BRNA.L Regulatory News (BRNA)

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc All information is at 31 August 2014 and unaudited. Performance at month end with net income reinvested One Three Six Since Month months months launch (24 Oct 2012) Net asset value 5.0% 3.4% 7.1% 25.3%Share price 4.6% 1.4% 5.8% 15.6%Russell 1000 Value Index 5.4% 5.6% 10.7% 43.3% Source: BlackRock At month end Net asset value - capital only: 115.00pNet asset value - cum income: 115.57pShare price: 108.50pDiscount to cum income NAV: 6.1%Net yield*: 3.7%Total assets including current year revenue: £116.0mTarget annual dividend: 4.0pGearing: 1.8%Options overwrite: 18.19%Ordinary shares in issue: 100,361,305Ongoing charges**: 1.4% During the month, the company has issued no shares. *based on dividends of 1p per share each declared on 3 October 2013,13 February 2014, 14 May 2014 and 6 August 2014. ** Ongoing charges represent the management fee and all other operatingexpenses excluding interest as a % of average shareholders' funds for the yearended 31 October 2013 Benchmark Sector Analysis Total Assets (%) Financials 25.4Industrials 14.8Energy 12.9Health Care 9.8Consumer Discretionary 9.4Consumer Staples 8.5Information Technology 7.4Materials 6.1Utilities 5.3Telecommunication Services 2.2Net current liabilities (1.8) ----- 100.0 ===== Country Analysis Total Assets (%) USA 95.6Canada 2.2France 1.5Australia 1.0United Kingdom 1.0Netherlands 0.5Net current liabilities (1.8) ----- 100.0 ===== Ten Largest Investments(in alphabetical order) Company Country of Risk Chevron USAComcast USAExxon Mobil USAGeneral Electric USAHome Depot USAJPMorgan Chase USAMerck USAMicrosoft USAPfizer USAWells Fargo USA Bob Shearer, Tony DeSpirito and Kathleen Anderson representing the InvestmentManager, noted: Performance For the one month ended 31 August 2014, the Company's NAV increased by 5.0% andthe share price increased by 4.6% (all in sterling). The Company's benchmark,the Russell 1000 Value Index, increased by 5.4% for the period. On a relative basis, the largest contributor to performance was stock selectionin the consumer discretionary sector. Our ownership of Home Depot (+17.6%), anon-benchmark holding, proved particularly beneficial as the company's sharesrallied after beating analysts' earnings expectations and management boostedtheir earnings outlook. Stock selection in the energy and telecommunicationservices sectors also added modestly to relative returns for the month. The largest detractor from relative performance for the period was stockselection within financials. Not owning benchmark holding Berkshire Hathaway(+9.4%), a non-dividend payer, proved costly after the firm posted strong Q2results. Our overweight position to banks such as SunTrust Banks and FifthThird Bancorp also dampened relative returns for the period. Lastly, stockselection in the information technology, materials and consumer staples sectorsalso detracted from relative performance. Transactions/Options Transactions: In August, we increased our financials exposure by 1.1% by addingto existing positions such as Bank of America, MetLife, Citigroup, MorganStanley & SunTrust Banks. Additionally, we increased our weighting to IntelCorporation during the month. Conversely, we reduced our exposure to consumerdiscretionary by selling Walt Disney Company and trimming our exposure to V.F.Corporation. We also modestly reduced our exposure to the energy, materials andconsumer staples sectors. Notable trims included Enbridge, BHP Billiton,Coca-Cola, Philip Morris, General Mills and Diageo. As at 31 August 2014, the Company's options exposure was 18.19% and the deltaof the options was 89.93%. Positioning The Company is currently overweight to the industrials, materials, consumerdiscretionary and consumer staples sectors. We are underweight to thefinancials, health care, information technology, utilities, energy andtelecommunication services sectors. Conversations with our management teams and economic data points (employment,housing, manufacturing, etc.) continue to support our view that the US economyis slowly gaining strength. This economic improvement, the end of QE3, andultimately Federal action is likely to cause interest rates (and volatility) todrift higher. As the bounty of abundant liquidity is withdrawn, we expectprofitable companies with strong balance sheets, dominant competitive positionsand consistent earnings and dividend growth potential to outperform. 19 September 2014 ENDS Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brna on theinternet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICVterminal). Neither the contents of the Manager's website nor the contents ofany website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager's website (or any otherwebsite) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.