30th Aug 2018 16:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust PLC on Thursday said it underperformed its benchmark in the first half of 2018 but sharply lifted its dividend.
The investment company hiked its interim dividend by 26% to 7.57 US cents from 6.00 cents paid the year before.
Net asset value per share fell significantly in the six months to the end of June to 605.41 cents from 710.17 cents reported at the end of the same period in 2017.
As a result, the company underperformed against its benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Index, with NAV total return negative 14% versus negative 11.2% return, respectively.
Share price stood at 390.00 pence per share at the end of the period. The stock was trading 2.7% lower on the day Thursday at 404.00p per share.
BlackRock Latin American said its shares were trading with an average 14% discount during the period.
The company swung to a pretax loss of USD38.1 million compared to USD25.8 million profit reported a year earlier.
The result was hurt by the portfolio's overweight positions in Brazil and Argentina, BlackRock Latin American said, where stock markets were negatively impacted by the strengthening of the US dollar relative to most Emerging Market currencies late in the period.
Looking forward, the company said its NAV per share increased by 1.1% in the second-half to date.
Although, it said that the outlook for the Latin American region remains uncertain, the landslide election victory in Mexico for the presidency and congress, along with positive news on trade negotiations with the US, holds promise for a more stable political environment.
Related Shares:
Blackrock Lat A