Murray Income Trust PLC

Half Yearly Report 31 December 2025

An investment trust founded in 1923 aiming for high and growing income with capital growth

Investment Objective

The Company aims for a high and growing income combined with capital growth through investment in a portfolio principally of UK equities.

Benchmark

The Company's benchmark is the FTSE All-Share Index

Performance Highlights

Financial Calendar, Dividends and Investment Portfolio by Sector

Financial Calendar

Dividends

Chair's Statement

Highlights

·  After a detailed strategic review, the Board has appointed Artemis to be the new manager of the Company from early March 2026.

·  The net asset value ("NAV") total return for the six months ended 31 December 2025 (the "Period") was 8.1% (with debt at fair value), against a benchmark return of 13.7%.

·  The share price increased to 913.0 pence from 854.0p over the Period, with a total return of 9.4%, while the discount decreased from 9.6% to 8.7%.

·  The total dividend, for the year ended 30 June 2025, increased by 3.9% to 40.0p per share, the 52^nd consecutive year of dividend growth. The total dividend for the year to 30 June 2026 is expected to exceed 40.0p per share.

·  Share buybacks amounted to 2.4 million shares, equivalent to 2.4% of the outstanding share capital (excluding treasury shares).

Strategic Review

The Board of Murray Income Trust undertook a strategic review last year after a sustained period of significant underperformance. The Board was pleased to announce, towards the end of the year, and as a result of that review, the appointment of Artemis Fund Managers to manage the Murray Income portfolio. Artemis will take control of the management of the portfolio from early March 2026.

The Company's investment objective - to aim for a high and growing income combined with capital growth through investment in a portfolio principally of UK equities - is not changing as a result of this appointment. There are also no changes to the Company's benchmark (FTSE All-Share Index), or to the gearing and dividend policies, or the approach to share buybacks.

The Company has a 52-year unbroken record of progressive dividend growth and intends to maintain its AIC Dividend Hero status under Artemis' management. The Company's future dividends will be supported by the cashflows of the portfolio companies selected by Artemis.

The portfolio will be managed by Artemis' market-leading UK equity income team of Adrian Frost, Andy Marsh and Nick Shenton. The Board believes Artemis' disciplined, long-term approach to value creation and their focus on compounding income and capital are a strong fit for Murray Income Trust's objectives and is confident that this appointment will position the Company to deliver sustainable value for shareholders in the years ahead.

The Company will benefit from a highly competitive fee structure, including management fees that will be payable on the lower of net assets or market capitalisation, increasing the alignment between the Investment Manager and the Company's shareholders. The Company expects that its pro forma Ongoing Charges Ratio ("OCR") will continue to be below 0.50% per annum.

A nine-month investment management fee waiver has been agreed with Artemis once they take on the portfolio.

Investment Performance

During the six months ended 31 December 2025, the Company's NAV (with debt at fair value) total return was 8.1% while the share price total return was 9.4% and the FTSE All-Share Index total return was 13.7%. Further detail on the investment performance of the portfolio can be found in the Investment Manager's Report.

Dividend

The dividend for the year ended 30 June 2025 was increased by 3.9% to 40.0p per share, the 52^nd year of consecutive dividend growth. First and second interim dividends of 9.5p per share for the year to 30 June 2026, with pay dates of 11 December 2025 and 12 March 2026 respectively, have been announced. The third and fourth interim dividends have yet to be declared but are expected to result in total dividends for the year ended 30 June 2026 exceeding 40.0p per share.

As noted at this time last year, the Board is aware that listed stocks, in which the Company invests, are currently making greater use of share buybacks. In the main, this is in addition to paying dividends but, in several cases, they are being used as a substitute for dividends. According to Computershare, UK dividends were £88bn and share buybacks were £64bn during calendar year 2025. Whilst this might put pressure on dividend growth in the short term, it is also a sign that UK companies believe that there is good value to be had in their own shares. This bodes well for future market returns as, indeed, was the case during 2025 when the UK FTSE All-Share increased by 24.0%. Such share buybacks also enhance the earnings per share of the underlying companies, potentially giving them more scope for dividend increases in future years.

Discount and share buybacks

During the Period, the Company bought back 2.4% of its outstanding shares (excluding treasury shares) as at 1 July 2025 and the discount to NAV fell from 9.6% to 8.7%.

The Company has continued to pursue share buybacks in order to take advantage of the discount to NAV at which the Company's shares trade. Share buybacks help to stabilise and reduce the volatility of the Company's share price while also enhancing the underlying NAV for continuing shareholders.

Board and Board Succession

My thanks to the Board for their hard work, commitment and valued input during the process of the strategic review. Such actions as a strategic review are not undertaken lightly and involve a significant amount of research and due diligence. My thanks, also, to our corporate advisers, Investec, for their input and detailed analysis during this process.

This will be my final year as Chair of the Company. After serving nine years as a Director, I will retire from the Board at the AGM in November. The process to determine the next Chair is currently underway.

At this point, I would also like to express my appreciation for Charles Luke and his team at Aberdeen. Charlie has managed the Company portfolio for nearly 20 years and has done so with the utmost dedication and discipline, always willing to engage with the Board and shareholders about his investment philosophy and portfolio activity. I wish him and the team well in the future.

Artemis Investment Team

The Artemis team, which will be managing the Company's investment portfolio from early March 2026, consists of Adrian Frost, Andy Marsh and Nick Shenton who, between them, have 46 years of UK equity income experience with Artemis. They will be assisted by Investment Director John Passmore and Portfolio Analyst Jamie Lindsay.

Artemis Investment Process

The Artemis investment process targets companies that can consistently generate durable and increasing levels of cash flow over the long term. The process is not driven by style bias nor by sector classification nor benchmark weighting. The team builds a diversified portfolio of 45 - 50 stocks based on where the market is deemed to be underestimating or undervaluing such intrinsic cash flows. Over the long-term, thinking like owners of the business builds a greater understanding of the drivers of a company's prospects and allows for closer engagement with management teams over how best capital should be allocated between re-investment and dividend returns to shareholders. Artemis has a total return mindset and the portfolio is run on a truly active basis.

Overview - The market paradox

Once again, geo-political events have dominated the news cycle during the Period. Stock markets continue to shrug off these issues and concentrate on more mundane, yet important, matters such as corporate earnings growth, interest rate policy and trends in inflation. This situation remains one of the great market paradoxes of the past few years. International tensions have been rising, especially since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but so have equity markets, although not without increased volatility. Of course, geo-political events have had some impact, such as the continuing strength of companies in the defence sector and the recent surge in the gold price, but the UK market has been concentrating on events of a more domestic nature such as fiscal policy, attempts to make the London Stock Exchange more attractive for companies to list there and the relative undervaluation of UK equities themselves - the latter as evidenced by the increasing amount of takeover activity in the UK market, and the strong performance of UK equities over the past 6 and 12 months. This strong performance of UK equities in the past year is another example of the market paradox as there has been a continuing outflow from UK equity markets over the past year. Despite this, it is heartening to note that UK equities produced a very healthy total return of +24% significantly eclipsing US equities (+8.6%, total return, in GBP terms) during the calendar year 2025 despite all the attention given to the so-called 'magnificent 7' stocks in the USA. It was not until November, however, that there was a modest positive inflow into UK active equities overall (£52m according to the Investment Association) as investors started to reassess the relative attractions of UK equities and perhaps breathed a sigh of relief that, at long last, the speculation over the outcome of the UK Budget was over.

The question, as ever, is whether this momentum in UK equities can be maintained. Of course geo-politics will dominate the headlines again and markets will remain volatile but I would venture to suggest that what will be more important for UK equities during 2026 will be the trends in domestic inflation and interest rates. Although inflation remained well above target in 2025, the Bank of England ("BoE") cut interest rates four times to 3.75%. The consensus view, echoed by the BoE itself, is that the rate of inflation will fall to closer to its target of 2% in the next few months, despite inflation still remaining above 3% at the end of 2025. The trend towards lower inflation in 2026 will be helped by lower petrol prices and such things as the freeze on rail fares and prescription charges. If this scenario comes to pass, then there is scope for further cuts to UK interest rates, possibly by another 0.50%, or even 0.75%. Falling rates of inflation and cuts to interest rates are generally good news for markets despite the multitude of exogenous headwinds, although it is unlikely that the stellar returns of 2025 will be repeated. The UK market climbed a wall of worry during 2025 with particular concern over the level of government indebtedness. What is much less talked about, however, is the fact that UK real wages have been rising. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics showed annual wage growth of 4.5% in the previous twelve months, well above the rate of inflation. Consumer finances are also actually quite robust. The Household Savings Ratio currently stands at over 9% against an average of about 6.5% in the pre-Covid years. One reason for this has been continuing concern about the health of the UK economy but if that sentiment improves on the back of both lower inflation rates and interest rates, there could be a substantial boost to UK consumer expenditure if these household savings are unlocked. Research from Barclays Bank suggests that savers in the UK own about £430bn of cash assets which could be suitable for spending or investing, rather than saving.

I look forward to the Artemis team taking over responsibility for the portfolio. Their approach is very much bottom-up stock-picking and, whether faced with endogenous UK economic and market dynamics or exogenous geo-political shocks, I am confident that their approach will produce successful long-term total returns within a well-balanced UK equity income portfolio.

Peter Tait

Chair

26 February 2026

Investment Manager's Report

The Company generated a positive Net Asset Value ("NAV") per share (with debt at fair value) total return of +8.1% for the six months ended 31 December 2025 (the "Period"). This was behind the Company's Benchmark (the FTSE All-Share Index) which exhibited a strong total return of +13.7%. The share price total return was +9.4%, reflecting the discount narrowing from 9.6% to 8.7% (based on NAV with debt at fair value). The market continued to be bifurcated between the performance of the Value and Quality styles which, as one would expect given the portfolio's strong bias towards Quality, negatively impacted relative performance despite attractive absolute returns.

Performance at a sector level was mixed. The Banks and Mining sectors performed particularly strongly with both sectors increasing by over 35% while the Technology, Real Estate and Beverages sectors struggled. Continuing the medium-term trend, the more domestically focused FTSE 250 Index underperformed the FTSE 100 Index over the Period.

The portfolio has been constructed to deliver long term structural growth while providing capital preservation in challenging markets. Without the headwind of the now unusually elongated benign environment for Value investing we have every reason to believe that a portfolio such as this can deliver significant long-term outperformance and maintain an exceptional track record of dividend growth.

In the last Annual Report (for the year ended 30 June 2025), we mentioned a couple of companies, Close Brothers and Rentokil, that had held back medium term performance but where we remained confident that they were significantly undervalued. It is pleasing to have witnessed a strong share price recovery for both companies during the Period. The Rentokil share price increased by 28.2% as signs of a turnaround in the company's North American operations started to become visible. For Close Brothers, the relatively benign motor finance Supreme Court judgment helped the share price to increase by over 40%, albeit there remains some uncertainty regarding the outcome of the FCA's redress scheme.

The top five winners and losers in the portfolio, relative to the Benchmark, over the Period are set out below (with figures in brackets denoting the total return of each individual stock):

Top five winners in the portfolio:

3i (-19.9%) - not owning 3i benefited relative performance as its trading statement in November highlighted that softening trading conditions in France had impacted the performance of Action, the French retailer in which 3i holds a significant stake, resulting in a sharp fall in 3i's share price.

Bae Systems (-8.5%) - Bae Systems is not held in the portfolio and so relative performance benefited from weakness in the share price which reflected the rising prospect of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

DBS (+30.2%) - the share price performed strongly following third quarter results that comfortably beat expectations driven by deposit growth and wealth management inflows that supported profitability through increased fee income and net interest income.

Nordea (+29.4%) - robust third quarter results, which reflected resilient net interest income, lower cost inflation and commission revenue tailwinds, were welcomed by investors helping the shares to perform strongly over the Period.

Accton Technology (+36.0%) - the shares of the Taiwan-listed internet network company performed strongly following robust results and excitement around the prospects for the business as a part of the Artificial Intelligence ("AI") value chain.

Top five detractors in the portfolio:

Convatec (-15.3%) - despite strong results over the Period, the share price was affected by the sad passing of the excellent CEO, Karim Bitar, as well as a proposal for competitive bidding for some of its products in the North American market which has the potential to act as a marginal headwind for profits from 2028.

HSBC (+33.5%) - the shares performed strongly over the Period helped by fees from wealth management, deposit growth benefiting net interest income and lower credit costs given the current benign environment. HSBC is one of the larger holdings in the portfolio but given the even larger Benchmark weight the strong share price performance resulted in a negative relative performance contribution. Relx (-23.1%) - although Relx delivered strong trading in line with expectations, the share price performed poorly over the Period given market concerns about the potential negative impact of AI on the company - concerns that we regard as unfounded.

Sage (-13.4%) - unease around the threat from AI in the form of greater competition and the impact of AI on employment led the share price to decline. We believe these concerns are more than factored into the valuation.

Barclays (+42.3%) - given the focus on higher quality banks, we do not hold Barclays in the portfolio. During the period the shares performed exceptionally well helped particularly by elevated cyclical investment bank earnings.

Purchases and Disposals

The trades during the Period were mostly focused on reducing companies with leverage, cyclicality, the beneficiaries of AI-related spending, together with profit-taking in the banks holdings where valuations now look full.  Having increased by over 300% since its purchase a few years ago, the holding in Accton Technology was sold as we believed the valuation now reflected the growth potential of the company. We also sold the holding in Genus which had performed very strongly following the US Food and Drug Administration's approval for the company's PRRS-virus resistant pig.  To our minds, the benefit of this approval had been mostly reflected in the share price while risk remains around successful commercialisation.  The holding in Smurfit Westrock was also sold given greater uncertainty around the acquisition of Westrock in terms of visibility of the integration and the relatively high balance sheet leverage. The small holding in Valterra, spun off from Anglo American in the Spring, was exited.  Finally, the holding in ICG was sold given the full valuation and highly macro and market sensitive nature of the shares which would in all likelihood underperform in a weaker market.

Other than inheriting a small position in Magnum Ice Cream from Unilever, no new holdings were bought for the portfolio during the Period given our comfort with the existing holdings' portfolio fit, longer-term earnings and dividend growth potential.

Other transactions related to existing holdings where changes were made to take advantage of attractive valuation opportunities or to reduce holdings where strong share price performances allowed the recycling of capital.

We took advantage of share price weakness to add to Convatec, Gamma Communications, Haleon, Reckitt Benckiser and Experian. Conversely, there were reductions to holdings including ASML, Microsoft, Howden Joinery, SSE, DBS, HSBC and Nordea.  Finally, we continued our measured option-writing programme which is based on our fundamental analysis of holdings in the portfolio. The net result of these trades was an increase cash to help fund buybacks during the Period as well as to run a higher-than-normal cash position.  This reflects our concerns on market levels explained in the last Annual Report - to quote Sir Alex Ferguson 'attack wins games, but defence wins titles'.

The portfolio at 31 December 2025 represents a diversified selection of high-quality companies which we believe to be 'Leaders in their field' with attractive valuations and strong ESG characteristics (during the Period we were awarded the highest Morningstar Sustainability Rating).  There were 49 holdings in the portfolio including 10 overseas-listed companies with around 20% of the portfolio invested in mid-cap companies. In aggregate, the portfolio consists of significantly higher quality companies than the Benchmark but without a material valuation premium with the weighted average P/E multiple c. 16x compared to c15x for the Benchmark.

Charles Luke
Senior Investment Director

abrdn Investments Limited
26 February 2026

Ten Largest Investments

As at 31 December 2025

Investment Portfolio

Interim Management Report

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The Board regularly reviews the principal risks and uncertainties which it has identified, together with the delegated controls it has established to manage the risks and address the uncertainties. These are considered to be materially unchanged as at 31 December 2025 as compared to 30 June 2025. The principal risks and uncertainties are set out in detail on pages 21 to 25 of the Company's Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2025 ("Annual Report 2025") which is available on the Company's website. The Annual Report 2025 also contains, in note 18 to the Financial Statements, an explanation of other risks relating to the Company's investment activities, specifically market risk, liquidity risk and credit risk, and a note of how these risks are managed.

Related Party Transactions

Under Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK Accounting Standards and applicable law), the Company has identified the Directors as related parties. No other related parties have been identified. There have been no related party transactions that have had a material effect on the financial position of the Company.

Going Concern

The factors which have an impact on the Company's status as a going concern are set out in the Going Concern section of the Directors' Report on page 46 of the Annual Report 2025. As at 31 December 2025, there had been no material changes to these factors.

The Directors are mindful of the principal risks and uncertainties disclosed above and, having reviewed forecasts detailing revenue and liabilities as well as taking account of the highly liquid nature of the investment portfolio, they believe that the Company has adequate financial resources to continue its operational existence for the foreseeable future.  Accordingly, the Directors believe that it is appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the Financial Statements.

Statement of Directors' Responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Half-Yearly Financial Report in accordance with applicable law and regulations. The Directors confirm that to the best of their knowledge:

·  the condensed set of Financial Statements has been prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 104 (Interim Financial Reporting);

·  the Half-Yearly Board Report includes a fair review of the information required by rule 4.2.7R of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (being an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the financial year and their impact on the condensed set of Financial Statements and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the financial year); and

·  the Half-Yearly Board Report includes a fair review of the information required by 4.2.8R (being related party transactions that have taken place during the first six months of the financial year and that have materially affected the financial position of the Company during that period; and any changes in the related party transactions described in the last Annual Report that could do so).

The Half-Yearly Financial Report for the six months ended 31 December 2025 comprises the Half-Yearly Board Report, the Directors' Responsibility Statement and the condensed set of Financial Statements.

For and on behalf of the Board
Peter Tait
Chair
26 February 2026

Condensed Statement of Comprehensive Income (unaudited)

Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited)

Condensed Statement of Changes in Equity (unaudited)

Condensed Statement of Cash Flows (unaudited)

Notes to the Financial Statements

For the six months ended 31 December 2025

Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs")

END