REG-BlackRock Throg Tst: Portfolio Update <Origin Href="QuoteRef">THRG.L</Origin>

Blackrock Throgmorton TrustAnnouncement

19/01/2017 15:10

BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC

All information is at 31 December 2016 and unaudited.
Performance at month end is calculated on a cum income basis

                      One     Three     One    Three     Five  
                    Month    months    year    years    years  
                         %         %       %        %        % 
 Net asset value       4.3       4.7    10.0     31.2    129.5 
 Share price           7.5       4.5    -2.7     16.8    141.9 
 Benchmark*            5.0       4.6    11.1     20.6     93.8 

Sources: BlackRock and Datastream

*With effect from 1 December 2013 the Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM
(excluding investment companies) Index replaced the Numis Smaller Companies
plus AIM (excluding investment companies) Index as the Company’s benchmark.
The five year period indices have been blended to reflect this.
 

 At month end                                                          
 Net asset value capital only:                                 423.36p 
 Net asset value incl. income:                                 430.20p 
 Share price:                                                  349.50p 
 Discount to cum income NAV:                                     18.8% 
 Net yield (1):                                                   2.0% 
 Total Gross assets (2):                                       £314.6m 
 Net market exposure as a % of net asset value (5):             111.3% 
 Ordinary shares in issue (3):                              73,130,326 
 2015 ongoing charges (excluding performance fees) (4):           1.1% 
 2015 ongoing charges ratio (including performance fees):         2.3% 

1. Calculated using 2016 interim dividend paid on 19 August 2016 and 2015
final dividend.
2. Includes current year revenue and excludes the gross exposure through
contracts for difference.
3. Excluding 7,400,000 shares held in treasury.
4. Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses,
excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 November
2015.
5. Long positions less short positions as a percentage of net asset value.

 Sector Weightings                                  % of Total Assets 
                                                                      
 Industrials                                                     30.4 
 Consumer Services                                               22.9 
 Financials                                                      16.3 
 Consumer Goods                                                  11.1 
 Basic Materials                                                  8.8 
 Technology                                                       4.5 
 Health Care                                                      4.3 
 Oil & Gas                                                        2.3 
 Net current liabilities                                         -0.6 
                                                                ----- 
 Total                                                          100.0 
                                                                ===== 
 Market Exposure (Quarterly)                                          
                                                                      
                  29.02.16        31.05.16  %  31.08.16  %  30.11.16  
                          %                                         % 
 Long                 118.2             114.4        114.3      116.9 
 Short                 11.2               8.3          8.3        8.5 
 Gross exposure       129.4             122.7        122.6      125.4 
 Net exposure         107.0             106.1        106.0      108.4 

   

 Ten Largest Investments                          
 Company                  % of Total Gross Assets 
                                                  
 CVS Group                                    3.6 
 4imprint Group                               3.2 
 JD Sports Fashion                            2.8 
 Cineworld Group                              2.6 
 Dechra Pharmaceuticals                       2.5 
 Hill & Smith                                 2.0 
 Big Yellow                                   2.0 
 Avon Rubber                                  2.0 
 Workspace Group                              1.9 
 Berkeley Group                               1.8 

Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis and Dan Whitestone, representing the
Investment Manager noted:

During December the Company’s NAV per share rose by 4.3% to 430.2p on a cum
income basis whilst our benchmark index rose by 5.0%; the FTSE 100 Index rose
by 5.4%.

The biggest positive contributors to stock selection were our holdings in e2v
and Faroe Petroleum. e2v attracted an agreed bid from Teledyne Technologies
Inc at a 48% premium. This is yet another example of an overseas buyer seeing
good value in UK listed stocks. The agreement by OPEC to limit production, and
the rising oil price, helped Faroe shares. Delek Group also bought a 13% stake
in Faroe, clearly a supportive sign.

On the negative side, our substantial holding in JD Sports performed poorly
for once, with the shares falling 4.4% in a rising market. In January JD
Sports has announced a further strong trading update.

Turning to sector allocation, for the first time in many months our
underweight position in mining shares was a positive.

During the month we added to our holdings in Bellway and Berkeley Group, both
after good meetings with management. We also added to our holdings in Big
Yellow and Rightmove. These are all high quality companies shares in which are
cheaper than 12 months ago. We trimmed or sold some of our smaller holdings.

19 January 2017

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/thrg 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 the Manager’s website
(or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this
announcement.



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