REG-BlackRock World Mng: Portfolio Update
27/08/2019 14:50
BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST plc (LEI - LNFFPBEUZJBOSR6PW155)
All information is at 31 July 2019 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Five
Month Months Year Years Years
Net asset value 1.6% 10.8% 4.1% 44.3% 11.5%
Share price 2.9% 8.2% 5.5% 51.2% 4.7%
EMIX Global Mining Index (Net) 1.1% 12.0% 13.5% 48.7% 32.4%
(Total return)
Sources: BlackRock, EMIX Global Mining Index, Datastream
At month end
Net asset value including income (1): 448.10p
Net asset value capital only: 442.08p
(1)Includes net revenue of 6.02p
Share price: 386.50p
Discount to NAV (2): 13.7%
Total assets: £908.0m
Net yield (3): 4.9%
Net gearing: 11.4%
Ordinary shares in issue: 176,296,476
Ordinary shares held in treasury: 16,715,366
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 39.3 Global 59.6
Gold 21.9 Australasia 11.4
Copper 19.8 Latin America 10.5
Silver & Diamonds 6.4 Canada 6.8
Industrial Minerals 5.8 United Kingdom 2.2
Coal 1.4 Other Africa 1.8
Nickel 0.9 South Africa 1.1
Materials 0.8 USA 1.1
Zinc 0.3 Kazakhstan 0.9
Aluminium 0.2 Indonesia 0.9
Iron Ore 0.1 Russia 0.5
Current assets 3.1 Argentina 0.1
Current assets 3.1
----- -----
100.0 100.0
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Ten Largest Investments
Company % Total
Assets
BHP 10.2
Vale: Equity Debenture 5.2 3.2
Rio Tinto 7.7
Barrick Gold 4.6
First Quantum Minerals 4.2
OZ Minerals Brazil:
Royalty 2.1
Equity 1.9
Teck Resources 3.6
Newmont Mining 3.6
Wheaton Precious Metals 3.3
Agnico Eagle Mines 3.2
Commenting on the markets, Evy Hambro and Olivia Markham, representing the Investment Manager noted:
Performance
The Company’s NAV increased by 1.6% in July, outperforming its reference index, the EMIX Global Mining Index (net return), which increased by 1.1%.
It was a volatile month for the mining sector which saw strong performance from the gold equities, yet disappointing performance from companies exposed to base metals (e.g. copper), as consensus global growth expectations continued to decline exacerbated by a lack of progress on US-China trade negotiations. In response, Central Banks have begun to react with the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates on the final day of the month and the European Central Bank putting another round of Quantitative Easing
‘back on the table’. In terms of the mined commodities, we continued to see bulk commodity and precious metals prices rising, however, most of the base metals came under pressure. The iron ore (62% fe) price rose by 3.9% over the month to $112.5/tonne, on the back of continued market tightness. Meanwhile, gold rose by 1.1% to $1,428/oz., the highest level since May 2013. Gold benefited from real rates falling further, with the US 10-year real rate falling to 0.26%, having started the year at 0.98%. Real
rates represent the true opportunity cost of holding gold and we expect them to compress further over the next 12 months. On the negative side, the copper price declined by 1.3% which appeared to be driven by speculation in the futures market, as investors continued to use the metal as a play on deteriorating global growth expectations. (Figures shown in USD)
The Company’s position in Ero Copper appeared amongst the top performers, after the company announced an encouraging exploration update. Our holding in Nickel Mines was also a notable positive contributor on the back of strength in the nickel price and after the company announced solid progress in the ramp-up of its Ranger Nickel Project in Indonesia.
Strategy and Outlook
We see an attractive valuation opportunity in mining today. The mining sector is generating strong levels of free cash flow, whilst balance sheets are in good 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.
27 August 2019
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