17 Apr 2018 12:50
BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio UpdateBlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, April 16
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)All information is at 31 March 2018 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
| One Month | Three Months | Six Months | One Year | Three Years | Five years | |
| Net asset value | -4.2% | -6.5% | -2.8% | -3.4% | 37.3% | 68.8% |
| Share price | -7.2% | -7.5% | -2.2% | -3.4% | 38.4% | 55.3% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | -3.5% | -6.3% | -2.1% | -4.7% | 32.9% | 80.6% |
Source: BlackRock
| At month end | |
| Net asset value – capital only: | 158.94p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 159.91p |
| Share price: | 148.50p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 7.1% |
| Net yield¹: | 5.4% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £110.1m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| Options overwrite: | 14.5% |
| Ordinary shares in issue²: | 68,874,044 |
| Ongoing charges³: | 1.1% |
¹ In line with the dividend policy announced in the Annual Report on 13 December 2017 of dividends amounting to 8.00p per share for the year ending 31 October 2018 and based on the share price as at close of business on 29 March 2018.
² Excluding 31,487,261 ordinary shares held in treasury.
³ Ongoing charges represent the management fee and all other operating expenses excluding interest as a % of average shareholders’ funds for the year ended 31 October 2017.
| Benchmark Sector Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| Financials | 28.2 |
| Health Care | 16.9 |
| Energy | 11.1 |
| Information Technology | 11.0 |
| Industrials | 7.8 |
| Consumer Staples | 7.8 |
| Utilities | 4.9 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 3.9 |
| Telecommunication Services | 2.9 |
| Materials | 2.2 |
| Net current assets | 3.3 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| USA | 77.4 |
| United Kingdom | 5.0 |
| Netherlands | 4.6 |
| Canada | 3.1 |
| Ireland | 2.7 |
| France | 2.1 |
| Denmark | 0.8 |
| Germany | 0.5 |
| China | 0.3 |
| South Korea | 0.2 |
| Net current assets | 3.3 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Ten Largest Investments | ||
| Company | Country of Risk | Total Assets (%) |
| JPMorgan Chase | USA | 4.3 |
| Bank of America | USA | 4.3 |
| Pfizer | USA | 3.7 |
| Citigroup | USA | 3.5 |
| Wells Fargo | USA | 2.9 |
| Oracle | USA | 2.9 |
| Microsoft | USA | 2.5 |
| Anthem | USA | 2.4 |
| Verizon Communications | USA | 2.4 |
| Royal Dutch Shell | Netherlands | 2.3 |
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one month period ended 31 March 2018, the Company’s NAV decreased by 4.2% while the share price decreased by 7.2% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -3.5% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection in the energy sector, most notably in the oil, gas & consumable fuels industry. The portfolio’s cash position, which averaged 5.4% during the month, also boosted relative results. Other notable contributors included stock selection in the telecoms and utilities sectors.
The largest detractor from relative performance was a combination of stock selection and allocation decisions in the financials sector. Notably, stock selection and an overweight to the banks industry proved costly, as did stock selection in the insurance industry. Stock selection in information technology also dampened relative results, primarily due to investment decisions in the semiconductors industry. Lastly, an underweight to real estate and stock selection in consumer discretionary also weighed on relative performance during the month.
The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy contributed modestly to absolute returns in March. This should be understood within the context of negative U.S. equity market returns (in U.S. Dollar terms).
Transactions/Options
Transactions: During the month we initiated a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. and increased our allocation to existing holdings Devon Energy Corporation and Prudential Financial, Inc. Conversely, we eliminated our positions in Marathon Oil Corporation, Smith & Nephew plc, Pioneer Natural Resources Company and Regions Financial Corporation.
Options: As of 31 March 2018, the Company’s options exposure was 14.5% and the delta of the options was 92.5.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the health care, information technology and financials sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the real estate, consumer discretionary and industrials sectors.
Source: BlackRock.
17 April 2018
Latest information is available by typing blackrock.co.uk/brna on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). Neither the contents of the Manager’s website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.