Asia Dragon NAV drops 16.7% as merger approaches

investmentweek.co.uk:

The trust has seen a permanently wide discount rate in recent years, hovering around 10%, but this has since begun to widen further, sitting at 16.2% in its annual results.

In its annual results to 31 August, posted today (3 November), the trust saw its net asset value decline by 16.7%, compared to an MSCI Asia ex Japan index fall of 8.4% in the same period.

Problems for the trust have continued, as since 31 August, its share price has declined by 9%, while its NAV has dropped 7.4%, according to data from the Association of Investment Companies.

Asia Dragon shareholders greenlight abrdn New Dawn merger

Last week, the vast majority of the trust's shareholders approved its proposed merger with the abrdn New Dawn trust, which will see New Dawn rolled into Asia Dragon.

The merger, which was proposed in July, will see the trust hold combined assets of more than £700m, allowing it to qualify for inclusion in the FTSE 250.

The trust has seen a permanently wide discount rate in recent years, hovering around 10%, but this has since begun to widen further, sitting at 16.2% in its annual results.

Managers Pruksa Iamthongthong and James Thom credited the poor performance to the slower-than-expected recovery of China following the Covid pandemic, as well as the weakness of the country's property market.

«The weak macroeconomic data raised expectations of a major policy stimulus — the lack of which has meant that investors were disappointed and raised questions on China's commitment to economic growth,» they said.

The managers noted that most of the trust's underperformance «arose at the start of 2023 and has continued since then», pointing to Chinese companies in the tech, consumer discretionary and healthcare spaces that failed to