Company Announcements

 

BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003K5E043LHLO706)

 

All information is at 31 December 2025 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested.

 

                                 One   Three  One  Three Five  Since
                                 month months year years years Launch*
                                 %     %      %    %     %     %

Sterling:

Share price                      2.8   8.0    20.0 61.1  85.6  218.2

Net asset value                  2.8   6.2    15.0 47.5  85.8  228.4

Benchmark (NR)**                 1.6   3.4    11.6 18.8  43.2  116.2

MSCI Frontiers Index (NR)        3.3   6.7    36.7 60.4  60.8  157.1

MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 1.5   4.8    24.4 41.0  24.8  110.7

US Dollars:

Share price                      4.4   7.9    28.9 80.3  82.8  176.0

Net asset value                  4.3   6.1    23.5 65.1  83.0  184.3

Benchmark (NR)**                 3.2   3.3    19.9 32.8  40.9  87.9

MSCI Frontiers Index (NR)        4.8   6.6    46.9 79.4  58.2  121.8

MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 3.0   4.7    33.6 57.7  22.8  81.7

 

Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor’s Micropal

* 17 December 2010.

** The Company’s benchmark changed to MSCI Frontier + Emerging ex Selected Countries Index (net total return, USD) effective 1/4/2018.
 

At month end

US Dollar

Net asset value - capital only:                        243.20c

Net asset value - cum income:                          250.35c

Sterling:

Net asset value - capital only:                        180.82p

Net asset value - cum income:                          186.13p

Share price:                                           181.50p

Total assets (including income):                       £352.3m

Discount to cum-income NAV:                            2.5%

Gearing:                                               Nil

Gearing range (as a % of gross assets):                0-20%

Net yield*:                                            4.1%

Ordinary shares in issue**:                            189,270,248

Ongoing charges***:                                    1.42%

Ongoing charges plus taxation and performance fee****: 2.87%

 

*The Company’s yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 4.1% and includes the 2025 interim dividend of 3.65 cents per share, declared on 29 May 2025, paid to shareholders on 24 June 2025 and the 2025 final dividend of 6.35 cents per share, declared on 10 December 2025 payable to shareholders on 26 February 2026.

** Excluding 52,552,553 ordinary shares held in treasury.

*** 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 and including performance fees but excluding finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain non-recurring items for Year ended 30 September 2025.

 

Sector           Gross market value  Country              Gross market value as
Analysis         as a % of net       Analysis             a % of net assets*
                 assets*

Financials       52.4                Saudi Arabia         12.1

Consumer         10.4                United Arab Emirates 11.6
Discretionary

Communication    9.9                 Poland               9.4
Services

Real Estate      9.3                 Turkey               9.4

Industrials      6.6                 Egypt                8.8

Materials        5.5                 Indonesia            7.5

Information      5.0                 Kazakhstan           6.8
Technology

Energy           4.6                 Hungary              5.1

Consumer Staples 4.0                 Pakistan             5.0

Health Care      2.8                 Multi-International  5.0

Utilities        0.4                 Kenya                5.0

                 -----               Vietnam              4.9

                 110.9               Greece               4.7

                 -----               Thailand             3.6

Short Positions  -1.9                Georgia              3.2

                 =====               Bangladesh           2.7

                                     Philippines          2.5

                                     Pan Africa           2.2

                                     Chile                1.4

                                                          -----

                                                          110.9

                                                          -----

                                     Short Positions      -1.9

                                                          =====

 

*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).

 

Market Exposure
 

      31.01 28.02 31.03 30.04 31.05 30.06 31.07 31.08 30.09 31.10 30.11 31.12

      2025  2025  2025  2025  2025  2025  2025  2025  2025  2025  2025  2025

      %     %     %     %     %     %     %     %     %     %     %     %

Long  118.5 121.0 118.5 111.3 117.9 121.2 113.0 114.3 112.2 114.0 110.5 110.9

Short 4.2   3.9   4.3   3.8   3.4   3.4   2.5   2.4   1.7   1.6   1.5   1.9

Gross 122.7 124.9 122.8 115.1 121.3 124.6 115.5 116.7 113.9 115.6 112.0 112.8

Net   114.3 117.1 114.2 107.5 114.5 117.8 110.5 111.9 110.5 112.4 109.0 109.0

 

 

Ten Largest Investments

 

Company                       Country of Risk      Gross market value as a % of
                                                   net assets

Bank Mandiri                  Indonesia            4.9

Bank Pekao                    Poland               4.0

LPP                           Poland               3.6

Commercial International Bank Egypt                3.5

OTP Bank                      Hungary              3.4

Etihad Etisalat               Saudi Arabia         3.4

Halyk Savings Bank            Kazakhstan           3.4

Emaar Properties              United Arab Emirates 3.3

TBC Bank Group Plc            Georgia              3.2

Lucky Cement                  Pakistan             3.1

 

Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, representing the Investment Manager noted:
 

The Company’s NAV returned +4.3% in December, outperforming its benchmark, the MSCI Frontier + Emerging ex Selected Countries Index (“Benchmark Index”), which returned +3.2%. For reference, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned +3.0% while the MSCI Frontier Markets Index returned +4.8% over the same period. All performance figures are on a US Dollar basis with net income reinvested.

 

At a country level, Poland was the top contributor for the month, where the market rose by 7.8%. Gains were led by Polish clothing retailer LPP (+23.9%), which climbed to a record high following a strong 3Q earnings beat on higher margins as the company demonstrated strong operating leverage. The company expects to continue its rollout of low end brand Sinsay into 2026. December was also a strong month for Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank which ended the year with a stock price only just under its all time high supported by strong Polish economic growth numbers.

 

The UAE market also performed well (+5.7%). Two holdings within our portfolio had a very good month, Air Arabia (+8.4%) building on November performance of +10.3% after the company reported significantly better than expected Q3 results with passenger growth up 16% yoy. Emaar Properties (+5.7%) also rallied strongly as the UAE property market remained robust.

 

At the stock level, Kazakhstan-based Halyk Bank (+18.6%) rallied off a depressed end of November valuation post a large placing of stock to end the year with its share price at an all time high.   Despite this, the company remains on sub 4x PE multiple on our estimates. Off-benchmark holding in Turkish gold mine operator Eldorado Gold (+14.4%) gained as gold prices continued to climb. IT services company EPAM (+9.6%) extended last month’s rally, supported by analyst upgrades as investor excitement for AI continued to build. Mobile World Investment Corp (+10.5%), a Vietnamese retailer, rose in line with Vietnam’s equity benchmark, which hovered near record highs.

 

On the flipside, Philippines-based online gaming company Digiplus (-34.1%) declined sharply in December following changes in the regulatory environment which took place over the summer. Saudi Arabia’s digital investment platform Derayah (-8.7%) also fell amid profit-taking after earlier gains in the Saudi market, though we remain constructive on the company’s growth potential. Egyptian financial services firm EFG Holding (-6.8%) and Bangladesh-based BRAC Bank (-4.3%) also detracted from returns.

 

We made a few tactical changes in December. In Poland, we trimmed PKO Bank and LPP, locking in gains post solid results. We added Vodacom for its cash-generative profile and solid payout ratio, with growth prospects in Egypt and Kenya that we believe remain underappreciated.

 

Looking ahead, we remain constructive on the outlook for smaller emerging and frontier markets. With inflation easing across many of our key markets and U.S. bond yields remaining relatively stable, we anticipate that central banks in our target countries will begin to resume interest rate cuts in the near term. This backdrop sets the stage for a cyclical recovery in domestically driven economies. Valuations across our investment universe remain attractive, both in absolute and relative terms. Many of these markets are still under-researched, and we believe this creates fertile ground for finding high-conviction, alpha-generating opportunities.

 

Sources:

1 BlackRock as at 31 December 2025

2 MSCI as at 31 December 2025

 

15 January 2026

 

ENDS

 

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/brfi 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 BlackRock’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

Release