Law Debenture Corporation plc (LON:LWDB) has published its results for the year ended 31 December 2025.
2025 was a very pleasing year for Law Debenture. We continue to perform strongly against our objective of achieving long-term capital growth in real terms and steadily increasing income, with outperformance over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years.
| 1 year% | 3 years% | 5 years% | 10 years% | |
| NAV total return (with debt at par)1 | 29.2 | 58.6 | 78.8 | 184.5 |
| NAV total return (with debt at fair value)1 | 28.4 | 59.1 | 96.6 | 200.8 |
| FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index Total Return2 | 24.0 | 46.5 | 73.9 | 123.4 |
| Share price total return2 | 22.2 | 53.1 | 85.0 | 212.4 |
| Change in Retail Price Index3 | 3.4 | 13.2 | 37.3 | 55.6 |
Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. The value of investments and any income from them can go down as well as up. Your capital is at risk.
Highlights of 2025
| · | Net asset value (NAV) total return with debt and Independent Professional Services (“IPS”) business at fair value outperformed the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index by over 4% with a total return of 28.4% in FY25 (29.2% with debt at par). |
| · | Share price total return of 22.2% for 2025, ahead of the UK Equity Income weighted average of 20%. |
| · | A solid performance from IPS, with net revenue increasing by 7.5%, underlying profit before interest and tax up by 6.1% and valuation up 7.3% to £208.7 million (excluding net assets). |
| · | The Company issued 1.3 million new Ordinary Shares at a premium to NAV during 2025 with net proceeds of £11.6 million. |
Strong Long-Term Record
| · | Consistent NAV (with IPS and debt at fair value) outperformance of the benchmark over one, three, five and ten years. |
| · | Share price total return over 10 years of 212.4% (FTSE All-Share: 123.4%) which compares favourably with UK Equity Income peers. |
| · | Law Debenture has outperformed the FTSE All-Share Index (Total Return) weighted average return in 21 of the past 26 years. |
Dividend
| · | Proposed final dividend of 10.375 pence per Ordinary Share. |
| · · | Total annual dividend of 35.5 pence, fully covered by Group revenue return per share of 37.26 pence.47 years of increasing or maintaining dividends – with increases in 46 years.Dividend yield of 3.1% based on our closing share price of 1,132 pence on 10 March 2026. |
Investment Portfolio
| · | Portfolio managed by James Henderson and Laura Foll of Janus Henderson. The aim is to achieve a higher rate of total return than the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index Total Return through investing in a diversified portfolio of stocks. |
| ··· | Almost 90% UK weighting, with blend of large, medium and small capitalisation stocks.Revenue from IPS allows portfolio to include attractive no or low yielding stocks.Net capital gain on investments of £262.7 million (FY24: £76.3 million). |
| · | Dividend income from the portfolio of £40.3 million (FY24: £34.7 million). |
| · | Total ongoing charges of 0.56% 4. |
IPS
| · | The Company’s wholly-owned provider of professional services is a key differentiator to other investment trusts and offers additional portfolio flexibility. |
| · | Accounts for 16% of 2025 NAV but has funded approximately one-third of dividends in the last 10 years. |
| · | IPS has delivered eight consecutive years of mid to high single digit growth, with net revenues of £57.7 million (FY24: £53.7m) up 7.5% with underlying profit before interest and tax up by 6.1%. |
Robert Hingley, Chairman, said:
“I am very pleased with the performance Law Debenture has delivered in 2025. Our long-term record of outperforming the benchmark remains strong, and our 47th year of maintaining or increasing dividends reflects a further positive outcome for shareholders.
With a high-quality equity portfolio and the continued growth potential of Independent Professional Services, Law Debenture is well positioned to build further on this progress and the Board remains confident in the Group’s ability to deliver attractive long-term returns for our shareholders.”
Denis Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“2025 was another strong year for Law Debenture, reflecting the resilience and consistency of our differentiated model. We delivered robust NAV and share price growth, extended our 47-year record of maintaining or increasing our dividend, and IPS recorded its eighth consecutive year of mid to high single digit revenue and underlying profit growth.
Law Debenture’s carefully constructed investment portfolio, together with the reliable and diversified income streams generated by our IPS business, continues to underpin our ability to perform through the cycle and we enter 2026 with confidence and strong momentum.”
