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BlackRock Energy and Resources Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

By PR Newswire

PR Newswire

London, July 17

BLACKROCK ENERGY AND RESOURCES INCOME TRUST plc (LEI:54930040ALEAVPMMDC31)
All information is at 30 June 2019 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 9.7% 4.2% 17.1% -0.3% 35.8% 1.0%
Share price 6.9% -1.8% 7.1% -7.2% 33.0% -11.2%
Sources: Datastream, BlackRock
At month end
Net asset value – capital only: 82.83p
Net asset value cum income*: 83.02p
Share price: 73.80p
Discount to NAV (cum income): 11.1%
Net yield: 5.4%
Gearing - cum income: 9.3%
Total assets: £102.5m
Ordinary shares in issue: 114,941,515
Gearing range (as a % of net assets): 0-20%
Ongoing charges**: 1.4%
* Includes net revenue of 0.19p.
** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding any interest costs and excluding taxation for the year ended 30 November 2018.
Sector Analysis % Total Assets^ Country Analysis % Total Assets^ 
Integrated Oil 30.3 Global 66.3
Diversified Mining 24.1 USA 12.1
Gold 13.5 Canada 11.5
Copper 10.3 Australia 5.3
Exploration & Production 8.4 Latin America 4.6
Industrial Minerals 4.4 Asia 1.4
Silver 3.3 Africa 0.6
Diamonds 2.3 Net current liabilities^ -1.8
Distribution 2.3 -----
Electricity 2.1 100.0
Steel 0.8 =====
Net Current Liabilities^ -1.8
-----
100.0
=====
^ Total Assets for the purposes of these calculations exclude bank overdrafts, and the net current asset figure shown in the tables above therefore exclude bank overdrafts equivalent to 7.4% of the Company’s net asset value.
Ten Largest Investments
Company
Region of Risk % Total Assets
BHP Global 7.9
First Quantum Minerals Global 7.3
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ Global 6.8
Rio Tinto Global 5.6
BP Group Global 5.3
Chevron Global 4.8
Exxon Mobil Global 4.6
Barrick Gold Global 4.6
Newmont Mining Global 4.0
Teck Resources Canada 3.7

Commenting on the markets, Olivia Markham and Tom Holl, representing the Investment Manager noted:
 
The Company’s NAV increased by +9.7% during the month of June (in GBP terms).

Despite continued geopolitical and economic risk, markets rebounded in June, as there were hopes for progress in trade talks between the US and China at the G20 summit. In addition, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank remained dovish in their tone, leading to the MSCI World Index returning +6.5%.  However, in terms of economic data, this continued to be soft, with the release of weak ISM new orders and weak PMI readings for China and Europe.  Elsewhere, geopolitical noise continued in the Middle East, with four tankers attacked, the US threatening additional sanctions on Iran, and Iran continuing to strive to reach its maximum limit of enriched uranium, which would violate the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.  

Against this macroeconomic backdrop, the risk-on environment led to the price of Brent and WTI rising by +1.6% and +8.8%, to finish the month at $68/bbl and $58/bbl respectively. In addition, the expectation in June for the OPEC meeting was that production cuts would be rolled.  This was confirmed during the official meeting on 1st July, where the group announced that they would roll over production cuts and extend them for the next 9 months. 

The mining sector performed positively, as displayed by the EMIX Global Mining Index increasing by +12.7%.  In terms of the mined commodities, iron ore was the strongest performer, rising by +10.4% over the month to a near 5-year high of $118/tonne, on the back of continued market tightness.  Elsewhere, June was a spectacular month for gold and gold equities, with gold rising +8.6% to a 6-year high of $1,412/oz. and gold equities exhibiting a beta of over 2 to the upwards move. Gold benefitted from the convergence of several key factors. The US dollar, which weakened after the US Fed hinted at upcoming rate cuts in 2019 and the DXY (a US dollar index) fell from 97.5 to 96.2. For reference, gold and the US dollar tend to have a strong inverse relationship. Meanwhile, real yields, which represent the true opportunity cost of holding gold, plunged with the US 10-year yield falling to 2.01% (having started 2019 at 2.69%) whilst US CPI remained relatively flat, also coming in around 2.0%. Other tailwinds for gold included the aforementioned rising geopolitical risk, which led to safe haven demand for gold.

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


17 July 2019
ENDS
Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brci 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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