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

Blackrock Throgmorton TrustAnnouncement

19/04/2017 16:05

BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003B7ETS1JEDPF59)

All information is at 31 March 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       3.5      10.5    25.4     41.0    117.3 
 Share price          -1.3       9.5    21.8     28.2    111.7 
 Benchmark*            2.6       5.8    18.8     23.4     76.3 

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:                                 467.29p 
 Net asset value incl. income:                                 468.87p 
 Share price                                                   376.50p 
 Discount to cum income NAV                                      19.7% 
 Net yield (1):                                                   2.0% 
 Total Gross assets (2):                                       £342.9m 
 Net market exposure as a % of net asset value (5):             112.4% 
 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 paid on 29 March 2017.

2. Includes current year revenue and excludes 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                                                    29.2 
 Consumer Services                                              22.7 
 Financials                                                     16.1 
 Consumer Goods                                                 12.1 
 Basic Materials                                                 7.9 
 Health Care                                                     5.1 
 Technology                                                      3.5 
 Oil & Gas                                                       2.9 
 Net current assets                                              0.5 
                                                               ----- 
 Total                                                         100.0 
                                                               ===== 
 Market Exposure (Quarterly)                                         
                                                                     
                  31.05.16  %      31.08.16  %  30.11.16   28.02.17  
                                                        %          % 
 Long                   114.4            114.3      116.9      121.4 
 Short                    8.3              8.3        8.5        6.7 
 Gross exposure         122.7            122.6      125.4      128.1 
 Net exposure           106.1            106.0      108.4      114.7 

   

 Ten Largest Investments                           
                                                   
 Company                   % of Total Gross Assets 
                                                   
 CVS Group                                     3.3 
 JD Sports Fashion                             3.0 
 4imprint Group                                2.9 
 Dechra Pharmaceuticals                        2.8 
 Cineworld Group                               2.5 
 Berkeley Group Holdings                       2.3 
 Ascential                                     2.0 
 Derwent London                                2.0 
 Hill & Smith                                  2.0 
 Bellway                                       2.0 

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

During March the Company’s NAV per share rose by 3.5% to 468.87p on a cum
income basis whilst our benchmark index, Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM
(excluding Investment Companies) Index, rose by 2.6%; the FTSE 100 Index rose
by 1.1%.

Outperformance was largely driven by good stock selection although sector
allocation also contributed positively.

London focussed property developer Berkeley Group provided a positive trading
update during the month. Despite the wider impact on demand in the capital
from Brexit and tax on the most expensive properties, Berkeley expect to post
a c.40 percent rise in pre-tax profits for the 12 months to the end of April.
Veterinary surgeries operator CVS reported strong organic growth, further
acquisitions and significant margin expansion resulting in earnings upgrades.
The pace of acquisitions has continued with 20 sites acquired in the last six
months, including the first sites in The Netherlands; the company noted that
the pipeline remains strong.

Stock specific disappointments during the month were limited, the largest
detractor was RPC. The market has continued to show concern around RPCs
acquisition strategy after the company announced the acquisition of Letica for
$490m funded by a 1 for 4 rights issue. RPC’s management have an excellent
track record and remain ambitious.

Sector allocation was helped by our overweight sector position in construction
companies and housebuilders.

We continue to find opportunities in initial public offerings (IPO), and most
recently invested in the IPO of Medica. The company is a leading independent
UK provider of radiology reporting, delivering in excess of 1.3 million
reports per annum, mainly to the NHS.

Performance within the long/short portfolio added +0.7% during the month, with
long positions contributing positively, whilst shorts were a modest detractor.
Long contributors included JD Sports, Costain and CVS, all of which continue
to deliver. Despite some stock specific short successes in March, the short
book in aggregate detracted from performance, impacted by a rising market and
also a rally in some of our UK consumer shorts as the UK economy continues to
defy most doomsayers’ predictions.

19 April 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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