BlackRock Throgmorton Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003B7ETS1JEDPF59)
 

All information is at 31 August 2017 and unaudited.
Performance at month end is calculated on a cum income basis

	One Month %	Three months %	One year %	Three years %	Five years %
Net asset value	2.4	2.2	36.3	68.0	155.3
Share price	1.3	2.0	37.8	63.6	165.3
Benchmark*	0.8	0.7	21.6	37.3	96.4

Sources: BlackRock and Datastream

*With effect from 1 December 2013 the Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index replaced the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index as the Company’s benchmark. The five year period indices have been blended to reflect this.

At month end
Net asset value capital only:	525.27p
Net asset value incl. income:	531.35p
Share price	442.75p
Discount to cum income NAV	16.7%
Net yield1:	1.9%
Total Gross assets2:	£388.6m
Net market exposure as a % of net asset value3:	109.5%
Ordinary shares in issue4:	73,130,326
2016 ongoing charges (excluding performance fees)5,6:	1.1%
2016 ongoing charges ratio (including performance fees)6:	1.3%

1. Calculated using 2017 interim dividend declared on 24 July 2017 and 2016 final dividend declared on 6 February 2017.
2. Includes current year revenue and excludes gross exposure through contracts for difference.
3. Long positions less short positions as a percentage of net asset value.
4. Excluding 7,400,000 shares held in treasury.
5. Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 November 2016.
6. With effect from 1 August 2017 the base management fee was reduced from 0.70% to 0.35% of gross assets per annum.

Sector Weightings			% of Total Assets
Industrials			30.0
Consumer Services			18.2
Financials			18.1
Consumer Goods			13.3
Basic Materials			7.8
Health Care			4.6
Technology			4.1
Oil & Gas			2.4
Net current assets			1.5
			-----
Total			100.0
			=====
Market Exposure (Quarterly)
	30.11.16 %	28.02.17 %		31.05.17 %	31.08.17 %
Long	116.9	121.4		117.3	115.3
Short	8.5	6.7		6.1	5.8
Gross exposure	125.4	128.1		123.4	121.1
Net exposure	108.4	114.7		111.2	109.5

   

Ten Largest Investments
Company	% of Total Gross Assets
CVS Group	3.1
4imprint Group	2.9
Dechra Pharmaceuticals	2.7
Ascential	2.2
Berkeley Group Holdings	2.1
Big Yellow	2.0
Ibstock	2.0
Hill & Smith	1.9
Bodycote	1.9
Advanced Medical Solutions	1.8

Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis and Dan Whitestone, representing the Investment Manager noted:

During August the Company’s NAV per share rose by 2.4% to 531.35p (including income) whilst our benchmark (the Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index) rose by 0.8%; the FTSE 100 Index returned 1.6% (all performance figures are with income reinvested and net of ongoing charges and any applicable performance fees).

Stock selection was the primary driver of outperformance during the month while sector allocation also contributed positively.

The largest positive contributor during the month was US-focused marketing materials supplier, 4imprint. 4imprint’s first half results were ahead of expectations showing continued strong organic revenue growth, and better sales in May and June resulted in broker upgrades to the full year numbers. Copper miner Kaz Minerals reported interim results showing better than expected earnings and costs, helped by a higher copper price, whilst the company also raised production guidance for the full year. Kaz remains the fastest growing copper miner with costs that are among the lowest in the world. Shares in premium mixer supplier, Fever-Tree, continued to perform well off the back of positive interim results released in July, while Marshalls reported good half year results showing strong cash generation with a 17% increase to the interim dividend.

On the negative side, System1, formerly Brainjuicer, which helps global companies with their marketing and advertising plans, warned of a slowdown in first half revenues with profits before tax for the full year expected to be down by 10% to 15% year-on-year. The company pointed to reduced marketing spend from their customers and non-recurrence of one-off projects from the previous year as the cause of the slowdown.

Activity during August included additions to our holdings in Robert Walters, Ibstock and Hill & Smith, while also further reducing some of our domestically exposed companies.

The long/short portfolio rose 0.5% during the month, with long positions contributing positively to performance, whilst shorts were broadly flat. The long book continued to perform well during August with strong contributions from a number of our core holdings including 4imprint, Sophos, Fever-Tree and Renishaw. The short book continued to deliver stock specific successes with a number of the top contributors to performance in the long/short portfolio coming from shorts, including a profit warning from a UK roadside assistance company. Our thematic and industry positioning within the short book also benefitted during the month from slowing growth and increased regulatory risks in online gaming, over-leveraged oil exploration/producers, and from negative developments in UK Financials and Consumer Services.

25 September 2017

ENDS

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