UNDERVALUED Assets Trust, which concentrates on value investment, is to purchase more of its own shares to try and reduce the 14.5% discount to asset value its shares sell at. Shareholders will be asked to approve the purchase of up to 15% of the shares in issue.

The wide discount reflects a disappointing investment performance, with a total return in the year to March of 11.9% against the 36.3% rise in the trust's All-Share index benchmark.

The wide discount means that Undervalued, which has predatory stakes in a number of other trusts, could itself be at risk from a predator. The dividend is held at 2.35p.