BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003K5E043LHLO706)

 

All information is at 30 April 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                      1.9   -4.3   6.2  26.5  112.3 158.1

Net asset value                  -1.5  -5.4   2.8  19.9  108.9 176.8

Benchmark (NR)**                 -1.5  -4.8   1.0  -3.7  43.1  89.4

MSCI Frontiers Index (NR)        -4.5  -3.7   7.1  0.7   40.5  88.0

MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) -2.1  -4.7   2.2  5.3   28.5  65.6

US Dollars:

Share price                      5.4   2.9    13.3 34.7  125.0 122.3

Net asset value                  1.9   1.7    9.7  27.7  121.5 138.0

Benchmark (NR)**                 2.0   2.3    7.7  2.4   51.5  63.5

MSCI Frontiers Index (NR)        -1.2  3.5    14.3 7.1   48.7  61.1

MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 1.3   2.4    9.0  12.0  36.0  41.9

 

Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor’s Micropal

* 17 December 2010.

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

At month end

US Dollar

Net asset value - capital only:                        208.08c

Net asset value - cum income:                          213.07c

Sterling:

Net asset value - capital only:                        155.79p

Net asset value - cum income:                          159.52p

Share price:                                           149.75p

Total assets (including income):                       £301.9m

Discount to cum-income NAV:                            6.1%

Gearing:                                               Nil

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

Net yield*:                                            5.1%

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

Ongoing charges***:                                    1.41%

Ongoing charges plus taxation and performance fee****: 2.33%

 

*The Company’s yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 5.1%, and includes the 2024 interim dividend of 3.50 cents per share, declared on 31 May 2024, and paid to shareholders on 01 July 2024 and the final dividend of 6.00 cents per share, declared on 5 December 2024 paid to shareholders on 14 February 2025.

** 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 excluding performance fees, finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain non-recurring items for Year ended 30 September 2024.

**** 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 2024.

 

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

Financials       43.2                  Saudi Arabia         15.0

Real Estate      13.0                  Indonesia            11.3

Industrials      11.5                  United Arab Emirates 11.1

Consumer         11.2                  Poland               7.6
Discretionary

Materials        9.1                   Turkey               7.5

Information      6.4                   Greece               7.4
Technology

Communication    6.2                   Hungary              6.7
Services

Consumer Staples 5.4                   Kazakhstan           6.1

Health Care      3.7                   Multi-International  4.7

Energy           1.6                   Pakistan             4.5

                 -----                 Thailand             4.4

                 111.3                 Philippines          3.8

                 -----                 Vietnam              3.2

Short Positions  -3.8                  Bangladesh           3.0

                 -----                 Kenya                3.0

                                       Malaysia             2.8

                                       Georgia              2.8

                                       Czech Republic       2.4

                                       Chile                2.0

                                       Egypt                1.2

                                       Cambodia             0.8

                                                            -----

                                                            111.3

                                                            -----

                                                            -3.8
                                       Short Positions
                                                            ----

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

 

Market Exposure
 

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

      2024  2024  2024  2024  2024  2024  2024  2024  2025  2025  2025  2025

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

Long  118.1 118.4 116.1 112.3 107.9 110.1 109.6 112.4 118.5 121.0 118.5 111.3

Short 2.4   2.9   3.5   3.6   3.9   3.6   3.3   4.0   4.2   3.9   4.3   3.8

Gross 120.5 121.3 119.6 115.9 111.8 113.7 112.9 116.4 122.7 124.9 122.8 115.1

Net   115.7 115.5 112.6 108.7 104.0 106.5 106.3 108.4 114.3 117.1 114.2 107.5

 

 

Ten Largest Investments

 

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

Al Rajhi Bank    Saudi Arabia         5.5

Emaar Properties United Arab Emirates 5.3

Bank Mandiri     Indonesia            4.9

OTP Bank         Hungary              4.1

PZU              Poland               4.0

Etihad Etisalat  Saudi Arabia         3.8

LPP              Poland               3.6

CP All           Thailand             3.4

Eldorado Gold    Turkey               3.3

FPT              Vietnam              3.2

 

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

The Company’s NAV rose by 1.9% in April, largely in line with its benchmark, the MSCI Frontier + Emerging Markets ex Selected Countries Index (“Benchmark Index”), which returned +2.0%. For reference, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned +1.3% while the MSCI Frontier Markets Index returned -1.2% over the same period. All performance figures are on a US Dollar basis with net income reinvested.

 

The benign headline performance figures for the month hide what was a notably volatile intramonth performance, with the MSCI Emerging Markets index being down by nearly 10% at one point mid-month following the announcement of significantly higher and broader tariffs than were expected by the US administration on “liberation” day. Since that point, markets have recovered strongly on the expectation that most countries, notably recently including China, will be able to secure deals to reduce tariffs from high starting levels.   Emerging Markets (+1.3%) outperformed Developed Markets, which returned +0.9%, in April 2025, aided by a weak USD which fell by 4.5%.

 

Relative performance over the month was driven by stock selection. Eldorado Gold (+11.8%), the Turkish and Greek gold mine operator, benefited as gold prices rose. Indonesian property developer, Ciputra (+22.3%), also contributed to returns, rising as rate expectations for Indonesia fell. Very strong passenger volumes benefited Athens International Airport (+14.6%), which was also driven by news of an accelerated airport expansion. Lion Finance Group (formerly Bank of Georgia) (+13.7%), one of the cheapest stocks in our universe also did well after reporting strong 2024 results. Our overweight position in the Greek mobile operator, Hellenic Telecommunications (+17.3%), was another contributor, with their strong cash flow return program looking relatively attractive in the face of an acceleration of European rate reduction expectations.

 

On the flipside, our exposure to Vietnamese IT services company FPT (-11.4%) was the largest detractor over the month. Near term weakness aside, we are optimistic on the broader sector as the market rotates to focus on enterprise AI and the data needs that accompany these solutions. Polish clothing retailer LPP (-8.1%) also detracted after missing consensus estimates for both revenue and margins in 4Q24. Our holding in Turkiye Is Bankasi (-17.1%) fell on concerns of increased political instability following the imprisonment of Istanbul mayor Imamoglu.   We organised a very short notice trip to Turkey following this news and came back still confident to hold our Turkish positions.  

 

In terms of changes to the portfolio in April, we re-initiated a position in Greek Organisation of Football, the sports betting company, noting the very strong trends they have seen in the online portion of their business. We took profits and exited our position in e-commerce company SEA Ltd after exceptional performance. We reduced exposure to OTP Bank, Eldorado Gold and Lucky Cement to lock in profits and maintain position sizes following strong outperformance. Elsewhere, we topped up our holdings in Akbank in Turkey to take advantage of the recent weakness, and Lion Finance Group in Georgia as we believe the stock is undervalued.  

 

We continue to see improving economic activity in some frontier and smaller emerging markets. With inflation falling across many countries within our universe, rate cuts should resume once US bond yields stabilise. This is a good set up for domestically oriented economies to see a cyclical pick up.   We remain positive on the outlook for small emerging and frontier markets, and we find significant value in currencies and equity markets across our investment opportunity set. Our investment universe, in absolute and relative terms, remains under-researched and we believe this should enable compelling alpha opportunities.

 

Sources:

1 BlackRock as at 30 April 2025

2 MSCI as at 30 April 2025

 

20 May 2025

 

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