Portfolio Update
May 16 2012 - 11:44AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBRGE TIDMBRGS
BLACKROCK GREATER EUROPE INVESTMENT TRUST plc
All information is at 30 April 2012 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Since launch
Month Months Year Years (20 Sep 04)
Net asset value* (Undiluted) -2.0% 5.1% -15.8% 50.8% 113.4%
Net asset value* (Diluted) -1.7% 4.9% -13.2% 50.6% 113.1%
Share price -4.7% 1.8% -13.2% 58.8% 104.5%
FTSE World Europe ex UK -5.5% -0.4% -19.8% 20.1% 63.3%
Sources: BlackRock and Datastream
* Net asset value and share price performance includes the subscription share
reinvestment, assuming the subscription share entitlement per share was sold
and the proceeds reinvested on the first day of trading.
At month end
Net asset value (capital only): 181.29p
Net asset value (including income): 184.98p
Net asset value (capital only)**: 181.56p
Net asset value (including income)**: 184.66p
Share price: 176.38p
Discount to NAV (including income): 4.6%
Discount to NAV (including income)**: 4.5%
Subscription share price: 8.75p
Gearing: 0.5%
Net yield: 2.0%
Total assets (including income): GBP226.3m
Ordinary shares in issue: 121,769,700***
Subscription shares in issue: 23,533,121
** Diluted for subscription shares.
*** Excluding 2,734,952 shares held in treasury.
Benchmark
Sector Analysis Total Assets (%) Index (%) Country Analysis Total Assets (%)
Consumer Goods 20.5 19.5 Switzerland 24.1
Industrials 14.3 14.6 Germany 16.8
Oil & Gas 14.1 7.2 France 15.3
Financials 12.9 19.4 Italy 5.6
Health Care 10.4 12.1 Denmark 5.5
Basic Materials 10.1 8.5 Spain 5.2
Consumer Services 7.9 5.0 Netherlands 5.1
Technology 5.0 3.6 Sweden 5.0
Telecommunications 3.8 5.1 Russia 4.5
Utilities 1.3 5.0 Belgium 3.3
Net current liabilities (0.3) - Finland 2.7
----- ----- Ireland 2.1
100.0 100.0 Kazakhstan 1.6
===== ===== Poland 1.5
Other 2.0
Net current liabilities (0.3)
-----
100.0
=====
Ten Largest Equity Investments (in alphabetical order)
Company Country of Risk
Anheuser-Busch Belgium
BASF Germany
ENI Italy
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton France
Novo Nordisk Denmark
Roche Switzerland
SAP Germany
Swiss Re Switzerland
Syngenta Switzerland
Zurich Financial Switzerland
Commenting on the markets, Vincent Devlin, representing the Investment Manager
noted:
During the month, the Company's NAV fell by 2.0% and the share price fell 4.7%.
For reference, the FTSE World Europe ex UK Index decreased by 5.5% during the
same period.
During April, markets continued to be driven by concerns over the peripheral
crisis in Europe and financials came under selling pressure as a result.
Political and economic risks were reignited with Spain, France and the
Netherlands at the centre of attention. Confirmation that a number of European
countries are officially in recession, while expected, did not help sentiment.
European investors continued to prefer companies with strong management teams
and resilient business models over value plays and the materials sector
performed well on better growth prospects in China.
Although the NAV fell during the month, the fact that the Company performed
significantly better than the broader market was primarily due to stock
selection. In addition to this, the continued lower weightings in the telecoms
and utilities sectors benefited performance as they performed less well than
the market.
Within the industrial sector, Vopak was the top contributor to the Company's
performance. It benefited from strong Q1 results which confirmed the success
of their existing expansion projects and highlighted good opportunities for the
future growth of this high quality business. Finnish elevator company, Kone,
also performed strongly as the company continues to outperform its peers in the
Chinese market. Within the technology sector, the decision not to own shares
in Nokia was beneficial as the company issued a profit warning and the market
perceived increased business risk surrounding cheap substitutes for their
low-end phones.
On a less positive note, as investors were reawakened to sovereign debt issues
and political risks within Europe, the decision not to own holdings in
defensive names in the consumer staples sector such as Unilever and Danone
weighed on performance when compared with the broader market.
During the month, the Company decreased its exposure to industrials, consumer
services, basic materials, telecommunications and consumer goods. The funds
were recycled and used to increase positions in the technology, health care and
oil & gas sectors. At the end of the month, the Company had higher weightings
(when compared with the FTSE World Europe ex UK Index) in oil & gas, consumer
services, basic materials, technology and consumer goods and lower weightings
in financials, health care, industrials, telecommunications and utilities.
Outlook
The sovereign debt crisis in Europe continues to dominate the headlines and it
is becoming increasingly apparent that the global economic recovery is now
stalling. Austerity measures within Europe will continue to bite and we
believe that the divergence in economic fortunes between northern and southern
Europe is set to continue for some time as indebted countries aim to resolve
their economic imbalances. However, we expect high quality businesses with
international exposure to continue to perform. We remain of the view that the
European equity universe offers some of the best businesses in the world and we
are being vigilant in identifying some of those which represent attractive
buying opportunities during this period of risk aversion.
16 May 2012
ENDS
Latest information is available by typing www.brgeplc.co.uk 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.
Blackrock GR Ss (LSE:BRGS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Blackrock GR Ss (LSE:BRGS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024
