Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK SUSTAINABLE AMERICAN INCOME TRUST PLC (LEI:549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31 December 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	4.5	5.5	5.4	4.1	32.8	59.0
Share price	5.0	4.9	4.4	2.3	29.7	47.0
Russell 1000 Value Index	4.8	4.8	5.7	5.2	38.3	67.6

At month end

Net asset value - capital only:	206.86p
Net asset value - cum income:	207.42p
Share price:	190.00p
Discount to cum income NAV:	8.4%
Net yield1:	4.2%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£165.0m
Net gearing:	0.0%
Ordinary shares in issue2:	79,559,061
Ongoing charges3:	1.01%

1 Based on four quarterly dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 22 March 2023, 11 May 2023, 3 August 2023 and 2 November 2023 for the year ended 31 October 2023 and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 December 2023.

² Excluding 20,802,244 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 (%)
Financials	20.3
Health Care	19.7
Information Technology	13.2
Consumer Discretionary	11.1
Energy	8.1
Consumer Staples	6.9
Industrials	5.1
Communication Services	4.6
Materials	4.3
Utilities	3.4
Real Estate	1.8
Industrials	1.5
Net Current Liabilities	–
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	100.0
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Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
United States	88.7
United Kingdom	4.2
France	2.0
Australia	1.6
Canada	1.5
Japan	1.0
Switzerland	1.0
Net Current Liabilities	–
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	100.0
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Top 10 Holdings	Country	% Total Assets
Citigroup	United States	3.1
Cisco Systems	United States	2.9
Verizon Communications	United States	2.8
Shell	United Kingdom	2.7
American International	United States	2.7
Kraft Heinz	United States	2.7
Willis Towers Watson	United States	2.6
Sony Corporation	United States	2.5
Cigna	United States	2.5
Cardinal Health	United States	2.3

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

For the one-month period ended 31 December 2023, the Company’s NAV increased by 4.5% and the share price by 5.0% (all in sterling). The Company’s reference index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned +4.8% for the period.

The largest contributor to relative performance stemmed from stock selection in consumer staples, with the decision to not invest in household products boosting relative performance. Selection decisions in industrials also boosted relative performance, with stock selection in building products proving beneficial. Other modest contributors during the period at the sector level included selection decisions in materials and health care.

The largest detractor from relative performance stemmed from stock selection in consumer discretionary, notably at the industry level stock selection in textiles and apparel was costly to relative performance. An underweight allocation, along with selection decisions in real estate, detracted from relative performance, specifically in specialised REITS. Other modest detractors during the period included stock selection in information technology and utilities.

Transactions

During the month, the Company’s largest purchases included Keurig DR Pepper, Hasbro and Thermo Fisher Scientific. The portfolio exited its positions in L3Harris Technologies, Mondelez International and Panasonic.

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 financials sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the reference index were in the industrials, real estate and utilities sectors.

Source: BlackRock.

25 January 2024

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.

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Release

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