BlackRock Emerging Europe Plc - Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK EMERGING EUROPE PLC (LEI - 549300OGTQA24Y3KMI14)

All information is at 31 March 2018 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

		One	Three		One				Three	Five			*Since
		Month	Months		Year				Years	Years			30.04.09
	Sterling:
	Share price	-8.6	-0.8		12.2				64.4	35.3			145.1
	Net asset value	-7.2	-0.9		8.8				56.5	26.6			132.5
	MSCI EM Europe	-6.3	-1.9		7.5				36.4	-1.9			76.3
	10/40(NR)
	US Dollars:
	Share price	-6.9	2.9		25.8				55.3	25.0			132.1
	Net asset value	-5.5	2.7		22.0				47.8	17.0			120.2
	MSCI EM Europe	-4.6	1.7		20.6				28.9	-9.4			66.9
	10/40(NR)
	Sources: BlackRock, Standard & Poor's Micropal
	*BlackRock took over the investment management of the Company with effect from 1 May 2009
	At month end
	US Dollar:
	Net asset value - capital only:							511.67c
	Net asset value* - cum income:							526.75c
	Sterling:
	Net asset value - capital only:							364.77p
	Net asset value* - cum income:							375.52p
	Share price:							350.50p
	Total assets^:							£134.9m
	Discount (share price to cum income NAV):							6.7%
	Net gearing at month end:							4.9%
	Net yield^^^^:							3.0%
	Gearing range as a % of Net assets:							0-20%
	Issued Capital - Ordinary Shares^^							35,916,028
	Ongoing charges^^^							1.1%
	* Includes year to date net revenue equal to 10.75 pence per share.
	^ Total assets include current year revenue.
	^^ Excluding 5,000,000 shares held in treasury.
	^^^ Calculated as at 31 January 2018, in accordance with AIC guidelines.
	^^^^ Yield calculations are based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of release of this announcement, and comprise of the final dividend of 15.00 cents per share, (announced on 23 March 2018, ex-dividend on 17 May 2018)
Sector Analysis			Gross assets (%)				Country Analysis					Gross assets (%)
Financials			38.6				Russia					54.4
Energy			26.4				Poland					16.9
Telecommunication Services			11.3				Turkey					13.5
Consumer Staples			10.5				Greece					5.8
Health Care			5.2				Ukraine					3.5
Materials			3.9				Hungary					3.5
Information Technology			3.1				Pan-Emerging Europe					3.1
Consumer Discretionary			1.7				Net current liabilities					(0.7)
Net current liabilities			(0.7)									-----
			-----									100.0
			100.0									=====
			=====
Short position			(2.1)									(2.1)
Fifteen Largest Investments
	(in % order of Gross Assets as at 31.03.18)
Company				Region of Risk							Gross assets
											(%)
Lukoil				Russia							9.8
Sberbank				Russia							9.2
Gazprom				Russia							8.8
PKO Bank Polski				Poland							5.7
Rosneft Oil Company				Russia							4.3
Alior Bank				Poland							4.2
Lenta				Russia							4.0
Turkcell				Turkey							3.8
PZU				Poland							3.7
Gedeon Richter				Hungary							3.5
Mobile Telesystems				Russia							3.4
Novatek				Russia							3.4
Bank Pekao				Poland							3.2
MHP				Ukraine							3.1
Erste Group Bank				Pan-Emerging Europe							3.0
	Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Christopher Colunga, representing the Investment Manager noted;
	Market Commentary
	The MSCI Emerging Europe 10/40 Index declined by 4.6%* in March as trade war concerns escalated the global sell-off.
	The Czech Republic was the month's top performer, beating Central Europe (Poland down by 6.3% and Hungary where markets fell by 0.5%)* and rising by 2.9%* in March on the back of its strong economy and declining unemployment rate. February CPI (Consumer Price Index) was surprisingly weak across many geographies, which led to weakness in financials across Europe in March, and particularly impacting Poland (-6.3%) and Greece (-9.1%*). Turkey was down by 7.4%* in March as the currency continues to weaken reflecting increasingly challenging economic conditions.
	Focus on: MHP
	MHP is a Ukrainian vertically integrated agricultural company and food producer, headquartered in Kiev. The company is a leader in the Ukrainian poultry market, with a market share of more than 55% of industrially produced poultry. MHP accounts for 30% of domestic consumption with one of the strongest and best-recognized Ukrainian food brands: Nasha Riaba.
	In 2017 the key driver of growth was expansion on two fronts: production and export. The company's export revenue, which comes from the sale of chicken meat, vegetable oils and grain, grew 15% year on year and now constitutes 57% of total revenue** as a result of efficient market targeting strategy and export price growth. The company continued to expand its international customer base utilizing its global presence including the sales and distribution office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that was established in 2016. On the other hand, MHP started to build its second biogas plant in 2017 in order to ensure lower energy costs and associated price risk. The company's other ongoing project, the development and capacity expansion the Vinnytsia Complex, also progressed significantly during 2017. Once fully operational, it will double the company's current capacity and strengthen its position as Europe's largest poultry farm. The Company has held the position in the stock for many years now and it has been a steady contributor to the Company's returns. We continue to see stable results and growth for MHP.
	*Source: BlackRock, MSCI, data as at end March 2018. ** MHP 2017 Annual report
	17 April 2018
	ENDS
	Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/beep 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.