Portfolio Update

The information contained in this release was correct as at 31 May 2023. Information on the Company’s up to date net asset values can be found on the London Stock Exchange website at:

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html. 

BLACKROCK SUSTAINABLE AMERICAN INCOME TRUST PLC (LEI:549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31May 2023  and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
 

	One Month	Three Months	Six Months	One Year	Three Years	Five Years
Net asset value	-3.0	-7.5	-10.2	-7.4	29.9	40.0
Share price	-5.2	-10.0	-10.0	-6.4	29.4	35.6
Russell 1000 Value Index	-2.5	-5.1	-9.1	-2.9	38.8	49.0

At month end

Net asset value - capital only:	191.86p
Net asset value - cum income:	192.10p
Share price:	181.50p
Discount to cum income NAV:	5.5%
Net yield1:	4.4%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£154.1m
Net gearing:	1.3%
Ordinary shares in issue2:	80,229,044
Ongoing charges3:	1.0%

¹ Based on two quarterly dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 4 August 2022 and 2 November 2022 for the year ended 31 October 2022 and two quarterly dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 22 March 2023 and 11 May 2023 for the year ending 31 October 2023 and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 May 2023.

² Excluding 20,132,261 ordinary shares held in treasury.

³ The Company’s ongoing charges calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets and using the management fee and all other operating expenses excluding finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain non-recurring items for the year ended 31 October 2022.

Sector Analysis	Total Assets (%)
Health Care	20.7
Financials	19.5
Information Technology	14.5
Consumer Discretionary	11.3
Industrials	9.4
Energy	8.2
Consumer Staples	5.6
Communication Services	4.3
Materials	3.6
Utilities	3.5
Real Estate	0.7
Net Current Liabilities	-1.3
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
United States	85.7
United Kingdom	6.1
Japan	3.7
France	2.0
Australia	1.8
Canada	1.2
Denmark	0.8
Net Current Liabilities	-1.3
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Top 10 Holdings	Country	% Total Assets
Laboratory Corporation of America	United States	3.3
Cisco Systems	United States	3.0
Willis Towers Watson	United States	2.9
Kraft Heinz	United States	2.9
Cognizant Technology Solutions	United States	2.8
Shell	United Kingdom	2.6
CACI International	United States	2.6
Baxter International	United States	2.6
Microsoft	United States	2.5
Citigroup	United States	2.5

Tony DeSpirito, David Zhao and Lisa Yang, representing the Investment Manager, noted:

For the one-month period ended 31 May 2023, the Company’s NAV decreased by 3.0% and the share price by 5.2% (all in sterling). The Company’s reference index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -2.5% for the period.

The largest contributor to relative performance stemmed from stock selection in energy, particularly in oil, gas and consumable fuels. An overweight allocation to information technology also boosted relative performance, with stock selection in technology hardware, storage and peripherals proving beneficial. Other contributors during the period at the sector level included stock selection in consumer discretionary and consumer staples.

The largest detractor from relative performance resulted from stock selection and an underweight allocation in the communication services sector, with the decision to not invest in interactive media and services proving costly. Stock selection in financials, particularly in banks, also weighed on relative performance. Other detractors during the period included stock selection in materials and industrials.

Transactions

During the month, the Company initiated purchases in Caci International, Sony and First Citizens Bank. Conversely, the Company exited Reckitt Benckiser Group, Invesco and Ciena.

Positioning

As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the reference index were in the health care, consumer discretionary and information technology sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the reference index were in the communication services, real estate and utilities sectors.

Source: BlackRock.

20 June 2023

Latest information is available by typing blackrock.com/uk/brsa 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.