REG-BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust Plc: Portfolio Update
15/01/2026 13:30
BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003K5E043LHLO706)
All information is at 31 December 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 2.8 8.0 20.0 61.1 85.6 218.2
Net asset value 2.8 6.2 15.0 47.5 85.8 228.4
Benchmark (NR)** 1.6 3.4 11.6 18.8 43.2 116.2
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 3.3 6.7 36.7 60.4 60.8 157.1
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 1.5 4.8 24.4 41.0 24.8 110.7
US Dollars:
Share price 4.4 7.9 28.9 80.3 82.8 176.0
Net asset value 4.3 6.1 23.5 65.1 83.0 184.3
Benchmark (NR)** 3.2 3.3 19.9 32.8 40.9 87.9
MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 4.8 6.6 46.9 79.4 58.2 121.8
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 3.0 4.7 33.6 57.7 22.8 81.7
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: 243.20c
Net asset value - cum income: 250.35c
Sterling:
Net asset value - capital only: 180.82p
Net asset value - cum income: 186.13p
Share price: 181.50p
Total assets (including income): £352.3m
Discount to cum-income NAV: 2.5%
Gearing: Nil
Gearing range (as a % of gross assets): 0-20%
Net yield*: 4.1%
Ordinary shares in issue**: 189,270,248
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 4.1% and includes the 2025
interim dividend of 3.65 cents per share, declared on 29 May 2025, paid to
shareholders on 24 June 2025 and the 2025 final dividend of 6.35 cents per
share, declared on 10 December 2025 payable to shareholders on 26 February
2026.
** 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 30 September 2025.
Sector Gross market value as a % of net assets* Country Gross market value as a % of net assets*
Analysis Analysis
Financials 52.4 Saudi Arabia 12.1
Consumer Discretionary 10.4 United Arab Emirates 11.6
Communication Services 9.9 Poland 9.4
Real Estate 9.3 Turkey 9.4
Industrials 6.6 Egypt 8.8
Materials 5.5 Indonesia 7.5
Information Technology 5.0 Kazakhstan 6.8
Energy 4.6 Hungary 5.1
Consumer Staples 4.0 Pakistan 5.0
Health Care 2.8 Multi-International 5.0
Utilities 0.4 Kenya 5.0
----- Vietnam 4.9
110.9 Greece 4.7
----- Thailand 3.6
Short Positions -1.9 Georgia 3.2
===== Bangladesh 2.7
Philippines 2.5
Pan Africa 2.2
Chile 1.4
-----
110.9
-----
Short Positions -1.9
=====
*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).
Market Exposure
31.01 2025 % 28.02 2025 % 31.03 2025 % 30.04 2025 % 31.05 2025 % 30.06 2025 % 31.07 2025 % 31.08 2025 % 30.09 2025 % 31.10 2025 % 30.11 2025 % 31.12 2025 %
Long 118.5 121.0 118.5 111.3 117.9 121.2 113.0 114.3 112.2 114.0 110.5 110.9
Short 4.2 3.9 4.3 3.8 3.4 3.4 2.5 2.4 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.9
Gross 122.7 124.9 122.8 115.1 121.3 124.6 115.5 116.7 113.9 115.6 112.0 112.8
Net 114.3 117.1 114.2 107.5 114.5 117.8 110.5 111.9 110.5 112.4 109.0 109.0
Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Gross market value as a % of net assets
Bank Mandiri Indonesia 4.9
Bank Pekao Poland 4.0
LPP Poland 3.6
Commercial International Bank Egypt 3.5
OTP Bank Hungary 3.4
Etihad Etisalat Saudi Arabia 3.4
Halyk Savings Bank Kazakhstan 3.4
Emaar Properties United Arab Emirates 3.3
TBC Bank Group Plc Georgia 3.2
Lucky Cement Pakistan 3.1
Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, representing the
Investment Manager noted:
The Company’s NAV returned +4.3% in December, outperforming its benchmark,
the MSCI Frontier + Emerging ex Selected Countries Index (“Benchmark
Index”), which returned +3.2%. For reference, the MSCI Emerging Markets
Index returned +3.0% while the MSCI Frontier Markets Index returned +4.8% over
the same period. All performance figures are on a US Dollar basis with net
income reinvested.
At a country level, Poland was the top contributor for the month, where the
market rose by 7.8%. Gains were led by Polish clothing retailer LPP (+23.9%),
which climbed to a record high following a strong 3Q earnings beat on higher
margins as the company demonstrated strong operating leverage. The company
expects to continue its rollout of low end brand Sinsay into 2026. December
was also a strong month for Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank which ended the
year with a stock price only just under its all time high supported by strong
Polish economic growth numbers.
The UAE market also performed well (+5.7%). Two holdings within our portfolio
had a very good month, Air Arabia (+8.4%) building on November performance of
+10.3% after the company reported significantly better than expected Q3
results with passenger growth up 16% yoy. Emaar Properties (+5.7%) also
rallied strongly as the UAE property market remained robust.
At the stock level, Kazakhstan-based Halyk Bank (+18.6%) rallied off a
depressed end of November valuation post a large placing of stock to end the
year with its share price at an all time high. Despite
this, the company remains on sub 4x PE multiple on our estimates.
Off-benchmark holding in Turkish gold mine operator Eldorado Gold (+14.4%)
gained as gold prices continued to climb. IT services company EPAM (+9.6%)
extended last month’s rally, supported by analyst upgrades as investor
excitement for AI continued to build. Mobile World Investment Corp (+10.5%), a
Vietnamese retailer, rose in line with Vietnam’s equity benchmark, which
hovered near record highs.
On the flipside, Philippines-based online gaming company Digiplus (-34.1%)
declined sharply in December following changes in the regulatory environment
which took place over the summer. Saudi Arabia’s digital investment platform
Derayah (-8.7%) also fell amid profit-taking after earlier gains in the Saudi
market, though we remain constructive on the company’s growth potential.
Egyptian financial services firm EFG Holding (-6.8%) and Bangladesh-based BRAC
Bank (-4.3%) also detracted from returns.
We made a few tactical changes in December. In Poland, we trimmed PKO Bank and
LPP, locking in gains post solid results. We added Vodacom for its
cash-generative profile and solid payout ratio, with growth prospects in Egypt
and Kenya that we believe remain underappreciated.
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:
1 BlackRock as at 31 December 2025
2 MSCI as at 31 December 2025
15 January 2026
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/22403/4292946/3879170.pdf)
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