**Summary of Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC Half-Year Financial Report (November 2025)**
**Overview**
Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC (WWH), an LSE-listed investment company founded in 1995, released its unaudited half-year results for the six months ended 30 September 2025. The report highlights strong performance, strategic investments in innovative healthcare sectors, and a focus on long-term growth amid global market challenges.
**Financial Performance**
**Net Asset Value (NAV) per share**Increased by 4.4% to 354.4p (from 339.5p at 31 March 2025).
**Share price**Rose by 10.3% to 328.0p (from 297.5p), narrowing the discount to NAV from 12.4% to 7.4%.
**Total returns**NAV total return of +5.0%, outperforming the benchmark (-5.3%). Share price total return of +10.9%.
**Leverage**Increased to 16.4% (from 12.0% at 31 March 2025), adding 0.6% to performance.
**Ongoing charges**Remained stable at 0.9% (annualised).
**Investment Strategy**
**Focus on innovation**WWH targets companies at the forefront of healthcare innovation, including immunology, gene therapy, surgical robotics, and diagnostics.
**Portfolio diversification**Invests globally across sub-sectors, with a focus on North America, Europe, and emerging markets like China.
**Proprietary swap basket**Holds a biotech M&A swap basket, comprising around 50 companies likely to be acquired, contributing materially to performance.
**Top holdings**Eli Lilly, Boston Scientific, AstraZeneca, and Stryker are among the largest investments.
**Key Contributions to Performance**
**Top performers**Chinese pharmaceutical company Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceutical and U.S. biotech firm Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.
**Detractors**U.S. companies Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Boston Scientific.
**Caris Life Sciences IPO**The successful IPO of Caris Life Sciences, a precision medicine company, contributed significantly to performance and reduced exposure to unquoted companies.
**Market Context**
**Global markets**Volatile due to U.S. tariff announcements, recession fears, and a rebound driven by AI technologies and interest rate cuts.
**Healthcare sector underperformance**The MSCI World Healthcare Index fell by 5.3%, while the broader MSCI World Index rose by nearly 15%. WWH outperformed the benchmark by 10.3%.
**Discount Control and Share Buybacks**
**Share buybacks**Repurchased 87.1 million shares for £273.8 million at an average discount of 7.0%.
**Discount policy**The Board aims to buy back shares if the discount to NAV exceeds 6% on an ongoing basis.
**Dividends**
**Interim dividend**Maintained at 0.7p per share, payable on 9 January 2026.
**Final dividend**Expected to be lower than the previous year due to reduced exposure to dividend-paying companies.
**Board Changes**
**Chair succession**Doug McCutcheon will retire in July 2026, with William Hemmings succeeding him as Board Chair.
**Outlook**
**Long-term optimism**The Board remains confident in the global healthcare sector’s growth potential, driven by innovation, demographic trends, and policy clarity in the U.S.
**Portfolio Manager’s view**OrbiMed Advisors LLP expects continued outperformance through strategic allocation and stock selection.
**Conclusion**
WWH demonstrated resilience and strong performance in a challenging market environment, outperforming its benchmark and positioning itself for long-term growth in the healthcare sector. The company’s focus on innovation, strategic leverage, and discount control policies continue to drive value for shareholders.