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) 0.7% -2.4% 15.6% 9.6% 812.8% Share price -1.4% -3.5% 15.3% 0.4% 765.7% FTSE World Europe ex UK -1.6% 0.3% 13.4% 22.0% 452.3%
Sources: BlackRock and Datastream
At month end
Net asset value (capital only): 649.95p Net asset value (including income): 655.53p Share price: 614.00p Discount to NAV (including income): 6.3% Net gearing: 8.3% Net yield1: 1.1% Total assets (including income): £654.2m Ordinary shares in issue2: 99,795,601 Ongoing charges3: 0.98%
1
Based on a final dividend of 5.00p per share for the year ended
2
Excluding 18,133,337 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 (%) Netherlands 22.4 Sector Analysis Total Assets (%) France 20.6 Industrials 24.4 Switzerland 17.5 Technology 23.5 Denmark 10.6 Consumer Discretionary 22.4 United Kingdom 6.5 Health Care 14.7 Sweden 6.2 Financials 8.1 Ireland 5.6 Basic Materials 6.2 Italy 3.7 Consumer Staples 0.8 United States 3.5 Net Current -0.1 Liabilities Germany 1.8 ----- Belgium 1.7 100.0 Net Current Liabilities -0.1 ===== ----- 100.0 =====
Top 10 holdings Country Fund % Novo Nordisk Denmark 9.4 ASML Netherlands 8.4 RELX United Kingdom 6.5 LVMH France 5.5 BE Semiconductor Netherlands 4.6 ASM International Netherlands 4.4 Hermès France 3.9 Safran France 3.8 Schneider Electric France 3.7 Ferrari Italy 3.7
Commenting on the markets,
During the month, the Company’s NAV rose by 0.7% and the share price declined by -1.4%. For reference, the FTSE World Europe ex
French political uncertainty led to market volatility.
During the month we saw high quality, internationally exposed businesses outperform the market whilst particularly French-listed cyclicals and financials performed poorly. The technology sector delivered absolute positive returns given very limited impact from French election risk and continued positive messaging around the ‘AI investment wave’ coming.
The Company outperformed the reference index thanks to its positioning in technology and limited exposure to French domestic stocks, as well as an underweight to financials. Both sector allocation and stock selection contributed positively.
Semiconductors were amongst the top performers during June with shares in BE Semiconducter (Besi), ASMi and ASML all moving higher. The tone from management teams during roadshows was positive and all signs point to increased orders ahead. Besi hosted a Capital Markets Day in the month where their CEO reiterated a target model of over
A position in RELX was also additive in June. RELX has been consistent in confirming strong underlying trends, particularly on the back of AI trends in their legal division.
Owning Novo Nordisk contributed positively to active returns in June with the investment case continuing to progress well. To name a few of the headlines in the month, Wegovy prescription data in the US was strong, the company announced plans for an additional fill and finish site which continues to build significant capacity growth from 2026 and Wegovy was approved as an obesity treatment in
A position in Linde began to recover from recent weakness following Q1 2024 results which were solid yet seemed to disappoint the market with guidance which was only raised at the low end of the company’s range. We think management’s conservatism at Q1 is understandable and expect Linde to continue showing strong execution and proving their ability to grow earnings.
Elsewhere, avoiding European banks such as BNP and Banco Santander was helpful. The sector was dragged down by political volatility: BNP was particularly impacted by the French elections, whilst Santander was impacted by concerns around
Shares in Chemometec fell in the month despite limited company specific updates, as the recovery in life sciences is yet to be seen. Having recently met with management we remain encouraged by the pivot in their strategy to one we believe is quite promising from a commercial perspective.
The portfolio’s holding in Kingspan detracted with shares selling off on the back of French political noise. The company generates close to 15% of revenues in
Not holding a few of the reference index large defensive assets, such as SAP, Roche and Novartis, detracted from relative returns as their shares outperformed the falling market.
Outlook
As economic momentum gathers pace and company guidance strikes a more optimistic tone,
Rising political discontent, however, has been a thorn in the region’s side. Geopolitical tensions around tariffs and surprise elections in key economies such as the
Long-term structural trends and large amounts of fiscal spending via the Recovery fund, Green Deal and the REPowerEU plan in
ENDS
Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/brge 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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