BlackRock Greater Europe Investment 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 with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Launch
Month Months Year Years (20 Sep 04)
Net asset value (undiluted) 3.7% -0.8% -0.4% 44.6% 774.0%
Share price 4.2% 0.2% 1.1% 49.1% 748.3%
FTSE World Europe ex UK 2.5% 5.1% 15.5% 60.4% 538.1%
Sources: BlackRock and Datastream
At month end
Net asset value (capital only): 614.33p Net asset value (including income): 620.22p Share price: 594.00p Discount to NAV (including income): 4.2% Net gearing: 1.8% Net yield1: 1.2% Total assets (including income): £585.5m Ordinary shares in issue2: 94,398,269 Ongoing charges3: 0.95%
1
Based on a final dividend of 5.25p per share for the year ended
2
Excluding 23,530,669 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, write back of prior year expenses and certain non-recurring items for the year ended
Country Analysis Total Assets (%)
France 22.2
Switzerland 16.1
Germany 12.7
Sector Analysis Total Assets (%) Netherlands 8.5
Industrials 40.3 Ireland 6.2
Technology 16.1 Italy 4.7
Consumer Discretionary 14.6 Belgium 4.2
Financials 12.7 United States 4.1
Health Care 7.5 United Kingdom 3.8
Basic Materials 5.4 Finland 3.5
Net Current Assets 3.4 Denmark 3.2
----- Spain 2.5
100.0 Sweden 2.5
===== Norway 2.4
Net Current Assets 3.4
-----
100.0
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Top 10 holdings Country Fund % Safran France 8.2 Schneider Electric France 5.1 Ferrari Italy 4.9 Hermès France 4.7 Compagnie Financiere Richemont Switzerland 4.7 Allied Irish Banks (AIB) Ireland 4.6 SAP Germany 4.6 Belimo Switzerland 4.4 KBC Groep Belgium 4.3 Linde United States 4.3
Commenting on the markets,
During the month, the company’s NAV rose by 3.7% and the share price rose 4.2%. For reference, the
September was another positive month for European equities, though felt quieter in the context of the year’s market volatility and uncertainty from persistent news headline. Throughout the month, the team attended several conferences where we had the chance to hear from company management teams. Messaging was mixed yet largely confirmed trends we’ve seen throughout the year – a two-speed economy where anything with structural support continues to provide positive messages while recovery has been illusive in end-markets exposed to general industrial production, consumers and autos.
A backdrop of lower enthusiasm for key themes this year such as German stimulus was notable coming away from our visit to the German corporate conference. Fiscal spend that excited the market in the first half of 2025 is not expected to be seen in corporate results before the second half of 2026. Meanwhile, the US macro picture is becoming more of a dichotomy where accelerating GDP growth and resilient retail sales are hard to reconcile against a weakening employment picture as seen in official data as well as messaging from staffing businesses. It would suggest a sizeable gain in productivity, which may happen from AI in time, but current adoption levels by corporates do not explain the immediate effect. A more likely explanation may be the wealth effect of US equity markets given the high equity ownership across the US population.
Sector allocation effects were positive over the month, driven by the portfolio’s overweight positioning to technology and underweight positioning to consumer staples.
Thales contributed positively to active returns. The defence sector has regained momentum after a temporary slowdown as
A position in Richemont was positive. There were no company specific updates, though encouraging consumer spending data for Richemont’s brands through July and August likely contributed to share price strength.
Shares in Chemometec rose over the month as the company confirmed strong FY24/25 financial results including 22% growth and 52% gross margins. The management team remains confident as new launches have gained good traction and the potential for further margin expansion remains. An opportunity to gain market share in the automatic cell counter market adds another tailwind for long term growth prospects.
Semi-cap shares responded favourable to hopes for a recovery spurred by the Oracle/Open AI deal, rising memory chip prices and the perceived need for capacity build out. This contributed to the fund’s holdings in Schneider Electric and BE Semiconductor gaining over the month. However, the improved sentiment for AI beneficiaries was the source of negative attribution for ASML which bounced off recent weakness after the fund’s holding was reduced to underweight earlier in the year.
Nemetschek continued to drag on performance on the theme of AI disruption that featured heavily when introduced in August. While we recognise advancements being made in generative AI tools, we do not see them as an existential threat to this business. We think the moves have largely been overdone; however, we’re not rushing to add here, managing risk through the position size as we must be humble in how fast moving this emerging field of technology has been.
IMCD detracted as reduced manufacturing activity persisted in the market. Subdued volumes in both industrial and consumer end markets remain a difficult operating environment for specialist chemical companies. However, pricing remains positive, positioning the company well for an eventual recovery in volumes.
Outlook
We expect to see inflation on a continued path of normalisation, central banks that provide easing financial conditions, a declining oil price – equivalent to a tax cut for global consumers – as well as employment levels that remain healthy both in the US and
ENDS
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