18 May 2020 16:58
BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio UpdateBlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, May 18
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)All information is at 30 April 2020 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 | 8.0% | -11.0% | -9.9% | -5.4% | 9.1% | 54.7% |
| Share price | 15.5% | -13.6% | -11.7% | -7.3% | 15.6% | 66.9% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | 9.4% | -12.9% | -11.4% | -8.0% | 7.0% | 47.6% |
Source: BlackRock
| At month end | |
| Net asset value – capital only: | 158.30p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 160.10p |
| Share price: | 160.50p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 0.2% |
| Net yield¹: | 5.0% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £130.0m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| Options overwrite: | 15.1% |
| Ordinary shares in issue²: | 81,204,044 |
| Ongoing charges³: | 1.1% |
1 Based on three quarterly interim dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 8 May 2019, 6 August 2019 and 7 November 2019 for the year ended 31 October 2019 and on 20 March 2020 for the year ending 31 October 2020 and based on the share price as at close of business on 30 April 2020.
² Excluding 19,157,261 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 2019.
| Benchmark Sector Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| Financials | 23.8 |
| Health Care | 18.2 |
| Consumer Staples | 8.9 |
| Information Technology | 8.5 |
| Energy | 8.1 |
| Communication Services | 7.2 |
| Industrials | 6.9 |
| Utilities | 4.5 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 4.2 |
| Materials | 1.7 |
| Net current assets | 8.0 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 69.8 |
| United Kingdom | 5.8 |
| Netherlands | 4.8 |
| Germany | 3.8 |
| France | 2.9 |
| Ireland | 2.4 |
| Switzerland | 2.0 |
| Norway | 0.4 |
| Canada | 0.1 |
| Net current assets | 8.0 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Ten Largest Investments | ||
| Company | Country of Risk | Total Assets (%) |
| Verizon Communications | USA | 4.3 |
| Bank of America | USA | 3.4 |
| Citigroup | USA | 3.1 |
| Sanofi | France | 2.5 |
| Anthem | USA | 2.4 |
| Medtronic | Ireland | 2.4 |
| Wells Fargo | USA | 2.2 |
| Koninklijke Philips | Netherlands | 2.1 |
| Unilever | Netherlands | 2.1 |
| FirstEnergy | USA | 2.1 |
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 30 April 2020, the Company’s NAV increased by 8.0% and the share price by 15.5% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned 9.4% for the period.
A rebound in U.S. stocks was as swift as the selloff seen through February and March, with all 11 GICS sectors in the benchmark index rising in the month of April. The portfolio's cash position, which averaged 8.8%, accounted for the majority of relative underperformance amid the rapid appreciation in stock prices. However, cash remains a source of stability in the portfolio and a tool to control the portfolio's level of market risk in a period where uncertainty remains elevated. Stock selection in consumer discretionary also detracted from relative returns, including selection decisions in the household durables industry. Lastly, stock selection in industrials and energy detracted from relative performance.
The largest contributor to relative performance was an underweight to the utilities sector. A broad underweight to this defensive area of the market boded well for relative returns amid the sharp reversal. In information technology, selection decisions in IT services and an overweight to the software industry improved relative results. Other notable contributors included underweight exposure to both real estate and consumer staples, and stock selection in materials.
The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy contributed to relative performance in April, as strikes were moved further out of the money in previous weeks.
Transactions/Options
Transactions: In April, the portfolio initiated new positions in Kinder Morgan, American Express, US Bancorp, Fidelity National Financial and Lear and added to existing positions in Visa and PSEG. Conversely, we exited our positions in Sony, Kellogg, Johnson & Johnson, CRH, NextEra Energy, Philip Morris International and BCE and reduced exposure to Cisco Systems and JPMorgan Chase.
Options: As of 30 April 2020, the Company’s options exposure was 15.1% and the delta of the options was 85.2.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the financials, health care and information technology sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the real estate, utilities and materials sectors.
Source: BlackRock. Data as of 30 April 2020.
18 May 2020
Latest information is available by typing blackrock.com/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.