Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (SMT) has published its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 September 2026, reporting a net asset value total return of 31.5% against 16.0% for the FTSE All-World Index. Shareholders' funds rose to £17,687.5 million from £13,822.2 million at 31 March 2026, while the share price total return reached 33.8%. Key portfolio holdings including SpaceX, Moderna, and Anthropic were cited as principal contributors to the period's strong performance.

Key Points

  • Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (SMT), managed by Baillie Gifford, is a global investment trust investing in public and private companies across technology, healthcare and other high-growth sectors.
  • NAV per ordinary share (after deducting borrowings at fair value) rose 31.2% to 1,726.6p from 1,315.8p over the six-month period.
  • An interim dividend of 1.80p per share was declared, up from 1.60p in the equivalent prior period, extending the trust's record of 43 consecutive years of annual dividend increases.
  • Investors may be watching the trust's private company exposure, which stood at 24.9% of total assets at 30 September 2026, and the reduction of SpaceX from 15.0% to 11.1% of total assets by 4 November 2026.

SpaceX Flotation and Moderna Breakthrough Drive Scottish Mortgage's Six-Month Outperformance

SpaceX, which completed what the announcement describes as the largest initial public offering in history, contributed 8.0 percentage points to Scottish Mortgage's absolute performance over the period, with an absolute return of 41.1%. Moderna contributed 4.5 percentage points after its shares rose sharply following a positive late-stage melanoma vaccine trial result. Anthropic, held as an unlisted private company, contributed 3.4 percentage points with an absolute return of 260.2%. TSMC and Zipline rounded out the top five contributors. The trust's 10-year NAV total return stands at 463.6%, compared with 228.4% for the FTSE All-World Index over the same period.

Scottish Mortgage Repurchases £1.06 Billion of Shares and Cuts Gearing to 4.3% During Period

The trust actively managed its capital structure throughout the six months. Between April and early June it reissued 40.95 million shares from treasury, raising approximately £602 million net of costs. It subsequently repurchased 72.9 million shares for approximately £1.06 billion before transaction costs following a return to a discount. Since the enhanced buyback programme was announced in March 2024, more than £4 billion of shares have been repurchased in total. Net gearing fell from 11.0% to 4.3% over the period, reflecting portfolio appreciation and borrowing repayments funded in part by reductions in the SpaceX holding. The discount to NAV narrowed from 9.5% to 7.9%.

Anthropic, Chai Discovery and New AI Infrastructure Holdings Added as Private Company Deployment Reaches £268.7 Million

Scottish Mortgage deployed £268.7 million of new capital in private companies during the six months, including follow-on investment in Anthropic after shareholders approved up to £250 million of additional private company capacity at the April general meeting. New private company positions were initiated in Chai Discovery, which develops AI-based drug design models, Hadrian, an automated aerospace and defence parts manufacturer, and ICON, which uses robotic 3D printing for construction. The announcement states that since the trust's first private company investment in 2012, it has deployed £5.2 billion of capital in this area, with 53 private companies currently held.

Tesla Sold After 13-Times Return; Chinese Holdings Including PDD, BYD and CATL Detract from Performance

The trust exited its entire Tesla position, which the announcement states returned 13 times the capital invested since the original 2013 entry. Netflix, Delivery Hero, Kering, Insulet, HeartFlow, and Sana Biotechnology were also sold in full. Among detractors, PDD fell 24.2% in absolute terms amid slowing growth and tariff pressures on its Temu platform, while BYD declined 28.8% despite vehicle export growth, and CATL fell 24.5% as carmakers pushed for lower prices. The trust added to its CATL position, citing the long-term electrification opportunity. Chinese holdings represented 9.8% of total assets at 30 September 2026, down from 13.2% at 31 March 2026.