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

Blackrock Throgmorton TrustAnnouncement

17/02/2017 15:30

BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003B7ETS1JEDPF59)
 

All information is at 31 January 2017 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       2.5      10.2    18.9     32.9    119.3 
 Share price           2.9      13.1    12.6     20.3    120.8 
 Benchmark*            0.7       6.7    18.6     19.9     80.1 

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:                                 434.08p 
 Net asset value incl. income:                                 440.93p 
 Share price                                                   359.63p 
 Discount to cum income NAV                                      18.4% 
 Net yield (1):                                                   2.1% 
 Total Gross assets (2):                                       £322.5m 
 Net market exposure as a % of net asset value (5):             112.2% 
 Ordinary shares in issue (3):                              73,130,326 
 2016 ongoing charges (excluding performance fees (4):            1.1% 
 2016 ongoing charges ratio (including performance fees):         1.3% 

1. Calculated using 2016 interim dividend paid on 19 August 2016 and 2016
final dividend declared on 6 February 2016.
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
2016.
5. Long positions less short positions as a percentage of net asset value.

 Sector Weightings                                  % of Total Assets 
                                                                      
 Industrials                                                     30.0 
 Consumer Services                                               22.2 
 Financials                                                      16.9 
 Consumer Goods                                                  11.3 
 Basic Materials                                                  9.2 
 Health Care                                                      4.1 
 Oil & Gas                                                        3.6 
 Technology                                                       3.5 
 Net current liabilities                                         -0.8 
                                                                ----- 
 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                                    3.3 
 JD Sports Fashion                            2.9 
 4imprint Group                               2.9 
 Cineworld Group                              2.8 
 Dechra Pharmaceuticals                       2.7 
 Berkeley Group                               2.2 
 Hill & Smith                                 2.0 
 Big Yellow                                   2.0 
 Bellway                                      1.9 
 Avon Rubber                                  1.9 

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

During January the Company’s NAV per share rose by 2.5% to 440.93p on a cum
income basis whilst our benchmark index rose by 0.7%; the FTSE 100 Index fell
by 0.6%.

Outperformance was largely driven by good stock selection, although sector
allocation was also positive.

The biggest positive contributors to stock selection were our holdings in
Polar Capital Holdings, JD Sports and KAZ Minerals. Polar Capital announced
that in Q4 2016 net funds under management increased by more than £300m, a
welcome increase after a number of quarters of net outflows.  JD Sports
announced a further strong trading update indicating that pre-tax profit was
expected to exceed expectations by up to 15%. KAZ Minerals is executing well
as it ramps up production at its two large mines in Eastern Kazakhstan. The
increase in the copper price is timely for KAZ and should help it achieve
significant improvement in cash flow in 2017.

The largest detractors from relative performance during the month were our two
largest holdings, CVS Group and 4imprint, and Derwent London. CVS succumbed to
some modest profit taking after a strong run in the shares which followed a
good trading update. 4imprint announced that 2016 revenues increased by 13%,
all organic, with profit before tax expected to be towards the top end of
market expectations. We continue to see the shares as attractive and a good
play on the likely continuing strength of the US economy. Derwent London
shares slipped further with continuing worries about BREXIT potentially
impacting on demand for London office space. We see the shares as offering
good long term value.

Sector allocation was modestly positive, helped by overweight sector
weightings in media, general industrials and industrial engineering companies.

We continued to reduce or sell a number of smaller and lower conviction
holdings. We added a holding in Countryside Properties which builds houses
both on land owned or controlled by itself, and also on land owned by public
bodies including local authorities. The latter approach avoids the need to buy
land in these situations and helps Countryside to generate good returns on
investment on such long term developments, and also provides visibility of
revenues. We believe the Company looks set for good earnings growth.

17 February 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.



Copyright (c) 2017 PR Newswire Association,LLC. All Rights Reserved