BlackRock Commodities Income Investment Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK COMMODITIES INCOME INVESTMENT TRUST plc (LEI:54930040ALEAVPMMDC31)

All information is at 31 July 2017 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

7.0%

1.8%

-9.9%

8.4%

-15.5%

-8.0%

Share price

3.8%

-2.8%

-18.0%

8.2%

-23.1%

-14.3%

Sources: Datastream, BlackRock

At month end

Net asset value – capital only:

75.25p

Net asset value cum income*:

76.47p

Share price:

71.13p

Discount to NAV (cum income):

7.0%

Net yield:

5.6%

Gearing - cum income:

8.6%

Total assets^:

£107.1m

Ordinary shares in issue:

118,768,000

Gearing range (as a % of net assets):

0-20%

Ongoing charges**:

1.4%

* Includes net revenue of 1.22p. ^ Includes current year revenue. ** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding any interest costs and excluding taxation for the year ended 30 November 2016.

Sector Analysis

% Total Assets

Country Analysis

% Total Assets

Diversified Mining

24.4

Global

48.7

Integrated Oil

18.1

USA

13.4

Exploration & Production

15.6

Canada

13.2

Copper

9.5

Australia

6.1

Gold

8.7

Latin America

4.7

Distribution

3.5

Europe

2.4

Silver

2.9

Africa

2.0

Oil Services

1.7

Mali

1.3

Oil Sands

1.7

Asia

0.3

Industrial Minerals

1.4

Net current assets

7.9

Steel

1.3

-----

Industrial Resources

1.0

100.0

Iron Ore

1.0

=====

Coal & Uranium

0.7

Diamonds

0.6

Net current assets

7.9

-----

100.0

=====

Ten Largest Investments

Company

Region of Risk

% Total Assets

First Quantum Minerals*

Global

8.3

Rio Tinto

Global

5.4

Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’

Global

5.2

BHP

Global

5.1

Glencore

Global

4.8

ExxonMobil

Global

3.9

Anadarko Petroleum

USA

3.2

Teck Resources

Canada

2.9

Newcrest Mining

Australia

2.6

Vale

Latin America

2.6

*The holding in First Quantum Minerals includes both an equity holding and a holding in several bonds.

Commenting on the markets, Olivia Markham and Tom Holl, representing the Investment Manager noted:

July was a positive month for the energy and mining sectors but particularly strong for mining, which saw the Company’s NAV rise by 7.0% during the month (in GBP terms). Economic data from China exceeded expectations, sending mined commodity prices up almost across the board. Robust data included China’s official year-on-year second quarter GDP growth coming in at 6.9% (up from 6.7% in the second quarter of 2016) and manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) hitting a 4-month high of 51.1, indicating expansion. These data points eased concerns that tighter credit conditions could cause a sharp slowdown in China’s growth, concerns which had dragged mined commodity prices lower in April and May. Of the mined commodities, iron ore was the strongest-performing, rising by 15.6% to $74/tonne; well above analyst consensus for the 2017 average iron ore price which is below $60/tonne. Copper also performed well, gaining 6.9%, on signs of market tightness with news emerging that China, the world’s largest copper scrap consumer, may look to ban imports of low quality copper scrap from 2018. Towards the end of the month, the mining sector entered the reporting season for the first half of the year and whilst most companies didn’t report until into August, general themes that had begun to emerge were rising free cash flow, deleveraging and capital being returned to shareholders. In energy, larger-than-expected US inventory declines caused oil prices to recover somewhat, with Brent and WTI (West Texas International) increasing by 10.4% and 9.1% to finish the month at $52 per barrel (bbl) and $50/bbl respectively. The corresponding move up in energy equities was however relatively muted, as sentiment towards the sector remains negative. Geopolitical risk was elevated during the month as the US government imposed sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maudro after a new legislative body was elected to redraft the country’s constitution. Should sanctions be introduced more broadly, this could have implications for the oil market. Venezuela currently produces around 2 million barrels per day and oil accounts for approximately 95% of the country’s export revenues. All data points in US dollar terms unless otherwise specified. Commodity price moves sourced from Thomson Reuters Datastream.

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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