Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK NORTH AMERICAN INCOME TRUST plc
All information is at31 May 2016 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested

   


 
One
Month
Three
Months
Six
Months
One
Year
Since
Launch
(24 Oct 2012)
Net asset value 1.8% 5.1% 6.3% 7.4% 51.0%
Share price 2.8% 5.7% 14.4% 13.1% 42.7%
Russell 1000 Value Index 2.2% 6.4% 6.6% 4.8% 70.4%
Source: BlackRock

   

At month end
Net asset value – capital only:   130.01p
Net asset value – cum income:                                 130.10p
Share price:                                                  125.50p
Discount to cum income NAV:  3.5%
Net yield*:                                                      3.6%
Total assets including current year revenue:                  £91.2m
Gearing:                                                          Nil
Options overwrite:                              18.85%
Ordinary shares in issue**: 69,549,044
Ongoing charges***: 1.24%

   

* Based on dividends of 1.20p per share declared on 4 May 2016 and 1.10p per share declared on 18 February 2016, 4 November 2015 and 5 August 2015.
** Excluding 30,812,261 ordinary shares held in treasury.
*** Ongoing charges represent the management fee and all other operating expenses excluding interest as a % of average shareholders’ funds for the year ended 31 October 2015.

   

Benchmark
Sector Analysis Total Assets (%)
Financials 25.7
Health Care 14.
Industrials 12.0
Energy 10.9
Information Technology 10.0
Consumer Staples 7.8
Consumer Discretionary 7.3
Utilities 5.8
Materials 3.4
Telecommunication Services 2.3
Net current liabilities    (0.1)
-----
100.0
=====

   

Country Analysis Total Assets (%)
USA 95.4
United Kingdom 1.9
France 1.6
Canada 0.6
China 0.4
Netherlands 0.2
Net current liabilities    (0.1)
-----
100.0  
=====

   

Ten Largest Investments
Company Country of Risk Total Assets (%)
JPMorgan Chase USA 3.9
Pfizer USA 3.7
Wells Fargo USA 3.5
General Electric USA 3.2
Bank of America USA 2.4
Intel Corporation USA 2.4
ExxonMobil USA 2.4
Dollar General USA 2.2
Home Depot USA 2.1
Occidental Petroleum USA 2.1

   

Bob Shearer and Tony DeSpirito, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
Performance

For the one month period ended 31 May 2016, the Company’s NAV increased by 1.8% while the share price increased by 2.8% (all in sterling).  The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, increased by 2.2% for the period.

The largest contributor to relative performance during the month was stock selection in the industrials sector.  Notably, our underweight to the machinery industry and stock selection in the aerospace & defence industry proved to be beneficial.  Stock selection in consumer discretionary also added to relative performance as non-benchmark holding, Dollar General Corporation, outperformed after beating consensus earnings estimates. An underweight to the energy sector and stock selection in materials and financials also added modestly to relative returns for the month.

The largest detractor from relative performance was stock selection in the information technology sector, with notable detractors including our non-benchmark positions in Lenovo Group and Motorola Solutions. In regards to Lenovo, the company reported weaker than consensus quarterly earnings, primarily due to weakness in its smartphone business segment.  Stock selection in the consumer staples and health care sectors also modestly dampened relative performance for the month.

Transactions/Options

Transactions: During the month of May, we initiated multiple transactions within the energy and health care sectors.  In energy, we reduced our allocation to Pioneer Natural Resources and initiated new positions in Suncor Energy and Anadarko Petroleum. In health care, we exited our position in AbbVie and increased our allocation to Pfizer and AstraZeneca.  Notably, the Pfizer and AstraZeneca transactions were partially funded by reducing the Company’s cash allocation during the month.

Options: As at 31 May 2016, the Company’s options exposure was 18.85% and the delta of the options was 90.89%.

Positioning
The Company is currently overweight to the health care, consumer discretionary, industrials, materials and consumer staples sectors.  We are underweight to the financials, energy, utilities, information technology and telecommunication services sectors.
16 June 2016
Latest information is available by typing blackrock.co.uk/brna 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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