The drop has forced the £3.9 billion trust to dip into capital reserves to cover dividends.

The trust, run by Baillie Gifford managers Jim Anderson and Tom Slater, reported a loss of £13.9m on its net return on ordinary activities before tax, compared to a £723.2m profit in the previous year to March 2015.

Income from investments came down from £38.7m in the 2014-15 financial year to £32.7m, the trust reported.

Chairman John Scott said: “I am pleased to say that the Scottish Mortgage portfolio has continued to produce good long-term returns for shareholders. The past financial year, taken in isolation, has not been as strong as recent years, either in terms of the NAV performance or our own share price, but I hope that my earlier statements have been consistent in warning that not every year can be expected to produce the stellar results that we have been fortunate to see in the past.”

Mr Scott also revealed annual charges had come down again in the most recent financial year to 0.45 per cent, from 0.48 per cent, making them some of the lowest reported in the investment trust sector, he said.

He added: “We believe strongly in two things: first, that passive investing is no longer an adequate approach if investors wish to preserve capital in the medium term - there are simply too many competitive threats to established businesses, many of which will not survive. Secondly, that many of the companies in our portfolio offer the potential for growth based on structural rather than cyclical changes over the long term.”