REG-BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust Plc: Portfolio Update
23/09/2025 15:15
BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003K5E043LHLO706)
All information is at 31 August 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 1.1 7.9 20.3 42.4 120.7 192.8
Net asset value 1.7 9.8 14.9 32.9 113.7 208.6
Benchmark (NR)** -1.0 6.9 7.6 4.7 48.1 103.3
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 4.1 19.5 31.7 28.9 62.9 137.4
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) -0.8 9.3 13.6 17.2 27.7 86.9
US Dollars:
Share price 3.2 8.1 23.7 65.6 123.9 155.0
Net asset value 3.9 10.0 18.1 54.5 116.7 168.4
Benchmark (NR)** 1.0 7.1 10.6 21.5 49.4 77.5
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 6.3 19.8 35.4 49.7 64.3 105.7
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 1.3 9.5 16.8 36.1 28.9 62.0
Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor’s Micropal
* 17 December 2010.
** 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: 230.93c
Net asset value - cum income: 236.31c
Sterling:
Net asset value - capital only: 170.93p
Net asset value - cum income: 174.91p
Share price: 167.00p
Total assets (including income): £331.1m
Discount to cum-income NAV: 4.5%
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 4.5% 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, paid 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 49.2 Saudi Arabia 12.6
Real Estate 13.0 Turkey 12.2
Industrials 11.0 Indonesia 10.4
Consumer Discretionary 10.2 United Arab Emirates 9.9
Materials 9.0 Poland 9.7
Communication Services 5.7 Greece 6.7
Information Technology 5.5 Kazakhstan 6.1
Health Care 4.5 Pakistan 6.0
Consumer Staples 4.2 Hungary 5.9
Energy 2.0 Thailand 5.6
----- Vietnam 4.8
114.3 Georgia 4.6
----- Bangladesh 3.9
Short Positions -2.4 Philippines 3.6
----- Kenya 3.5
Multi-International 3.1
Malaysia 2.4
Egypt 1.8
Chile 1.5
-----
114.3
-----
Short Positions -2.4 ----
*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).
Market Exposure
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 % 31.08 2025 %
Long 107.9 110.1 109.6 112.4 118.5 121.0 118.5 111.3 117.9 121.2 113.0 114.3
Short 3.9 3.6 3.3 4.0 4.2 3.9 4.3 3.8 3.4 3.4 2.5 2.4
Gross 111.8 113.7 112.9 116.4 122.7 124.9 122.8 115.1 121.3 124.6 115.5 116.7
Net 104.0 106.5 106.3 108.4 114.3 117.1 114.2 107.5 114.5 117.8 110.5 111.9
Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Gross market value as a % of net assets
Emaar Properties United Arab Emirates 5.2
Bank Mandiri Indonesia 4.3
Eldorado Gold Turkey 3.9
OTP Bank Hungary 3.9
PZU Poland 3.8
Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia 3.8
LPP Poland 3.6
Etihad Etisalat Saudi Arabia 3.5
Akbank Turkey 3.5
Lucky Cement Pakistan 3.5
Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, representing the
Investment Manager noted:
The Company NAV returned +3.9% in August, outperforming its benchmark, the
MSCI Frontier + Emerging ex Selected Countries Index (“Benchmark Index”),
which returned +1.0%. For reference, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned
+1.3% while the MSCI Frontier Markets Index returned +6.3% over the same
period. All performance figures are on a US Dollar basis with net income
reinvested.
A number of smaller countries demonstrated very strong performance through
August with markets as diverse as Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Colombia, Chile and
Kenya all showing returns above 10% for the month. Another market that did
well was Pakistan, which rose 8% fueled by stronger-than-expected corporate
earnings, renewed interest from US firms in the country’s energy sector, and
a US trade deal that cut tariffs on exports from 29% to 19%, lifting investor
confidence.
At the stock level, returns were well diversified with a surprisingly broad
range of names showing meaningful positive contributions.
Turkish gold mine operator Eldorado Gold (+21.0%) surged on stronger gold
prices, robust Q2 earnings and progress on its “Skouries” project. Lucky
Cement (+20.2%), the Pakistan-based conglomerate, gained following solid FY
earnings, a 22% rise in August exports, and analyst upgrades. Mobile World
Investment (+18.1%), a retailer of consumer electronic products rose in line
with Vietnam’s market strength. IT services name, EPAM (+12.1%), rallied
after beating Q2 expectations, and raised its full-year earnings forecast.
Kaspi (+19.1%), the Kazakh online financial platform also contributed, posting
strong results with revenue up 20% YoY and net income up 14% YoY.
On the flipside, Emaar Properties (-5.6%) detracted after missing Q2 earnings
estimates, despite strong H1 property sales in the UAE. The underlying
delivery remains healthy with sustained growth in the UAE pre-sales and
demand. Thai convenience store operator, CP ALL (-6.1%), was another detractor
on softer Thai consumption due to drop in foreign tourist arrivals, and an
increase in political noise, even as it posted strong second quarter results.
DigiPlus (-6.8%) fell on continued regulatory concerns around online gaming,
despite robust earnings growth and news of inclusion in the Philippine Stock
Exchange Index.
We made a few changes in August. We initiated a position in Turkish Healthcare
name MLP (formerly Medical Park), as we believe the stock is undervalued
compared to peers and as we see strong growth potential over the next few
years. We reduced our holding in TBC Bank on the back of a brief uptick in
credit costs and non-performing loans in Uzbekistan, driven by specific loan
vintages; however, the broader fundamentals and investment case remain
compelling. We rotated our IT exposure from Endava to EPAM with softer
conviction in the former, following rising cost pressures and margin
compression. In Saudi Arabia, we exited the digital investment platform
Derayah amid rising competition and limited differentiation, constraining its
potential for market share growth.
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 August 2025
2MSCI as at 31 August 2025
23 September 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/22403/4238759/3683992.pdf)
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