28 Nov 2018 11:37
BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio UpdateBlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, November 28
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)All information is at 31 October 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 | -3.2% | -1.5% | 8.3% | 6.6% | 59.4% | 86.7% |
| Share price | -5.3% | -0.9% | 12.3% | 10.3% | 67.7% | 79.7% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | -3.2% | -1.0% | 9.0% | 7.1% | 56.0% | 90.0% |
Source: BlackRock
| At month end | |
| Net asset value – capital only: | 174.19p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 175.60p |
| Share price: | 169.50p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 3.5% |
| Net yield¹: | 4.7% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £120.9m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| Options overwrite: | 16.1% |
| 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 31 October 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 | 25.0 |
| Health Care | 18.3 |
| Energy | 11.2 |
| Information Technology | 10.7 |
| Industrials | 7.8 |
| Consumer Staples | 6.9 |
| Utilities | 4.9 |
| Telecommunication Services | 4.2 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 3.8 |
| Materials | 1.9 |
| Net current assets | 5.3 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 77.5 |
| United Kingdom | 5.4 |
| Canada | 2.9 |
| Netherlands | 2.5 |
| Ireland | 2.5 |
| Switzerland | 1.2 |
| Germany | 1.1 |
| Denmark | 0.7 |
| France | 0.5 |
| China | 0.4 |
| Net current assets | 5.3 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Ten Largest Investments | ||
| Company | Country of Risk | Total Assets (%) |
| JPMorgan Chase | USA | 4.0 |
| Verizon Communications | USA | 4.0 |
| Pfizer | USA | 3.9 |
| Wells Fargo | USA | 3.4 |
| Citigroup | USA | 3.3 |
| Bank of America | USA | 3.0 |
| Anthem | USA | 2.8 |
| Oracle | USA | 2.6 |
| Microsoft | USA | 2.3 |
| Suncor Energy | Canada | 2.2 |
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 31 October 2018, the Company’s NAV decreased by 3.2% while the share price fell by 5.3% (all performance figures are in sterling terms). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, fell by 3.2% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection in the communication services sector, most notably in the diversified telecommunication services industry. The Company’s cash position, which averaged 5.5% during the month, also added to relative performance amid declining U.S. stock prices. A combination of stock selection and an underweight position in industrials also proved beneficial to the portfolio, as did stock selection in the health care sector.
The largest detractor from relative performance was a combination of stock selection and an underweight position in the consumer staples sector. Notably, an underweight to the food & staples retailing industry hindered relative returns, as did stock selection in the food products industry. In the financials sector, stock selection in the insurance industry was a notable detractor. Lastly, stock selection in consumer discretionary and an overweight position in the energy sector weighed on relative performance during the period.
The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy contributed modestly to absolute returns in October. This should be understood within the context of declining U.S. equity market prices.
Transactions/Options
Transactions: In October we initiated new positions in Novartis , Siemens and BAE Systems . Position sizes in Verizon Communications, State Street and Wells Fargo were also increased. Conversely, we exited our positions in SunTrust Banks, Nielsen Holdings, Interpublic Group of Companies and Quest Diagnostics. Other notable trades included trimming our existing positions in Hess, General Electric, and CVS Health.
Options: As of 31 October 2018, the Company’s options exposure was 16.1% and the delta of the options was 88.3.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the health care, financials, and information technology sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the real estate, consumer discretionary, and materials sectors.
Source: BlackRock.
28 November 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.