BlackRock North American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
PR Newswire
London, August 27
BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31 July 2020 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 | -3.3% | 2.0% | -9.1% | -10.6% | 9.3% | 59.1% |
| Share price | 3.3% | -1.5% | -14.9% | -17.9% | 13.9% | 66.3% |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | -2.1% | 2.6% | -10.6% | -12.3% | 8.8% | 54.4% |
Source: BlackRock
| At month end | |
| Net asset value - capital only: | 159.81p |
| Net asset value - cum income: | 161.40p |
| Share price: | 156.00p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 3.3% |
| Net yield¹: | 5.1% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £130.9m |
| Gearing: | Nil |
| Options overwrite: | 17.6% |
| Ordinary shares in issue²: | 81,104,044 |
| Ongoing charges³: | 1.1% |
1 Based on four quarterly interim dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 6 August 2019 and 7 November 2019 for the year ended 31 October 2019 and on 20 March 2020 and 5 May 2020 for the year ending 31 October 2020, and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 July 2020.
² Excluding 19,167,261 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 2019.
| Benchmark Sector Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| Financials | 24.6 |
| Health Care | 17.8 |
| Information Technology | 10.8 |
| Consumer Staples | 8.7 |
| Energy | 7.6 |
| Industrials | 7.0 |
| Communication Services | 7.0 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 4.7 |
| Utilities | 3.6 |
| Materials | 1.4 |
| Net current assets | 6.8 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 70.9 |
| Netherlands | 5.1 |
| United Kingdom | 5.0 |
| Germany | 4.2 |
| Ireland | 2.4 |
| France | 2.3 |
| Switzerland | 2.1 |
| Norway | 1.0 |
| Canada | 0.2 |
| Net current assets | 6.8 |
| ----- | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
Ten Largest Investments | ||
| Company | Country of Risk | Total Assets (%) |
| Verizon Communications | USA | 4.1 |
| Bank of America | USA | 3.3 |
| Citigroup | USA | 3.0 |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions | USA | 2.4 |
| Medtronic | Ireland | 2.4 |
| Sanofi | France | 2.3 |
| Anthem | USA | 2.2 |
| BAE Systems | United Kingdom | 2.2 |
| Altria Group | USA | 2.1 |
| Koninklijke Philips | Netherlands | 2.1 |
Tony DeSpirito, Franco Tapia and David Zhao, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 31 July 2020, the Company's NAV decreased by 3.3% and the share price increased by 3.3% (all in sterling). The Company's benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -2.1% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance was stock selection in the information technology ('IT') sector. Notably, selection decisions and an underweight exposure to semiconductors and semiconductors equipment contributed positively, as did stock selection in the IT services industry. In industrials, stock selection in aerospace and defence boosted relative returns, as did our lack of exposure to airlines. Lastly, stock selection in energy contributed modestly to relative performance during the month.
The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the utilities sector. Notably, our overweight to FirstEnergy Corporation, an electric utility, proved costly during the month. The stock declined sharply after a criminal complaint was filed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations. This complaint alleges that FirstEnergy senior management was involved in bribing public officials to pass beneficial legislation in the state of Ohio. We exited our position in the stock following the allegations. In health care, stock selection in pharmaceuticals weighed on relative performance, as did investment decisions in the health care providers and services industry. Other notable detractors during the period included stock selection in financials and a combination of stock selection and an underweight to the materials sector.
The portfolio's option overwriting strategy modestly detracted from relative performance in July.
Transactions/Options
Transactions: In July, the portfolio initiated a new position in Coca-Cola and added to our existing position in Cognizant Technology Solutions. Conversely, we exited our position in FirstEnergy and reduced our exposure to JPMorgan Chase during the month.
Options: As of 31 July 2020, the Company's options exposure was 17.6% and the delta of the options was 85.2.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company's largest overweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the financials, health care and energy sectors. The Company's largest underweight positions relative to the benchmark were in the industrials, real estate and materials sectors.
Source: BlackRock. Data as of 31 July 2020.
27 August 2020
Latest information is available by typing blackrock.com/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.
