REG-BlackRock World Mng: Portfolio Update
18/06/2019 17:15
BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST plc (LEI - LNFFPBEUZJBOSR6PW155)
All information is at 31 May 2019 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Five
Month Months Year Years Years
Net asset value -3.3% -3.3% -10.5% 72.2% 6.3%
Share price -6.5% -3.8% -12.5% 70.7% -1.8%
EMIX Global Mining Index (Net) -0.5% 1.2% -0.3% 80.2% 28.5%
(Total return)
Sources: BlackRock, EMIX Global Mining Index, Datastream
At month end
Net asset value including income (1): 390.90p
Net asset value capital only: 386.65p
(1)Includes net revenue of 4.25p
Share price: 334.00p
Discount to NAV (2): 14.6%
Total assets: £833.1m
Net yield (3): 5.7%
Net gearing: 10.9%
Ordinary shares in issue: 176,330,242
Ordinary shares held in treasury: 16,681,600
Ongoing charges (4): 0.9%
(2)Discount to NAV including income. (3)Based on a quarterly interim dividend of 4.00p per share declared on 2 May 2019 in respect of the year ending 31 December 2019 and quarterly interim dividends of 3.00p per share declared on 7 August 2018 and 8 November 2018 and a final dividend of 9.00p per share announced on 28 February 2019 in respect of the year ended 31 December 2018. (4)Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding finance costs, for the year ended 31 December 2018.
Sector % Total Country Analysis % Total
Assets Assets
Diversified 42.9 Global 60.1
Copper 18.3 Latin America 12.9
Gold 17.9 Australasia 9.7
Industrial Minerals 6.0 Canada 6.2
Silver & Diamonds 5.9 Other Africa 1.7
Coal 1.9 USA 1.2
Materials 0.6 South Africa 1.0
Nickel 0.6 Kazakhstan 0.9
Zinc 0.5 Indonesia 0.6
Aluminium 0.1 Russia 0.4
Molybdenum 0.1 China 0.1
Iron Ore 0.1 Argentina 0.1
Current assets 5.1 Current assets 5.1
----- -----
100.0 100.0
===== =====
Ten Largest Investments
Company % Total
Assets
Rio Tinto 9.9
BHP 9.9
Vale: Equity Debenture 5.5 2.8
Glencore 4.8
Newmont Mining 4.6
First Quantum Minerals 4.2
Teck Resources 3.4
Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde 3.0
OZ Minerals Brazil: Royalty Equity 2.6 1.9
Barrick Gold 2.5
Commenting on the markets, Evy Hambro and Olivia Markham, representing the Investment Manager noted:
Performance
The Company’s NAV decreased by 3.3% in May, underperforming its reference index, the EMIX Global Mining Index (net return), which decreased by 0.5%.
The mining sector fell along with global equity markets in May, as intensifying trade tensions between the US and China raised concerns around a potential slowdown in global economic growth. Economic data from China also softened in May with early indicators suggesting its manufacturing PMI had fallen to 49.4 from 50.1 in April. Most mined commodity prices retreated, with the base metals, which are typically more economically sensitive, particularly weak. The copper price was off -9.7%, for example, but
this appeared to be driven more by speculation in the futures market than by supply and demand fundamentals in our view. Iron ore, however, continued to perform strongly with the iron ore (62% fe) price rising by 9.3% over the month, to a near 5-year high of $101/tonne. Production stoppages at some of Vale’s assets in Brazil following the Brumadinho dam rupture, cyclone activity impacting production in Western Australia and falling iron ore inventories in China have contributed to the 42.6% rise in the iron
ore (62% fe) price year-to-date. (Figures in USD.)
In the Company, underperformance was driven primarily by our exposure to the copper sub-sector. Our position in copper producer, First Quantum, was the largest detractor, with the share price suffering from investor concern over the company’s power supply and political tensions in Zambia
On the other hand, positions in our favoured gold producers such as Northern Star and Agnico Eagle, aided relative performance, as they performed well as gold rose by 1.3%, in USD terms, on ’safe-haven’ buying.
Strategy and Outlook
We see an attractive valuation opportunity in mining today. The mining sector is generating close to record free cash flow, whilst balance sheets are in strong shape and companies remain focused on capital discipline. Whilst US-China trade tensions are fuelling uncertainty, our base case remains that we have positive global economic growth for the next 12-18 months, albeit at a slower rate than was expected this time last year. Barring an economic recession, we expect the mining sector to re-rate as the
miners continue to generate robust free cash flow and return capital to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. We expect most mined commodity prices to be stable to rising through the remainder of this year. On the commodity demand side, we do not anticipate a hard-landing type event in China and we have been encouraged by stimulus measures beginning to feed through into improvements in some economic data points. On the commodity supply side, supply is tight in most mined commodity markets and, given
the cuts in mining sector spending since 2012 (down ~66%), we expect it to remain so.
All data points are in GBP terms unless stated otherwise.
18 June 2019
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