Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK ENERGY AND RESOURCES INCOME TRUST plc (LEI:54930040ALEAVPMMDC31)

All information is at 31 January 2025 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

One

Three

Six

One

Three

Five

Month

Months

Months

Year

Years

Years

Net asset value

4.0%

0.8%

1.1%

12.8%

33.1%

123.6%

Share price

5.7%

2.0%

2.3%

14.6%

22.2%

132.7%

Sources: Datastream, BlackRock

At month end

Net asset value – capital only:

131.53p

Net asset value cum income1:

131.82p

Share price:

120.50p

Discount to NAV (cum income):

8.6%

Net yield:

3.7%

Gearing - cum income:

8.6%

Total assets:

£158.0m

Ordinary shares in issue2:

119,825,497

Gearing range (as a % of net assets):

0-20%

Ongoing charges3:

1.20%

1 Includes net revenue of 0.29p.

2 Excluding 15,760,697 ordinary shares held in treasury.

3 The Company’s ongoing charges are calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets and using the management fee and all other operating expenses excluding finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain other non-recurring items for the year ended 30 November 2024. In addition, the Company’s Manager has also agreed to cap ongoing charges by rebating a portion of the management fee to the extent that the Company’s ongoing charges exceed 1.15% of average net assets.

Sector Overview

Mining

40.3%

Traditional Energy

36.3%

Energy Transition

23.8%

Net Current Liabilities

-0.4%

-----

100.0%

=====

Sector Analysis

% Total Assets^

Country Analysis

% Total Assets^

Mining:

Diversified

19.8

Global

46.8

Copper

5.3

United States

30.0

Industrial Minerals

3.8

Canada

9.0

Gold

3.2

Latin America

3.9

Aluminium

3.1

United Kingdom

3.4

Steel

2.2

Italy

2.3

Nickel

1.1

Australia

2.0

Uranium

0.9

Other Africa

1.8

Metals & Mining 

Subtotal Mining:

0.9

40.3

Germany

Ireland

Net Current Liabilities

0.7

0.5

-0.4

-----

100.0%

Traditional Energy:

E&P

13.3

Oil Services

9.6

Integrated

8.3

Distribution

3.7

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

1.4

Subtotal Traditional Energy:

36.3

Energy Transition:

Energy Efficiency

10.5

Electrification

6.4

Renewables

3.6

Storage

2.3

Transport

1.0

Subtotal Energy Transition:

23.8

Net Current Liabilities

-0.4

-----

100.0

=====

^ Total Assets for the purposes of these calculations exclude bank overdrafts, and the net current liabilities figure shown in the tables above therefore exclude bank overdrafts equivalent to 8.2% of the Company’s net asset value.

Ten Largest Investments

Company

Region of Risk

% Total Assets

Anglo American

Global

5.4

Rio Tinto

Global

5.2

Chevron

Global

3.5

Shell

Global

3.4

Norsk Hydro

Global

3.1

Vale - ADS

Latin America

3.1

NiSource

United States

2.8

Glencore

Global

2.8

Schneider Electric

Global

2.6

EOG Resources

United States

2.5

Commenting on the markets, Tom Holl and Mark Hume, representing the Investment Manager noted:

The Company’s NAV increased 4.0% in January (in GBP terms).

Global equity markets rose in January. Markets displayed volatility through the month, initially falling following stronger US payroll data, which led US 10 Year Treasury yields higher, consistent with a higher for longer rate environment. Markets then recovered following softer US CPI data. Chinese AI group DeepSeek’s latest AI model, which aimed to rival technology developed by OpenAI, Meta and Google, yet claimed to have trained and developed the model at a fraction of the cost and computing power. This created significant market volatility, impacting on Nvidia and related mega cap tech. However, the hyperscalers announced a continuation of AI investment in quarterly reporting, easing market concerns. Global equity markets represented by the MSCI All Country World Index, returned +3.4%.

The outlook for the sustainable energy theme appears very positive, in our view, however, in the near-term, political events continued to add to market uncertainty globally. A key example is renewable energy stocks, which remained under pressure in January on market uncertainty over possible changes to the US Inflation Reduction Act under a new US new administration. On a positive note, President Trump has spoken about aims to accelerate investment into the US energy system and remove blockages to permitting, which have historically delayed projects. Within clean transportation, China extended its vehicle trade-in policy scheme to boost EV sales over 2025. In Europe, tighter vehicle emissions for auto manufacturers came into force from 1 January 2025 however, there is continuing debate over how these will be implemented, which combined with uncertainty created by new US import tariffs, weighed on parts of the transport sector.

Energy equities broadly made significant gains in January, boosted by the incoming US administration’s plans to promote the development of oil and gas. Political events continued to add to market uncertainty; the outgoing US administration expanded sanctions on Russia, which briefly spiked the crude oil price, whilst the tariffs announced by the new US administration further added to market uncertainty. The Brent oil price rose 3.4%, whilst the WTI oil price rose 0.6%, ending the month at $77/bbl and $73bbl respectively. The US Henry Hub natural gas price fell -16.3% during the month to end at $3.04/mmbtu.

On the mining sector, activity levels in China remain generally low, while we await the impact from stimulus measures, we do not expect a significant improvement. For reference, China’s manufacturing PMI fell to 49.1 in January from 50.1 in December. Investor concerns over the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on global economic growth, coupled with the likelihood of retaliatory measures, led to some selling pressure in copper-related equities. Meanwhile, the launch of DeepSeek, also weighed on copper and uranium stocks as investors anticipated reduced energy demand from data centres. Additionally, the steel market in Asia continued to face challenging conditions and low margins, meanwhile, prices in the U.S. began to rise in anticipation of tariffs, which could benefit U.S. based steel companies. Performance in the commodities space was mixed, with iron ore (62% Fe) and copper prices rising by 4.5% and 3.2% respectively, whilst the nickel prices fell by -0.7%. In the precious metals space, gold and silver prices rose by 7.0% and 6.0% respectively being supported by heightened concern regarding the U.S. fiscal deficit and escalating national debt.

All data points in US dollar terms unless otherwise specified. Commodity price moves sourced from Thomson Reuters Datastream.

18 February 2025

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/beri 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.