BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 30 June 2017 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

Source: BlackRock
*Launched on 24 October 2012.

* Based on dividends of 1.20p per share declared on 21 February 2017,  3 November 2016, 3 August 2016 and 1.25p per share declared on 3 May 2017.
** Excluding 31,487,261 ordinary shares held in treasury.
*** 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 2016.

Bob Shearer and Tony DeSpirito, representing the Investment Manager, noted:

For the one month period ended 30 June 2017, the Company’s NAV and share price increased by 1.0%.  The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, also rose by 1.0% (all performance figures in sterling terms and with income reinvested).

The largest contributor to relative performance during the month was stock selection in the information technology sector.  Notably, investment decisions within the semiconductors and technology hardware, storage & peripherals industries proved to be beneficial.  Within financials, an overweight to the banks industry also boosted relative returns, led by portfolio holdings Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.  Lastly, an underweight to the telecommunication services sector added modestly to relative performance during the month.

The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector, as portfolio overweight Comcast Corporation lagged relative to its media industry peers.  Stock selection in energy also hurt relative returns as overweight positions in Suncor Energy and Total proved to be costly.  Lastly, stock selection in the consumer staples sector and the portfolio’s cash position weighed on relative returns during the month.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: Notable portfolio transactions during the month included exiting our position in Schlumberger, an oil & gas equipment and services operator, and using the proceeds to initiate a position in its industry peer, Halliburton. 

Options:  As of 30 June 2017, the Company’s options exposure was 15.17% and the delta of the options was 87.79. 

Positioning

As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the industrials, information technology and health care sectors.  The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the real estate, consumer staples and consumer discretionary sectors.

19 July 2017

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.