BlackRock Throgmorton Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
The information contained in this release was correct as at
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html .
All information is at
Performance at month end is calculated on a cum income basis
One Three One Three Five
Month months year years years
% % % % %
Net asset value -4.2 -8.8 -6.7 -15.3 43.5
Share price -5.0 -8.9 -7.4 -24.8 26.1
Benchmark* -3.3 -5.9 -0.4 -11.1 49.0
Sources: BlackRock and Deutsche Numis
*With effect from
At month end Net asset value capital only: 589.81p Net asset value incl. income: 592.83p Share price 527.00p Discount to cum income NAV 11.1% Net yield1: 3.4% Total Gross assets2: £465.8m Net market exposure as a % of net asset value3: 109.0% Ordinary shares in issue4: 78,571,864 2024 ongoing charges (excluding performance fees)5,6: 0.56% 2024 ongoing charges ratio (including performance 0.82% fees)5,6,7:
1. Calculated using the Final Dividend declared on
2. Includes current year revenue and excludes gross exposure through contracts for difference.
3. Long exposure less short exposure as a percentage of net asset value.
4. Excluding 24,638,000 shares held in treasury.
5. 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 performance fees, finance costs, direct transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain other non-recurring items for the year ended
6. With effect from
7. Effective
Sector Weightings % of Total Assets Industrials 32.9 Financials 23.6 Consumer Discretionary 10.8 Basic Materials 8.2 Technology 6.6 Real Estate 3.8 Consumer Staples 3.3 Health Care 2.2Communication Services 1.8 Telecommunications 0.9 Energy 0.7 Net Current Assets 5.2 ----- Total 100.0 ===== Country Weightings % of Total AssetsUnited Kingdom 94.6United States 4.0Australia 0.9Canada 0.5 ----- Total 100.0 =====
Market Exposure (Quarterly)
31.05.24 31.08.24 30.11.24 28.02.25
% % % %
Long 114.9 111.7 111.9 117.8
Short 2.3 2.7 3.4 4.9
Gross exposure 117.2 114.4 115.3 122.7
Net exposure 112.6 109.0 108.5 112.9
Ten Largest Investments Company % of Total Gross Assets Breedon 3.2 GPE 3.2 Rotork 3.1 Tatton Asset Management 3.1 Hill & Smith Holdings 3.1 Bellway 2.9 IntegraFin 2.8 XPS Pensions Group 2.8 Grafton Group 2.4 Oxford Instruments 2.4
Commenting on the markets,
The Company returned -4.2% in March, underperforming its benchmark the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies +AIM ex Inv Trusts which returned -3.3%. 1
March picked up where February left off, with many of the prevailing issues (tariffs, tariffs, tariffs) dominating headlines as investors scrambled to divine rhetoric from policy, and from policy to consequences for macro-economics (growth/inflation), company profitability (volumes, pricing, costs) and country responses (retaliatory moves). Expectations for inflation have increased. The latest PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditure) inflation data (the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure) saw the annualised rate of core PCE +3.6% in
The
The shape of broader market moves was unhelpful to the portfolio’s positioning in March, and despite a momentum reversal, many cheap shares we own in the
The top contributor was the position in
Great Portland Estates
, a
Negative contributors during the month were heavily skewed towards shares that we do not own that do not meet our investment philosophy, as well as one short position. Not owning gold miners hurt the portfolio on a relative basis as the gold price hit a record high in March, with the two biggest detractors being Greatland Gold and Hochschild Mining . The third largest detractor was a short in a IT software reseller which reported better than expected full year trading update. We remain short as we think the outlook for spending in the near term is more challenged as we think many companies will put capital decisions on hold in the near term, and budgets could be under further pressure if the economy slows from escalating tariffs.
In summary, Q1 2025 was a particularly frustrating and challenging quarter. The compounding effect of risk-off sentiment driven by tariffs, rotation and continued outflows has overwhelmed a period of lots of stock specific success stories, and of course comes after a period where we had worked hard to manage the volatility of the portfolio well through uncertain market conditions. The gross exposure hasn’t been helpful to performance at a time like this, but this is not a vehicle where the gross can be managed in a very dynamic way due to the illiquidity of the asset class. As discussed last month, the significant share buy-back programme undertaken in Q1 has made controlling the gross and net exposures even more challenging. This isn’t the start to the year we wanted but like so many difficult periods before this too shall pass. The opportunity set remains rich and compelling, and we continue to work tirelessly for you to recapture lost performance.
One can make a strong case that the
As a result of the ongoing difficult outlook, the net is currently around 110% and the gross around 116%.
We thank shareholders for your patience and ongoing support.
1
Source: BlackRock as at
ENDS
Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/thrg 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.
