BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust Plc - Portfolio Update
All information is at
Performance at month end with net income reinvested.
One Three One Three Five Since
month months year years
years Launch*
% % % %
% %
Sterling:
Share price -17.7 -4.1 20.4 44.3 68.7 205.0
Net asset value -10.4 -1.5 15.1 40.7 77.9 223.6
Benchmark (NR)** -4.8 3.0 15.8 25.8 46.1 122.6
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) -5.1 1.1 32.0 61.7 62.7 159.9
42.0
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) -11.4 1.8 26.8 25.4 114.5
US Dollars:
Share price -19.3 -6.0 23.0 53.9 61.4 159.3
Net asset value -12.1 -3.4 17.6 50.1 70.2 174.6
Benchmark (NR)** -6.7 0.9 18.3 34.2 39.6 89.7
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) -6.9 -0.9 34.8 72.4 55.5 119.8
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) -13.1 -0.2 29.6 51.4 19.9 81.4
Sources:
*
** 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: 233.87c Net asset value - cum income: 235.71c Sterling: Net asset value - capital only: 177.35p Net asset value - cum income: 178.74p Share price: 169.50p Total assets (including income): £292.5m Discount to cum-income NAV: 5.17% Gearing: Nil Gearing range (as a % of gross assets): 0-20% Net yield*: 4.4% Ordinary shares in issue**: 163,641,520 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 4.4% and includes the 2025 interim dividend of
** 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
Sector Gross market value Country Gross market value as
Analysis as a % of net Analysis a % of net assets*
assets*
Financials 52.7 Saudi Arabia 14.4
Energy 10.9 United Arab Emirates 12.0
Communication 9.4 Kazakhstan 11.4
Services
Consumer 7.7 Egypt 8.6
Discretionary
Real Estate 7.3 Indonesia 7.4
Industrials 4.7 Poland 6.2
Materials 4.7 Thailand 5.2
Consumer Staples 4.1 Kenya 4.8
Health Care 2.2 Vietnam 4.5
Utilities 1.8 Greece 4.3
Information 1.2 Philippines 4.2
Technology
----- Pakistan 3.9
106.7 Georgia 3.9
----- Bangladesh 3.7
Short Positions -1.6 Hungary 3.6
===== Argentina 3.4
Turkey 2.4
Multi-International 1.5
Chile 1.3
-----
106.7
-----
Short Positions -1.6
=====
*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).
Market Exposure
30.04 31.05 30.06 31.07 31.08 30.09 31.10 30.11 31.12 31.01 28.02 31.03
2025 2026 2026 2026
2025 2025 2025 2025 2025 2025 2025 2025
% % % %
% % % % % % % %
Long 111.3 117.9 121.2 113.0 114.3 112.2 114.0 110.5 110.9 116.7 121.3 106.7
Short 3.8 3.4 3.4 2.5 2.4 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.9 1.8 2.0 1.6
Gross 115.1 121.3 124.6 115.5 116.7 113.9 115.6 112.0 112.8 118.5 123.3 108.3
Net 107.5 114.5 117.8 110.5 111.9 110.5 112.4 109.0 109.0 114.9 119.3 105.1
Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Gross market value as a % of net
assets
Kaspi.Kz JCS Kazakhstan 5.0
Commercial International Bank Egypt 4.4
Bank Pekao Poland 4.4
Halyk Savings Bank Kazakhstan 4.3
Etihad Etisalat Saudi Arabia 4.1
TBC Bank Group Plc Georgia 3.9
OTP Bank Hungary 3.6
Bank Mandiri Indonesia 3.5
YPF Sociedad Anónima Argentina 3.4
Equity Group Kenya 3.3
Commenting on the markets,
The Company’s NAV returned -12.1% in March, while the MSCI Frontier + Emerging ex Selected Countries Index (“Benchmark Index”), returned -6.7%. For reference, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned -13.1% while the MSCI Frontier Markets Index returned -6.9% over the same period. All performance figures are on a US Dollar basis with net income reinvested. 1
March was characterised by a more cautious, geopolitically driven environment. Heightened tensions in the
Performance across markets saw substantial divergence across the universe.
At the stock level, Argentina’s state-controlled oil and gas company, YPF (+30.8%) was the top contributor following the rise in oil prices. Relative performance over the month was strongly influenced by oil price dynamics. The top performing stocks, Kazakh e-commerce company, Kaspi (+4.9%),
On the downside, Turkish gold miner Eldorado Gold (-26.1%) was the largest detractor during the month, pressured by weaker metal prices. Commercial International Bank Egypt (-19.1%) also declined as
We made a few changes in March. We exited Saudi fintech name Rasan to lock in profits following a strong run over the past year, and initiated chemical production company Yansab which we believe stands out within
Looking ahead, we remain constructive on the outlook for smaller emerging and frontier markets. 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
MSCI as at
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
