BlackRock Energy and Resources Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

BlackRock Energy and Resources Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 22

BLACKROCK ENERGY AND RESOURCES INCOME TRUST plc (LEI:54930040ALEAVPMMDC31)

All information is at 30 April 2024 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

3.8%

12.1%

13.1%

5.9%

53.2%

108.2%

Share price

7.9%

13.3%

15.1%

0.3%

41.0%

104.1%

Sources: Datastream, BlackRock

At month end

Net asset value – capital only:

134.28p

Net asset value cum income1:

134.48p

Share price:

122.50p

Discount to NAV (cum income):

8.9%

Net yield:

3.6%

Gearing - cum income:

14.8%

Total assets:

£168.1m

Ordinary shares in issue2:

125,011,194

Gearing range (as a % of net assets):

0-20%

Ongoing charges3:

1.19%

1 Includes net revenue of 0.20p. 2 Excluding 10,575,000 ordinary shares held in treasury. 3 The Company’s ongoing charges are calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets and using the management fee and all other operating expenses excluding finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain other non-recurring items for the year ended 30 November 2023. In addition, the Company’s Manager has also agreed to cap ongoing charges by rebating a portion of the management fee to the extent that the Company’s ongoing charges exceed 1.25% of average net assets.

Sector Overview

Mining

44.9%

Traditional Energy

29.7%

Energy Transition

25.6%

Net Current Liabilities

-0.2%

-----

100.0%

=====

Sector Analysis

% Total Assets^

Country Analysis

% Total Assets^

Mining:

Diversified

23.5

Global

54.9

Copper

7.5

USA

20.1

Steel

3.6

Canada

9.5

Industrial Minerals

2.8

Latin America

4.2

Gold

2.4

Other Africa

2.6

Aluminium

1.9

Germany

2.5

Metals & Mining

1.7

Australia

2.2

Nickel

1.3

United Kingdom

1.9

Platinum Group Metals

0.2

France

1.8

Subtotal Mining:

44.9

Ireland

0.5

Net Current Liabilities

-0.2

-----

Traditional Energy:

100.0

E&P

13.2

=====

Integrated

8.4

Distribution

3.2

Oil Services

2.7

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

1.4

Refining & Marketing

0.8

Subtotal Traditional Energy:

29.7

Energy Transition:

Energy Efficiency

9.7

Electrification

6.9

Renewables

6.3

Transport

2.7

Subtotal Energy Transition:

25.6

Net Current Liabilities

-0.2

----

100.0

=====

^ Total Assets for the purposes of these calculations exclude bank overdrafts, and the net current liabilities figure shown in the tables above therefore exclude bank overdrafts equivalent to 14.6% of the Company’s net asset value.

Ten Largest Investments

Company

Region of Risk

% Total Assets

Anglo American

Global

4.8

Rio Tinto

Global

4.5

Teck Resources

Global

4.0

Glencore

Global

3.3

Shell

Global

3.2

NextEra Energy

United States

2.9

BHP

Global

2.8

Filo Corp

Latin America

2.5

Canadian Natural Resources

Canada

2.4

Exxon Mobil

Global

2.3

Commenting on the markets, Tom Holl and Mark Hume, representing the Investment Manager noted:   The Company’s net asset value (NAV) had returned by 3.8% during the month of April (in GBP terms).   Global equity markets fell in April with expectations for US interest rate cuts pushed back following stronger inflation data (US Core CPI at +0.4% month on month) and subsequent commentary from the US Federal Reserve.  Geopolitical tensions persisted, with a drone and missile attack by Iran on Israel escalating Middle East tensions. Markets, however, largely looked through this and Israel’s subsequent response. April was a positive month for the mining sector, outperforming broader equity markets. Meanwhile, we saw strength almost across the board in mined commodity prices as Chinese economic data remained improved. For reference, the country’s manufacturing PMI came in above 50 for the second consecutive month. Iron ore had a particularly strong month, with the 62% fe. price rising by 15.8%. Elsewhere, the base metals were buoyant with copper, nickel and zinc prices rising by 12.8%, 15.1% and 21.7% respectively. Gold and silver prices had rose by 3.7% and 6.5% respectively appearing to benefit from ‘safe-haven’ demand. Turning to the companies, we saw high profile M&A activity with BHP proposing a US$39bn takeover of fellow diversified miner Anglo American. Anglo American rejected the offer, but the market expectation is that BHP may improve its offer or that other buyers may emerge. This proposal supports our view that existing copper assets are currently trading significantly below replacement costs in the listed market, making them attractive to peers and strategic buyers. Energy equities have been supported by stronger oil prices in recent months and outperformed global equity markets in April, which also follows March’s stronger performance. The Brent oil price rose by 2.4%, whilst WTI fell by 0.6%, ending the month at US$88/bbl and US$83/bbl respectively. The US Henry Hub natural gas price rose 11.4% during the month to end at US$1.96/mmbtu.   Within the energy transition theme, energy security has become a key driver of global energy policy, from diversification of energy imports to a greater focus on renewables and domestic clean tech manufacturing capabilities. Nevertheless, higher bond yields have been a headwind for infrastructure, including renewable energy assets despite renewable utilities reporting reassuring earnings results throughout the past year. In recent weeks there has been a focus on the need for power and electricity grid investment required to deliver an increase in data centres for AI.  The International Energy Agency (IEA) also published their annual EV outlook, which forecast further EV sales growth to around 17 million vehicles in 2024, up from ~14m sales in 2023. IEA highlight that “policy developments continue to reinforce expectations for swift electrification”. Bloomberg New Energy Finance have previously estimated that the US has attracted over $100 billion in battery and EV manufacturing related investment following the Inflation Reduction Act.   All data points in US dollar terms unless otherwise specified. Commodity price moves sourced from Thomson Reuters Datastream.   22 May 2024

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/beri 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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