27th Nov 2019 10:45
BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio UpdateBlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, November 26
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)All information is at 31 October 2019 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 | -3.0% | -2.7% | 5.0% | 8.5% | 29.0% | 81.5% |
| Share price | -2.2% | -5.5% | 5.0% | 15.0% | 34.8% | 101.8% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | -3.4% | -3.6% | 3.8% | 9.8% | 27.3% | 78.4% |
Source: BlackRock
| At month end | |
| Net asset value – capital only: | 180.10p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 182.11p |
| Share price: | 186.50p |
| Premium to cum income NAV: | 2.4% |
| Net yield¹: | 4.3% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £142.8m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| Options overwrite: | 15.8% |
| Ordinary shares in issue²: | 78,399,044 |
| Ongoing charges³: | 1.1% |
¹ In line with the dividend policy announced in the Annual Report on 17 December 2018 of dividends amounting to 8.00p per share for the year ending 31 October 2019 and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 October 2019.
² Excluding 21,962,261 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 2018.
| Benchmark Sector Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| Financials | 24.7 |
| Health Care | 16.7 |
| Energy | 9.3 |
| Information Technology | 8.6 |
| Industrials | 8.1 |
| Consumer Staples | 6.8 |
| Communication Services | 6.6 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 6.1 |
| Utilities | 2.5 |
| Materials | 1.7 |
| Net current assets | 8.9 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 70.2 |
| United Kingdom | 6.3 |
| Netherlands | 3.5 |
| Ireland | 2.8 |
| Germany | 2.6 |
| Switzerland | 1.8 |
| Japan | 1.6 |
| France | 1.1 |
| Canada | 0.6 |
| Norway | 0.3 |
| Denmark | 0.3 |
| Net current assets | 8.9 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Ten Largest Investments | ||
| Company | Country of Risk | Total Assets (%) |
| Verizon Communications | USA | 4.1 |
| JPMorgan Chase | USA | 3.8 |
| Wells Fargo | USA | 3.6 |
| Citigroup | USA | 3.3 |
| Bank of America | USA | 2.8 |
| Medtronic | Ireland | 2.5 |
| Williams Companies | USA | 2.2 |
| BP Group | United Kingdom | 2.0 |
| Koninklijke Philips | Netherlands | 1.9 |
| Comcast Corporation | USA | 1.8 |
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 31 October 2019, the Company’s NAV decreased by 3.0% and the share price by 2.2% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -3.4% for the period.
At the sector level, the largest contributor to relative performance was a combination of stock selection and allocation decisions in the health care sector. Within the sector, the relative outperformance was generated from our selection among health care providers and services and pharmaceuticals firms, as well as our overweight exposure to the former. In utilities, underweight exposure proved beneficial, mainly in the electric utilities industry. Additionally, stock selection in industrials proved additive. Notably, selection decisions among industrial conglomerates and trading companies and distributors proved beneficial. Lastly, stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector contributed positively to relative results.
The largest detractor from relative performance was a combination of stock selection and allocation decisions in the information technology sector. Within the sector, underweight exposure to the semiconductors industry hampered relative results. In communication services, stock selection in the media and diversified telecom services industries weighed on relative returns. A combination of stock selection decisions and overweight exposure to the energy sector also detracted from relative performance, primarily due to decisions made within the energy equipment and services industry. Lastly, underweight exposure to real estate and stock selection in materials detracted from relative returns during the month.
The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy contributed modestly to performance in October.
Transactions/Options
Transactions: In October, the portfolio initiated a new position in Fox. We also added to existing positions in JPMorgan and Bank of America. Conversely, we exited our positions in Procter & Gamble and Mondelez International. Additionally, we trimmed our existing positions in Goldman Sachs and NextEra Energy.
Options: As of 31 October 2019, the Company’s options exposure was 15.8% and the delta of the options 84.2.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the health care, information technology and energy sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the real estate, utilities and materials sectors.
Source: BlackRock. Data as of 31 October 2019.
27 November 2019
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.
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