Last checked at 16 Feb 2016 16:05
BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC - Portfolio UpdateBLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, February 16
| BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC All information is at 31 January 2016 and unaudited. | |||||||||||
| Performance at month end is calculated on a cum income basis | |||||||||||
| One | Three | One | Three | Five | |||||||
| month | months | year | years | years | |||||||
| % | % | % | % | % | |||||||
| Net asset value (undiluted)# | -5.1 | -2.3 | 13.5 | 52.6 | 76.3 | ||||||
| Net asset value (fully diluted) | -5.1 | -2.3 | 13.5 | 52.6 | 65.8 | ||||||
| Share price | -11.0 | 1.7 | 17.2 | 60.0 | 84.9 | ||||||
| Benchmark* | -5.7 | -5.2 | 3.8 | 28.2 | 41.6 | ||||||
| Sources: BlackRock and Datastream #Prior to dilution arising on conversion of subscription shares. *With effect from 1 December 2013 the Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM (excluding investment companies) Index replaced the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding investment companies) Index as the Company’s benchmark. The three and five year period indices have been blended to reflect this. | |||||||||||
| At month end | |||||||||||
| Net asset value capital only: | 370.43p | ||||||||||
| Net asset value incl. income: | 377.81p | ||||||||||
| Share price | 326.50p | ||||||||||
| Discount to cum income NAV | 13.6% | ||||||||||
| Net yield | 2.1%* | ||||||||||
| Total Gross assets | £276.3m** | ||||||||||
| Net market exposure as a % of net asset value^ | 107.4% | ||||||||||
| Ordinary shares in issue: | 73,130,326*** | ||||||||||
| 2015 ongoing charges (excluding performance fees): | 1.1%**** | ||||||||||
| 2015 ongoing charges ratio (including performance fees): | 2.3% | ||||||||||
| * Calculated using interim and final dividends for the year ended 30 November 2015. ** Includes current year revenue and excludes the gross exposure through contracts for difference. *** Excluding 7,400,000 shares held in treasury. **** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 November 2015. ^Long positions less short positions as a percentage of net asset value. | |||||||||||
| Sector Weightings | % of Total Assets | ||||||||||
| Industrials | 26.3 | ||||||||||
| Consumer Services | 20.8 | ||||||||||
| Financials | 20.8 | ||||||||||
| Technology | 9.6 | ||||||||||
| Consumer Goods | 8.9 | ||||||||||
| Health Care | 8.4 | ||||||||||
| Basic Materials | 4.9 | ||||||||||
| Oil & Gas | 1.5 | ||||||||||
| Telecommunications | 0.4 | ||||||||||
| Net current liabilities | -1.6 | ||||||||||
| ----- | |||||||||||
| Total | 100.0 | ||||||||||
| ===== | |||||||||||
| Market Exposure (Quarterly) | |||||||||||
| 28.02.15 | 31.05.15 | 31.08.15 | 30.11.15 | ||||||||
| % | % | % | % | ||||||||
| Long | 121.9 | 116.8 | 115.2 | 115.2 | |||||||
| Short | 10.3 | 9.6 | 9.0 | 9.2 | |||||||
| Gross exposure | 132.2 | 126.4 | 124.2 | 124.4 | |||||||
| Net exposure | 111.6 | 107.2 | 106.2 | 106.0 | |||||||
| Ten Largest Investments | |||||||||||
| Company | % of Total Gross assets | ||||||||||
| JD Sports | 2.9 | ||||||||||
| CVS Group | 2.9 | ||||||||||
| 4imprint Group | 2.6 | ||||||||||
| Rathbone Brothers | 2.6 | ||||||||||
| Workspace Group | 2.3 | ||||||||||
| Ted Baker | 2.0 | ||||||||||
| Savills | 2.0 | ||||||||||
| Dechra Pharmaceuticals | 1.9 | ||||||||||
| Fevertree Drinks | 1.9 | ||||||||||
| Fuller Smith & Turner | 1.8 | ||||||||||
| Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis and Dan Whitestone, representing the Investment Manager noted: | |||||||||||
| During January the Company’s NAV per share fell by 5.1% on a cum income basis whilst our benchmark index fell by 5.7%; the FTSE 100 Index fell by 2.5%. Stockmarkets were very nervous during January, with significant volatility, although the month finished on a slightly more positive tone. The nervousness was based on many factors including Chinese GDP weakness, the further weakening oil price and implications for global growth, the political stability of the Middle East, the further strengthening of the US dollar, the falling exports of US manufacturers and the decision by the US Fed to increase interest rates and whether this was the correct time to start the normalisation process. On top of these we have a US Presidential election this year, and a likely vote in the UK on Brexit with the risk of delayed corporate decision making ahead of the vote. Within the UK there is also a perception that small and mid-cap market investors have tended to be positioned the same way: long UK consumer stocks, underweight resources and industrials. Any mass shift in this positioning could cause disruption. Turning to our portfolio relative outperformance, whilst modest in the context of the sharp absolute fall in NAV, this was mainly derived from good stock selection in the long only portfolio. Sector allocation also contributed slightly during the month mainly due to our underweight position in oil & gas stocks. The CFD portfolio also added value, the fifteenth consecutive month in which it has done so. The long only portfolio fell in value by 5.2%, the benchmark fell by 5.7%. The CFD portfolio added a further 0.08% to the NAV. These individual portfolio returns are before costs. Within the long only portfolio the largest positive contributors to stock selection during the month were our holdings in JD Sports who announced trading over Christmas had been very positive. Like for like store sales in the core fascia rose by 10.6% in the five weeks to 2 January 2016, with profits ahead of expectations. We also saw good performances from Betfair and Fevertree Drinks. The largest detractors from relative performance were our holdings in Avon Rubber and Workspace. Avon Rubber announced at their AGM that dairy market conditions remain soft, and that in the protection and defence business they still hope to win higher margin export orders over the coming months. We believe management have invested well, and this is seen by the success of the Dairy Cluster Exchange where take up by farms remains at encouraging levels. Workspace announced that like for like rents were up by 1.9% to £20.58 per square foot in the quarter to 31 December 2015. Occupancy continued to increase slightly, and letting activity was strong in January. However the shares sold off and now trade close to NAV. We still see good growth opportunities ahead for Workspace. Our relative performance was also negatively impacted by not owning Home Retail shares in the portfolio, a large benchmark constituent. Home Retail was approached by Sainsbury with a view to an offer; the shares rose by 38% in the month. Portfolio activity within the long only portfolio during the month was fairly modest. Within the CFD portfolio, despite significant falls across the UK stock indices, the CFD portfolio delivered a modest absolute gain of 8 basis points (bps). The long CFDs lost 60bps, and the short CFDs generated 68bps, however, there were some strong stock specific success stories in both the long and short books in January. The biggest contributor to CFD performance was from a short position in a UK restaurant company, whose shares fell heavily in response to a weak trading statement. For some time we have been nervous on the increased supply growth in the sector and the mounting cost pressures from the National Living Wage, so it was good to see our insight rewarded. The second biggest contributor was from our long position in JD Sports and the third largest was from another short position, in a retail company, whose shares fell sharply in response to a slowdown in like-for-like sales growth. Turning to the detractors, the biggest were long positions in Workspace, Cineworld, Novae and 4Imprint, where the shares were part of a wider market rotation. In summary, the short book remains well placed to benefit from the negative trends we are witnessing, and the the long book retains holdings in companies which are well capitalised, with strong market positions, where we have high conviction in their earnings and cashflow power, therefore, the recent market setback is increasing our opportunity set. 16 February 2016 ENDS Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/thrg 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. | |||||||||||