REG-BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust Plc: Portfolio Update
18/08/2025 14:30
BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003K5E043LHLO706)
All information is at 31 July 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 5.6 12.3 17.8 51.4 127.4 189.7
Net asset value 5.9 9.6 11.9 40.4 117.6 203.4
Benchmark (NR)** 6.5 8.5 9.7 12.5 49.0 105.5
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 10.6 21.2 26.1 31.8 66.0 128.0
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 5.6 13.7 13.7 24.1 29.0 88.4
US Dollars:
Share price 2.0 11.2 21.4 64.8 129.5 147.2
Net asset value 2.3 8.6 15.3 52.9 119.6 158.4
Benchmark (NR)** 2.9 7.5 13.0 22.3 50.2 75.7
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 6.8 20.1 29.9 43.4 67.4 93.5
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 1.9 12.7 17.2 34.9 30.1 59.9
Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor’s Micropal
* 17 December 2010.
** The Company’s benchmark changed from MSCI Frontier Markets Index 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: 222.87c
Net asset value - cum income: 227.54c
Sterling:
Net asset value - capital only: 168.42p
Net asset value - cum income: 171.95p
Share price: 165.25p
Total assets (including income): £430.7m
Discount to cum-income NAV: 3.9%
Gearing: Nil
Gearing range (as a % of gross assets): 0-20%
Net yield*: 4.5%
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 4.8% and includes the 2024
final dividend of 6.00 cents per share, declared on 5 December 2024 paid to
shareholders on 14 February 2025 and the 2025 interim dividend of 3.65 cents
per share, declared on 29 May 2025, payable to shareholders on 24 June 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 as a % of net assets Country Gross market value as a % of net assets
Analysis Analysis
Financials 50.6 Saudi Arabia 13.0
Real Estate 13.4 United Arab Emirates 10.6
Industrials 10.8 Indonesia 10.3
Consumer Discretionary 10.1 Poland 10.3
Materials 7.9 Turkey 10.1
Communication Services 5.7 Greece 6.7
Information Technology 5.2 Thailand 6.1
Consumer Staples 4.5 Kazakhstan 5.7
Health Care 3.0 Hungary 5.6
Energy 1.8 Pakistan 5.5
----- Georgia 5.3
113.0 Vietnam 4.6
----- Bangladesh 4.0
Short Positions -2.5 Philippines 3.6
----- Kenya 3.3
Multi-International 2.7
Malaysia 2.3
Egypt 1.9
Chile 1.4
-----
113.0
-----
Short Positions -2.5 ----
*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).
Market Exposure
31.08 2024 % 30.09 2024 % 31.10 2024 % 30.11 2024 % 31.12 2024 % 31.01 2025 % 28.02 2025 % 31.03 2025 % 30.04 2025 % 31.05 2025 % 30.06 2025 % 31.07 2025 %
Long 112.3 107.9 110.1 109.6 112.4 118.5 121.0 118.5 111.3 117.9 121.2 113.0
Short 3.6 3.9 3.6 3.3 4.0 4.2 3.9 4.3 3.8 3.4 3.4 2.5
Gross 115.9 111.8 113.7 112.9 116.4 122.7 124.9 122.8 115.1 121.3 124.6 115.5
Net 108.7 104.0 106.5 106.3 108.4 114.3 117.1 114.2 107.5 114.5 117.8 110.5
Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Gross market value as a % of net assets
Emaar Properties United Arab Emirates 5.7
Bank Mandiri Indonesia 4.3
PZU Poland 4.0
Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia 4.0
OTP Bank Hungary 3.8
Akbank Turkey 3.6
LPP Poland 3.5
Etihad Etisalat Saudi Arabia 3.5
Eldorado Gold Turkey 3.4
TBC Bank Group Plc Georgia 3.2
Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, representing the
Investment Manager noted:
The Company’s NAV returned +2.3% in July, underperforming its benchmark, the
MSCI Frontier + Emerging ex Selected Countries Index (“Benchmark Index”),
which returned +2.9%. For reference, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned
+1.9% while the MSCI Frontier Markets Index returned +6.8% over the same
period. All performance figures are on a US Dollar basis with net income
reinvested. Vietnam and Thailand both featured among the top contributors in
absolute terms, returning +15.3% and +14.4% respectively. Vietnam’s equity
market surged on the back of robust Q2 GDP growth (6.2% YoY) and accelerating
FDI inflows, particularly into the manufacturing and renewable energy sectors.
Thailand rallied sharply as the political uncertainty surrounding cabinet
reshuffles eased and a ceasefire to the border conflict with Cambodia was
agreed.
Egypt and Pakistan also delivered double-digit returns. In Egypt, equity
markets continued to respond positively to the IMF-supported structural reform
programme and recent currency stabilisation measures. Pakistan saw a strong
rally following the announcement of a $7 billion standby agreement with the
IMF, as well as early signs of improving current account metrics.
The UAE remained one of the Company’s largest positions and rose by +9.9%,
supported by solid corporate earnings across the banking and real estate
sectors and continued foreign investor interest. Bangladesh delivered a
standout relative contribution, with the Company’s overweight position
(+3.2% active) benefiting from strong bank performance and a favourable trade
balance driven by resilient garment exports.
At the portfolio level, stock selection in Bangladesh was one of the top
contributors to portfolio returns. BRAC Bank (+40.0%) surged on strong Q2
earnings, driven by higher interest and investment income from increasing
deposits & borrowings. Emaar Properties (+12.1%) was another contributor,
benefiting from an acceleration in pre-sales reflecting the strong demand in
the UAE. Our holding in Thai credit card company, Krungthai Card (+18.1%),
helped performance. The stock rose on the back of strong Q2 results and
analyst upgrades. MCB Bank (+19.9%) in Pakistan also contributed to returns,
rising with the strong market performance.
On the flipside, DigiPlus (-51.6%) was the largest detractor. Gambling-related
stocks in the Philippines slid over the month amid concerns over proposed
legislation aimed at restricting and taxing online gaming. Indonesian Bank
Mandiri (-8.8%) was another detractor, falling on fears of a weaker NIM , amid
macro pressures from rate cuts.. Shares also declined following news of
potential management changes and the fear of increased government intervention
of management in the company. EPAM (-10.8%) was another detractor amid
continued weakness in global IT services, although post month end reported
results that were better than expected.
We made a few changes in July. We increased our exposure to BRAC Bank
viewing it as a high quality bank compared to peers. We rotated our Georgian
bank exposure out of Lion Finance Group, into TBC Bank, favouring the
latter’s stronger growth prospects in Uzbekistan. In Saudi Arabia we
initiated a position in Fintech name Rasan, as we see strong growth potential
for company earnings on the back of regulatory changes in the insurance
sector. We exited our position in Americana Restaurants due to concerns on
future margin pressure and high competition. In Eastern Europe, we reduced our
holdings in Athens International airport to lock in gains. We reduced our
Financials exposure and locked in profits by reducing/exiting our positions in
Moneta Money Bank, OTP Bank and Raiffeisen Bank.
Looking ahead, we remain constructive on the outlook for smaller emerging and
frontier markets. With inflation easing across many of our key markets and
U.S. bond yields remaining relatively stable, we anticipate that central banks
in our target countries will begin to resume interest rate cuts in the near
term. This backdrop sets the stage for a cyclical recovery in domestically
driven economies. 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:
1BlackRock as at 31 July 2025
2MSCI as at 31 July 2025
18 August 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 (https://mb.cision.com/Main/22403/4219388/3614779.pdf)
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