13 Jun 2018 11:48
BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio UpdateBlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, June 13
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)All information is at 31 May 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 | 3.6% | 3.0% | 1.5% | 6.0% | 49.0% | 77.7% |
| Share price | 9.2% | 5.5% | 4.9% | 12.5% | 61.5% | 71.1% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | 4.1% | 2.7% | 1.2% | 5.0% | 42.2% | 84.3% |
Source: BlackRock
| At month end | |
| Net asset value – capital only: | 169.33p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 169.91p |
| Share price: | 166.75p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 1.9% |
| Net yield¹: | 4.8% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £117.0m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| Options overwrite: | 14.3% |
| 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 May 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 | 27.2 |
| Health Care | 17.1 |
| Energy | 12.2 |
| Information Technology | 11.3 |
| Industrials | 8.1 |
| Consumer Staples | 7.6 |
| Utilities | 4.9 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 3.9 |
| Telecommunication Services | 2.6 |
| Materials | 2.2 |
| Net current assets | 2.9 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| USA | 78.4 |
| United Kingdom | 5.2 |
| Netherlands | 4.1 |
| Canada | 3.3 |
| Ireland | 2.9 |
| France | 1.6 |
| Denmark | 0.8 |
| Germany | 0.5 |
| China | 0.3 |
| Net current assets | 2.9 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Ten Largest Investments | ||
| Company | Country of Risk | Total Assets (%) |
| JPMorgan Chase | USA | 4.2 |
| Bank of America | USA | 4.1 |
| Pfizer | USA | 3.8 |
| Citigroup | USA | 3.4 |
| Wells Fargo | USA | 3.0 |
| Oracle | USA | 2.9 |
| Microsoft | USA | 2.6 |
| Suncor Energy | Canada | 2.5 |
| Verizon Communications | USA | 2.3 |
| Anthem | USA | 2.2 |
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 31 May 2018, the Company’s NAV increased by 3.6% while the share price increased by 9.2% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned 4.1% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection and allocation decisions in the consumer staples sector. Notably, an underweight to the food & staples retailing industry and stock selection in food products and beverages boosted relative returns. In information technology, a combination of stock selection and an overweight to the software industry also added to relative returns. At the industry level, stock selection in pharmaceuticals and multi-utilities also contributed to relative performance.
The largest detractor from relative performance was a combination of stock selection and allocation decisions in financials. Notably, stock selection in the insurance and capital markets industries proved costly, as did our overweight positions in the insurers and banks. In health care, a combination of stock selection and an overweight to the health care providers & services industry weighed on relative results. Lastly, an underweight to real estate and stock selection in energy detracted from relative performance during the month.
The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy detracted modestly from absolute returns in May. This should be understood within the context of positive U.S. equity market returns.
Transactions/Options
Transactions: In May we initiated new positions in ONEOK, Inc., AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc., Marathon Oil Corporation and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. The portfolio’s exposure to Devon Energy Corporation and Plains GP Holdings, L.P. was also increased during the month. Conversely, we trimmed our existing positions in Royal Dutch Shell and Total SA, as well as exited our positions in Halliburton Company and SK Telecom Co., Ltd.
Options: As of 31 May 2018, the Company’s options exposure was 14.3% and the delta of the options was 91.0.
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.
13 June 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.