Caledonia streamlines portfolio to up returns

Caledonia Investments, the quoted vehicle for the Cayzer family's holdings, is set to pursue a more aggressive investment policy to produce better returns and more income.

New chief executive Will Wyatt today said that he wants to cut the number of investments held by the firm from its present 68 to about 40 with a future minimum new investment size of £10million. He said: "The number of investments in our portfolio was too large and too many were unlikely to make an impact."

He also wants to push the portfolio's yield up from 2% to nearer the FTSE All-share average of 3%.

He also ruled out "start-up or very early stage firms, highly leveraged firms and firms whose business we do not understand."

Caledonia's net assets rose 6.5% to £1.26 billion in the year to March and the dividend which has now been increased for 44 years running goes up 5% to 37.1p a share.