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BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

By PR Newswire

PR Newswire

London, May 23

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 30 April 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 3.8% 7.7% 3.3% 11.9% 52.5% 89.9%
Share price 6.8% 8.3% 9.5% 23.0% 65.2% 99.9%
Russell 1000 Value Index 3.5% 8.5% 5.8% 15.2% 53.6% 92.7%

Source: BlackRock

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:   175.55p
Net asset value – cum income:                                 177.27p
Share price:                                                  181.50p
Premium to cum income NAV:  2.4%
Net yield¹:                                                      4.4%
Total assets including current year revenue:                  £127.7m
Gearing:                                                          Nil
Options overwrite:                              84.2%
Ordinary shares in issue²: 72,049,044
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 30 April 2019.

² Excluding 28,312,261 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 26.1
Information Technology 12.4
Health Care 12.0
Energy 10.4
Consumer Staples 8.8
Industrials 8.2
Communication Services 6.1
Consumer Discretionary 3.2
Utilities 2.6
Materials 2.4
Net current assets 7.8
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100.0
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Country Analysis Total Assets (%)
United States 74.7
United Kingdom 5.7
Netherlands 3.0
Ireland 2.7
Switzerland 2.4
Germany 1.5
Canada 1.4
Denmark 0.5
France 0.3
Net current assets 7.8
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100.0
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Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Total Assets (%)
Verizon Communications USA 4.2
JPMorgan Chase USA 3.6
Citigroup USA 3.4
Wells Fargo USA 3.4
Bank of America USA 3.0
Oracle USA 2.6
Microsoft USA 2.5
BP Group United Kingdom 2.5
Pfizer USA 2.2
Koninklijke Philips Netherlands 2.1

Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:

For the one-month period ended 30 April 2019, the Company’s NAV increased by 3.8% while the share price increased by 6.8% (all in sterling). The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned 3.5% for the period.

The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection in the information technology sector. Notably, stock selection in the semiconductors & semiconductors equipment industry proved to be beneficial. In energy, stock selection in the oil, gas & consumable fuels industry boosted relative returns. Lastly, an underweight to real estate and stock selection in consumer staples added to relative results during the month.

The largest detractor from relative performance was a combination of stock selection and allocation decisions in the communication services sector. Notably, an underweight to the entertainment industry proved costly, as did our overweight and stock selection in the diversified telecom services industry. In industrials, stock selection in machinery and an underweight to the airlines industry weighed on relative returns. Lastly, a combination of stock selection and an overweight to health care and the portfolio’s cash position, which averaged 8.0% during the month, dampened relative performance.

The portfolio’s option overwriting strategy detracted from performance in April amid rising U.S. stock prices.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: In April, the portfolio added two new positions through corporate actions including Alcon (a spin-off from Novartis) and Dow (a spin-off from DowDuPont). A new position was initiated in General Motors Company and we also increased our existing exposure to Alcon and General Electric Company. Conversely, we trimmed our existing positions in Pfizer, Novartis, Apple and AstraZeneca.

Options:  As of 30 April 2019, the Company’s options exposure was 16.4% 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 financials, information technology and energy sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the real estate, utilities and consumer discretionary sectors.

Source: BlackRock.

23 May 2019

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