BIT - Half-Year Report to 30 April 2026
25/06/2026 08:30 NZST, HALFYRP
LEGAL ENTITY IDENTIFIER: 213800B9YWXL3X1VMZ69
THE BANKERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
(‘the Company’)
Unaudited results for the half-year ended 30 April 2026
This announcement contains regulated information
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
Over the long term, the Company aims to achieve capital growth in excess of the FTSE World Index and dividend growth greater than inflation, as measured by the UK Consumer Price Index (‘CPI’), by investing in companies listed throughout the world.
INVESTMENT POLICY
The following investment ranges apply:
• Equities: 80% to 100%
• Debt securities and cash investments: 0% to 20%
• Investment trusts, collective funds and derivatives: 0% to 15%
To achieve an appropriate spread of investment risk the portfolio is broadly diversified by geography, sector and company. The Manager (‘Janus Henderson’) has the flexibility to invest in any geographic region and any sector with no set limits on individual country or sector exposures and, therefore, the make-up and weighting of the portfolio may differ materially from the FTSE World Index.
The Manager primarily employs a bottom-up stock picking investment process, across four regional portfolios, to identify suitable opportunities. While each regional portfolio manager employs their own investment style, they all pay particular regard to cash generation and dividend growth over the medium term.
The Company can, but normally does not, invest up to 15% of its gross assets in any other investment companies (including listed investment trusts).
Derivatives
The Company may use financial instruments known as derivatives for the purpose of efficient portfolio management while maintaining a level of risk consistent with the risk profile of the Company.
Gearing
The Company can borrow to make additional investments with the aim of achieving a return that is greater than the cost of the borrowing. The Company can borrow up to 20% of net assets at the time of draw down.
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
30 April 2026 30 April 2025
Net asset value (‘NAV’) per share1 152.0p 121.5p
Share price 140.2p 109.6p
Revenue return per share 1.05p 1.16p
Dividends paid or declared in respect of the period2 1.414p 1.372p
Total return performance to 30 April 2026 (including dividends reinvested and excluding transaction costs)
6 months% 1 year% 3 years% 5 years% 10 years%
NAV3 3.7 27.6 44.2 47.8 204.4
Share price4 6.5 30.6 49.5 37.5 199.5
FTSE World Index5 5.5 31.0 64.2 79.9 239.3
1 Net asset value per share with debt at fair value, see Note 6 in the Notes to the Condensed Financial Statements
2 The first interim dividend for 2026 was paid on 29 May 2026; the second interim dividend has been declared and will be paid on 28 August 2026
3 Net asset value total return per share with income reinvested and with debt at fair value. Performance is calculated based on the daily NAV per ordinary share published as at the half year-end date with debt at fair value and this may differ from the NAV per share reported in the financial statements.
4 Share price total return using mid-market closing price
5 For 10 years, the benchmark is a composite of the FTSE World Index and the FTSE All-Share Index
Sources: Janus Henderson, Morningstar Direct and LSEG Datastream
INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT
CHAIR’S STATEMENT
Dear shareholder,
Performance
The six months to 30 April 2026 witnessed their fair share of geopolitical events. The on-off nature of US trade tariffs as well as the escalation of the conflict with Iran created volatility in markets. The world feels an uncomfortable place; however, despite the challenges, economies and corporate profits have continued to grow. By historic standards unemployment is low and wage growth continues to support consumer spending despite the higher level of inflation. Bond yields have risen in recent months reflecting worries about stagflation but share prices rebounded in April in the hope of a ceasefire.
Your Company has delivered a net asset value total return over the six months ended 30 April 2026 of +3.7% (2025: -4.0%) and a share price total return of +6.5% (2025: +0.1%), compared with the FTSE World Index benchmark total return of +5.5% (2025: -2.6%) over the same period. The portfolio’s regional allocation has been a positive contributor to performance during the period, especially the overweight allocation to Japan. Sectoral performance has seen a wide dispersion of returns. Energy and materials sectors have outperformed over the period while consumer driven sectors have lagged. The Fund Managers discuss at greater length the key drivers of performance in their report.
Revenue and financial statements
Our net revenue for the six months was £10.0 million (2025: £12.6 million), equivalent to 1.05p per share (2025: 1.16p). The reduction in income has previously been highlighted. It remains our expectation that profit growth over time will ultimately lead to higher dividends. A first interim dividend of 0.707p per share (2025: 0.686p) was paid on 29 May 2026. The Board has declared a second interim dividend of 0.707p (2025: 0.686p) per share, an increase of 3.1%, which will be payable on 28 August 2026 to shareholders on the register on 24 July 2026.
The Board’s current expectation is that the dividend for the full year will be at least 3% above the total dividend paid in 2025. This forecast continues to deliver the Company’s progressive dividend policy of successive annual dividend growth which it has achieved every year over the past 59 years.
Investment approach
Bankers has a 138-year history of adapting to changing markets while remaining true to its core purpose of growing capital and income for shareholders. The trust has evolved over time to reflect how global companies grow, how markets function and, importantly, how opportunities are created. This process of evolution is deliberate: building on a strong heritage, while ensuring the portfolio remains forward-looking and relevant for today’s investors.
Over the past year, the Board has supported several changes to strengthen the Company’s ability to deliver long-term capital growth alongside a growing dividend. Since our last update, the unification of the portfolio has continued, and the number of holdings has been reduced to around 80. The result is a clearer focus on the manager’s highest conviction ideas. As more companies are growing to substantial scale before seeking a stock market listing, there can be opportunities to invest before a public offering. We are currently reviewing whether we seek to extend our investment policy to take advantage of these opportunities in a prudent manner and we will update shareholders in due course.
Specialist regional expertise remains an important input, particularly in areas such as Asia and Japan, but is now applied in support of a more cohesive, globally constructed portfolio. This reflects the most important drivers of change; technological innovation, demographic shifts and the energy transition, which are not confined by geography, but play out across markets and sectors.
The Board believes this approach enhances the Company’s ability to identify and invest in companies that can benefit from these long-term trends. By focusing on individual businesses with strong fundamentals, cash generation and the potential to grow over time, the portfolio is positioned to outperform over the long-term. At the same time, the Company retains the discipline and balance that have underpinned its record of dividend growth, ensuring that income continues to play a supportive role alongside capital growth.
Fund Manager Update
After 23 years as Fund Manager of The Bankers Investment Trust, and 36 years in financial services, Alex Crooke will be retiring from the industry in December 2026. Alex will remain engaged in his current role until his departure, after which Richard Clode will continue as Fund Manager of your Company.
The Board would like to thank Alex for his momentous contribution to Bankers. He and his predecessor, Michael Moule, have managed the Company between them for the past 50 years while Alex has delivered an annualised NAV total return of 11% during his 23 years of service. This exemplifies Bankers’ consistent philosophy of long-term growth and performance. Alex has combined intellect with stature and he commands respect from shareholders, colleagues and competitors alike. We all wish him the very best for a well-deserved retirement.
Both the Board and Alex are delighted to have Richard in place to continue managing the portfolio and have every confidence in his abilities to do so.
Outlook
This time last year, the magnitude of US tariffs worried investors and yet companies found a way to trade through the uncertainty. Currently the concern is the elevated price of oil following the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Exposure to resilient companies with the financial resources to invest in innovation can provide a buffer to these macro challenges.
Simon Miller
Chair
23 June 2026
FUND MANAGERS’ REPORT
Market Review
The six months to the end of April 2026 continued the recent trend of pronounced market volatility, largely due to President Trump’s approach to both domestic and foreign policy. Geopolitics came to the fore again with US military action in Venezuela and the Middle East. The latter put pressure on energy costs, drove broader inflationary pressures and risks of shortages, and may result in a broader impact to global economic activity if there is further escalation or continued stalemate on the Strait of Hormuz. In turn, this has upended expectations for the future path of interest rates and put pressure on long term bond yields. Also, during the period under review, the launch of Anthropic’s Opus 4.5 in late 2025 ushered in the agentic AI era. The accelerated pace of AI innovation severely impacted sub-sectors such as software, with the drawdown coined the ‘SaaSpocalypse’. It seems surprising that, against that backdrop, global markets have recovered to all-time highs by the end of April, with the notable exception of the UK which was held back by political turmoil.
Markets are forward looking and the resiliency of economic data, corporate earnings and a belief that the current situation in the Middle East is temporary, as the ‘TACO’ trade remains intact, brought markets roaring back in April from a steep selloff in February and March. A combination of greater US energy independence, as well as its AI leadership, resulted in US and technology stocks leading that rebound after some growth to value rotation from late 2025. Japan also continued its recent strength, despite its exposure to energy imports, because of a landslide election mandate for new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, to enact much needed reform. This, combined with existing strong wage growth and improved corporate governance, has attracted investors to the country. While macro headlines continue to swirl, strong corporate earnings generally, and most notably in areas like semiconductors, have been rewarded and emphasise the need to stay true to the Bankers’ investment philosophy of following the profits and cashflow.
Performance
The explosion in AI token generation, as reasoning models and now agentic AI take off, led to escalating AI capital spending benefitting semiconductor stocks, many of which were key contributors to the portfolio. Micron Technology was helped by very strong memory pricing driving outsized profit growth as AI demand outpaced supply growth. That has led to the industry signing new multi-year contracts with their key customers, at high margins and with significant prepayments, giving the latter confidence to accelerate their capital spending, to the advantage of semiconductor equipment makers like Applied Materials. Mediatek, a Taiwanese fabless semiconductor design company traditionally focused on smartphone chips, is now benefitting from AI datacentre tailwinds as a new supplier of Google’s tensor processing unit (TPU) chips. TSMC has a virtual monopoly as the world’s leading foundry producing the latest AI compute and networking chips from the likes of Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD and Mediatek with current supply shortages giving them strong pricing power and higher margins on that accelerated growth. In analogue semiconductors, Texas Instruments is benefitting from not only exposure to AI datacentre power management demand and rising content but also from a cyclical recovery in industrials, as a year on from Liberation Day new factories start installing equipment. In a world of deglobalisation, contract manufacturer Jabil can provide customers with manufacturing in multiple locations and enjoy higher margins from that complexity and limited competition. Given events in the Middle East, unsurprisingly energy names such as the French diversified energy producer TotalEnergies and Canadian natural gas infrastructure play, TC Energy, performed well. Not owning Tesla, due to valuation concerns as well as weaker earnings trends given EV adoption challenges and Chinese competition, also contributed positively.
Fears of agentic AI and its coding capabilities disrupting the business models of software companies led to negative contribution from many of our software holdings such as Zscaler in cybersecurity, Snowflake in datacentre infrastructure and ServiceNow, a workflow automation SaaS platform. Oracle suffered from market sentiment around its customer concentration with OpenAI and financing needs. We believe agentic AI will actually be a tailwind for cybersecurity budgets and the migration to modern data architectures but the proclivity for trading in the US via ETFs and baskets has made software stock picking challenging. The broader AI disruption threat has also impacted some of our internet and content platforms such as Netflix, Spotify Technology and Sony given concerns around generative AI’s ability to create content. However, that ignores the strong licensing framework established by Hollywood and the music labels and we view these internet platforms as best placed to bring us legal, copyrighted AI generated content leveraging our favourite artists and characters. During the depths of peak AI disruption fears in mid-February, even commercial insurance brokers such as Arthur J Gallagher were impacted by agentic fears. Broadly, those two weeks in February were the key driver of our underperformance versus our benchmark during the period.
Portfolio
At the start of the period, with the change of management of the US sleeve, the portfolio was realigned to capture more of the growth opportunity prevalent there given its greater exposure to technology and AI. This was achieved cross-sector, so maintaining diversification, and with a natural balance to our non-US holdings where these exposures are scarcer and, in many cases, often more expensive due to that scarcity. New stocks added in that AI theme included memory maker Micron Technology, semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials, datacentre exposed REIT Digital Realty Trust, datacentre exposed utilities NextEra Energy and Xcel Energy. We also added significantly to our Nvidia position and to TSMC, via their US-listed shares. This was funded from stocks we view as at higher risk from AI disruption such as online travel platform, Booking Holdings, derivatives of AI capital spending that trade on valuation premiums, such as Eaton Corp and Trane Technologies, and companies we view as more challenged after recent missteps, like Nike, Walt Disney and Abbott Laboratories. Gearing has been maintained at 5% to reflect an ongoing optimistic outlook balanced with geopolitical risks.
Towards the end of the period, we took the next step in our journey of unifying the portfolio to drive greater conviction in our stocks held and to harmonise our portfolio exposure to key trends and themes. While not changing our regional exposures, we did reduce the number of non-US holdings, taking down the total number in the portfolio from around 100 to c.80 stocks. As part of this process, we increased our positions in the high conviction non-US stocks still held, as evidenced by our current top 10 holdings. We believe a 60-80 stock portfolio provides us with the right balance of conviction and diversification. Going forward the portfolio will be managed as a unified portfolio, rather than in a sleeve structure, reflecting that greater harmonisation from a thematic as well as risk management framework. We will maintain our local expertise from Junichi Inoue and Sat Duhra as well as drawing more from the wider Janus Henderson investment teams.
Outlook
Given the current incumbent of the White House, we expect market volatility to remain elevated, albeit as we head into mid-term elections in the US later this year we expect a pivot back to focusing on domestic affairs. Geopolitical tensions should subside, with an expected framework for both a Middle Eastern and Russia/Ukraine settlement in the works, as well as President Trump’s recent visit to Beijing evidencing a greater recent push for negotiation and conciliation rather than confrontation. Against that backdrop the resiliency of the global economy and corporate profit growth should continue. However, with stock markets back to all-time highs we need to be mindful of valuations and the potential for pockets of hype with some of the impending megacap IPOs. Our investment experience, valuation discipline and focus on profits and cashflow will be important as we navigate the period ahead.
Alex Crooke and Richard Clode
Co-Fund Managers
23 June 2026
For further information contact:
Harriet Hall
PR Director, Investment Trusts
Janus Henderson Investors
Telephone: 020 7818 2919
PLEASE REFER TO THE PDF TO VIEW THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT
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) are incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
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