WITAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
Payment of a Second Interim Dividend
Witan Investment Trust plc hereby announces that a second interim dividend of 7.2p per ordinary share of 25p (2011: 6.55p) will be paid on Thursday 28 March 2013 to shareholders registered at the close of business on Friday 1 March 2013, in respect of the year ended 31 December 2012. Taken together with the first interim dividend of 6.0p paid in September 2012 (2011: 5.45p), this represents a total dividend payment of 13.2p in respect of 2012 (2011: 12.0p), an increase of 10.0%. This compares with the 2.7% rise in the consumer price index in the year to December 2012. The dividend is fully covered by the Company's 2012 revenue earnings per share (subject to finalisation of the Annual Results for 2012).
The Board has declared a second interim dividend instead of a final dividend, in order to ensure that, as in previous years, the distribution is made before 5 April.
In recent years, the practice of paying dividends quarterly rather than twice a year has become more common, as the level of personal investor ownership in many investment trusts has grown and electronic payment systems have reduced the additional administrative costs. The Retail Distribution Review ("RDR"), which takes effect in 2013, also broadens the potential investor base for investment trusts, among groups for whom predictable and regular dividend payments are a more important part of the total return than for institutional investors. The Company has accordingly decided to commence paying dividends quarterly, starting in 2013. The first three payments (in June, September and December) will, in the absence of unforeseen circumstances, be paid at a rate of 3.3 pence per share, being one quarter of the full year payment for 2012 (13.2 pence). The fourth payment (in March 2014) will be a balancing amount, reflecting the difference between the three quarterly dividends already paid and the payment decided for the full year.
The Company's policy is that it intends (subject to market conditions) to grow the dividend in real terms, ahead of inflation. The Company has increased its dividend each year since 1974, making 2012 the 38th consecutive year of increases in the dividend.
