048,920 323,298,920
of Treasury at the period end
Net asset value per ordinary 451.83p 392.26p 352.61p
share
========= ========= =========
It is the Company’s policy that shares held in
13 Transactions with the Manager and Related Parties
Details of the current fee arrangements are given in Note 5 above. During the period, the following expenses were payable to FII:
Six months Year
Six months ended
ended ended
28 February 2026
28 February 2025 31 August 2025
unaudited
unaudited audited
£’000
£’000 £’000
Investment management fees 4,002 3,315 6,857
Marketing fees 115 123 230
========= ========= =========
At the Balance Sheet date, the following balances payable to FII were accrued and included in other creditors:
Year Six months
Six months ended
ended ended
28 February 2026
31 August 2025 28 February 2025
Unaudited
audited unaudited
£’000
£’000 £’000
Investment management fees 659 607 525
Marketing fees 65 33 87
========= ========= =========
As at
The annual fee structure from
1 September
2025
£
Chair 52,000
Chair of the Audit Committee 42,000
Senior Independent Director 35,000
Director 33,000
=========
Directors’ Shareholdings are as follows:
28 February
2026
Ordinary Shares
Hamish Baillie 5,000
Claire Boyle 7,466
Christopher Casey 7,000
Ominder Dhillon 7,750
Alison McGregor 20,000
=========
The financial information contained in this Half-Yearly Results Announcement does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 435 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial information for the six months ended
The information for the year ended
Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
A copy of the Half-Yearly Report will shortly be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM
The Half-Yearly Report will also be available on the Company's website at www.fidelity.co.uk/specialvalues where up to date information on the Company, including daily NAV and share prices, factsheets and other information can also be found.
