14 Oct 2020 11:56
BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio UpdateBlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, October 14
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)All information is at 30 September 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 | -0.2% | -1.9% | 11.8% | -9.5% | 10.5% | 70.2% |
| Share price | -1.6% | 0.6% | 10.7% | -17.3% | 11.1% | 76.6% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | 1.0% | 0.9% | 15.7% | -9.5% | 12.2% | 69.4% |
Source: BlackRock
| At month end | |
| Net asset value – capital only: | 161.02p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 161.77p |
| Share price: | 150.00p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 7.3% |
| Net yield¹: | 5.3% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £129.8m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| Options overwrite: | 18.4% |
| Ordinary shares in issue²: | 80,214,044 |
| Ongoing charges³: | 1.1% |
1 Based on four quarterly interim dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 7 November 2019 for the year ended 31 October 2019, and on 20 March 2020, 5 May 2020 and 6 August 2020 for the year ending 31 October 2020, and based on the share price as at close of business on 30 September 2020.
² Excluding 20,147,261 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 | 24.3 |
| Health Care | 17.2 |
| Information Technology | 11.9 |
| Consumer Staples | 9.7 |
| Communication Services | 7.8 |
| Energy | 6.8 |
| Industrials | 6.7 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 5.0 |
| Utilities | 3.4 |
| Materials | 2.0 |
| Net current assets | 5.2 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 72.5 |
| Netherlands | 5.1 |
| United Kingdom | 4.7 |
| Germany | 4.3 |
| Ireland | 2.7 |
| France | 2.5 |
| Switzerland | 1.7 |
| Norway | 0.8 |
| Canada | 0.5 |
| Net current assets | 5.2 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Ten Largest Investments | ||
| Company | Country of Risk | Total Assets (%) |
| Verizon Communications | USA | 4.3 |
| Bank of America | USA | 3.0 |
| Citigroup | USA | 2.7 |
| Medtronic | Ireland | 2.7 |
| Comcast Corporation | USA | 2.5 |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions | USA | 2.4 |
| Wells Fargo | USA | 2.3 |
| Sanofi | France | 2.3 |
| Samsung Electronics | USA | 2.3 |
| Altria Group | USA | 2.2 |
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 30 September 2020, the Company’s NAV decreased by 0.2% and the share price by 1.6% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned 1.0% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection in the communication services sector. Notably, selection decisions in the media and diversified telecom services industries proved beneficial. In information technology, stock selection in technology hardware, storage and peripherals and communications equipment boosted relative returns. Other modest contributors during the month included stock selection in consumer staples and the portfolio’s cash allocation.
The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the financials sector. Notably, stock selection in the banks and diversified financial services industries proved costly during the month. In industrials, stock selection in aerospace and defence and an underweight exposure to the machinery industry weighed on relative results. Other notable detractors during the period included an overweight exposure to the energy sector and an underweight exposure to materials.
The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy contributed to relative performance in September.
Transactions/Options
Transactions: In September, the portfolio initiated a new position in PPG Industries and we added to our existing position in Samsung Electronics. Conversely, we exited our position in Quest Diagnostics and reduced our exposure to Morgan Stanley during the month.
Options: As of 30 September 2020, the Company’s options exposure was 18.4% and the delta of the options was 89.2.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the financials, health care and energy sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the industrials, real estate and materials sectors.
Source: BlackRock. Data as of 30 September 2020.
14 October 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.