Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC All information is at 31 January 2014 and unaudited. Performance at month end with net income reinvested One Three Six One Three Since month months months year years launch* Sterling: Share price 0.7% 1.1% 4.3% 26.3% 21.8% 25.4% Net asset value 2.5% 6.2% 4.4% 23.5% 30.6% 26.4% MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 1.6% 2.5% 0.2% 14.0% 9.5% 8.4% MSCI EM Markets (NR) -5.8% -11.2% -8.1% -13.3% -12.0% -13.7% US Dollars: Net asset value 1.7% 8.5% 13.2% 28.1% 34.1% 33.3% MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 0.9% 4.9% 8.6% 18.1% 12.3% 14.3% MSCI EM Markets (NR) -6.5% -9.2% -0.3% -10.2% -9.7% -9.0% Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor's Micropal * 17 December 2010. At month end US Dollar: Net asset value - capital only: 187.52c Net asset value - cum income: 187.41c Sterling: Net asset value - capital only: 114.11p Net asset value - cum income: 114.04p Share price: 115.25p Total assets (including income): £220.4m Premium to cum-income NAV: 1.1% Gearing: nil Gearing range (as a % of gross assets): 0-20% Net yield: 3.0% Ordinary shares in issue: 150,621,621 *Yield calculations are based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement. The 2013 interim dividend of 2.00 cents per share and the special interim dividend of 3.40 cents per share announced on 30 May 2013, paid to shareholders on 5 July 2013 together total 5.40 cents per share (3.45003 pence per share) are the total dividends for the financial year ending 30 September 2013. The special dividend represents the final dividend which is normally paid in March each year. Benchmark Sector Analysis Gross assets(%)* Country Analysis Gross assets(%)* Financials 27.8 Nigeria 10.3 Energy 18.1 Qatar 9.9 Consumer Staples 11.0 United Arab Emirates 9.1 Telecommunication 9.2 Saudi Arabia 9.0 Health Care 9.0 Bangladesh 6.8 Industrials 7.6 Pakistan 5.6 Materials 6.5 Kazakhstan 5.5 Consumer Discretionary 4.8 Sri Lanka 5.5 Utilities 2.6 Kuwait 5.3 ---- Iraq 3.9 Total 96.6 Oman 3.8 ---- Vietnam 3.4 Short positions -1.7 Turkmenistan 3.1 ==== Ukraine 2.9 Slovenia 2.2 Argentina 1.8 Romania 1.8 Estonia 1.5 Panama 1.4 Kyrgyzstan 1.3 Croatia 1.2 Pan Africa 0.7 United States 0.4 Kenya 0.2 ---- 96.6 ==== Short positions -1.7 ==== *reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs) Market Exposure 28.02 31.03 30.04 31.05 30.06 31.07 31.08 30.09 31.10 30.11 31.12 31.01 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 % % % % % % % % % % % % Long 104.1 99.5 99.2 99.8 95.9 103.2 98.9 98.8 100.4 100.5 103.3 96.6 Short 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 2.5 3.0 3.3 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.7 Gross 105.3 100.7 100.4 100.9 98.4 106.2 102.2 100.2 102.0 102.1 104.8 98.3 Net 102.9 98.3 98.0 98.7 93.4 100.2 95.6 97.4 98.8 98.9 101.8 94.9 Ten Largest Equity Investments Company Country of Risk % of gross assets Zenith Bank Nigeria 4.7% Qatar National Bank Qatar 4.1% Halyk Bank Kazakhstan 3.3% Qatar Gas Transport Qatar 3.2% Dragon Oil Turkmenistan 3.1% Kuwait Food Kuwait 2.9% Emaar Properties United Arab Emirates 2.8% NMC Health United Arab Emirates 2.7% Doha Bank Qatar 2.6% Hub Power Pakistan 2.6% Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, representing the Investment Manager noted: Markets The MSCI Frontier Market Index returned 0.9% in January. This contrasted with a dismal month for mainstream emerging markets which fell 6.5%. (All calculations are on a US dollar basis with net income reinvested.) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the strongest performer over the month as domestic liquidity continued to flow into the market amidst strong corporate earnings. We have noted the positive sentiment surrounding both Abu Dhabi and Dubai but are now beginning to signs of speculative excess that warrants caution. Bangladesh also performed well in January. Investors have shrugged off a tense political environment, focussing instead on the strong earnings growth, particularly in the consumer and health care sectors. Argentina was once again the weakest performer over the month. Argentina's currency, the peso, fell precipitously against the US dollar as the central bank appeared to temporarily abandon support for the currency. The central bank did resume intervention in currency markets but not before the peso suffered its largest drop in value since 2002. Portfolio The Company's NAV increased by 1.7% in January, outperforming the benchmark by 0.8%. (All calculations are on a US dollar basis with net income reinvested.) The largest individual contributor to performance was UAE property developer, Aldar properties. Aldar has significantly deleveraged through government support and the underlying real estate market is witnessing signs of revival, given population growth, low prices and favourable government regulation. Positions in Bangladesh were also strong performers during the month. In particular, Health Care company, Square Pharmaceuticals, which released strong results for the third quarter (which ended on 31st December 2013 - company year-end is on March 2014). Growth in revenues, lower costs and higher operating efficiency contributed to a 33% increase in profit compared to the previous year. The largest individual detractor from performance was Nigerian financial, Zenith Bank. Nigerian banks remain under pressure from a combination of tighter liquidity and the negative impact of rising regulatory and reserve requirements. Zenith bank is well placed to weather short term turbulence, given its exceptionally high liquidity and capital ratios. Activity The Company initiated a new position in Sri Lankan industrial, Chevron Lubricants. The team is positive on the outlook for the Sri Lankan economy. Inflation is subsiding, the fiscal deficit is declining and economic growth is driving down the country's debt-GDP ratio. Chevron Lubricants is an attractively valued stock, trading on 11x this year's earnings. The company generates a 70% return on equity and pays out 100% of profit as dividends. We took profits on Saudi supermarket operator, Al Othaim. The investment case was predicated on strong like-for-like sales growth which materialised in the results for the fourth quarter of 2013. We believe that the valuation is now full considering the volatility of margins and have fully exited the position. Outlook A key tenet of the investment case for Frontier Markets is that they are more diversified than most Emerging and Developed Market portfolios, given the vast breadth of countries and sectors. It often comes as a surprise to investors that the volatility of the MSCI Frontier Market Index has been lower than that of both Emerging and Developed markets, which we believe is testament to the diversification benefits of Frontier Markets. In this regard we would stress how important it is for investors to use an active manager who should be able to avoid some of the more obvious pitfalls. An active manager is able to form a view of individual countries and have the flexibility to change that view as circumstances dictate. For instance, we have been consistently bullish on the UAE market since the Trust launched in 2010. However, during January we substantially reduced our exposure to the country. While the UAE economy in general is performing well and Dubai is booming we are increasingly concerned about the level of speculation in the market. Eighteen months ago the stock markets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai were regularly trading a combined $30-$40m per day, and occasionally considerably less. In recent weeks it has not been uncommon to see over $1bn traded daily. This increase in a volume has not principally been driven by institutional investors, but rather by retail investors who had been highly active in 2004-5 and 2007-8, returning to the market. While history rarely repeats itself, we cannot ignore the fact that a surge in daily volumes in 2005 and 2008, marked market peaks. We are not yet close to the volumes, or valuations, we saw in 2008 and we do not anticipate a sharp fall in UAE property values, which triggered the 2008 sell-off, however we see it as appropriate to reduce exposure now. Another region where we think it is important to sound a note of caution is sub-Saharan Africa. While we think there is enormous long-term potential in many of the countries in this highly varied and promising region, we are concerned about the rate at which western portfolio money is being deployed, with little regard to economic fundamentals. While on global scale many investors have been concerned about the current account deficits of the so-called 'fragile five', it is important to highlight that the budget and current account deficits of Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey, are in percentage terms considerably smaller than many of the numbers we see in sub-Saharan Africa. We find it strange that relatively few of those investing in Africa highlight the potential risks of investing in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania, and Uganda which all have current account deficits running at 8-15% of GDP as well as running substantial budget deficits. While countries can handle large twin deficits for long periods, we would be reluctant to suggest that African countries can ignore the economic realities any better than their Latin American, European or Asian peers. Following the January 2014 month end we have zero exposure to the five countries above and currently have just 8% in Nigeria, down from close to 15% 18 months ago. We are concerned about what happens when the highly regarded head of the central bank leaves office in several months, and see little value in a series of industrial and consumer names that trade at very rich multiples. Despite the paragraphs above, we see significant upside to many Frontier Markets. There are a wide variety of stocks in countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Estonia, Iraq, Romania, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan that offer significant growth, value and yield. While the economic and indeed political situations in many of these countries are not without risk, we feel that prices in these countries more than reflect the challenges of doing business. 19 February 2014 ENDS Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.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 the Manager's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
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