BLACKROCK GREATER EUROPE INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
BLACKROCK GREATER EUROPE INVESTMENT TRUST plc
All information is at 31 DECEMBER 2016 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Launch
Month Months Year Years (20 Sep 04)
Net asset value* (undiluted) 6.1% 2.2% 14.6% 24.9% 271.5%
Net asset value* (diluted) 6.1% 2.2% 15.7% 26.4% 271.9%
Share price 6.7% 2.3% 10.1% 23.2% 255.2%
FTSE World Europe ex UK 7.0% 4.8% 19.7% 26.3% 193.1%
Sources: BlackRock and Datastream
At month end
Net asset value (capital only): 293.77p
Net asset value (including income): 294.67p
Net asset value (capital only)*: 293.77p
Net asset value (including income)*: 294.67p
Share price: 279.50p
Discount to NAV (including income): 5.1%
Discount to NAV (including income)*: 5.1%
Net cash: 0.5%
Net yield**: 1.9%
Total assets (including income): £281.2m
Ordinary shares in issue***: 95,420,953
Ongoing charges****: 1.07%
* Diluted for treasury shares.
** Based on a final dividend of 3.65p and an interim dividend of 1.65p per
share for the year ended 31 August 2016.
*** Excluding 14,907,985 shares held in treasury.
**** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses,
excluding performance fees and interest costs, after relief for taxation for
the year ended 31 August 2016.
Sector Analysis Total Assets Country Analysis Total Assets
(%) (%)
Industrials 26.7 France 25.2
Financials 22.1 Netherlands 12.2
Consumer Goods 18.2 Denmark 10.5
Technology 9.7 Switzerland 9.6
Consumer Services 8.2 Belgium 7.8
Health Care 6.2 Germany 6.9
Basic Materials 5.7 Ireland 5.9
Telecommunications 2.7 Sweden 5.0
Net current assets 0.5 Finland 3.9
----- Russia 3.3
100.0 Luxembourg 2.5
===== Turkey 1.9
Ukraine 1.7
Italy 1.6
Poland 1.5
Net current assets 0.5
-----
100.0
=====
Ten Largest Equity Investments
% of
Company Country Total Assets
AXA France 4.2
RELX Netherlands 3.2
Anheuser-Busch Inbev Belgium 3.2
Pandora Denmark 3.1
Bayer Germany 3.1
ASML Netherlands 3.0
KBC Groep Belgium 2.7
Vinci France 2.7
Schneider Electric France 2.7
KPN Netherlands 2.7
Commenting on the markets, Vincent Devlin, representing the Investment Manager
noted:
During the month, the Company's NAV rose by 6.1% and the share price increased
by 6.7%. For reference, the FTSE World Europe ex UK Index was up 7.0% during
the period.
At the beginning of the month, Matteo Renzi lost his constitutional referendum,
leading to his resignation and Paolo Gentiloni becoming the new prime minister
of Italy. After having postponed a rate hike in the third quarter, the US
Federal Reserve (the Fed) raised interest rates in December. European macro
releases were overall positive, with European and US consumer confidence rising
and Euro area unemployment declining.
On a sector view, strong performers included autos, as well as banks, with the
European market benefiting from ongoing hopes of US fiscal spending and rising
global macroeconomic surprise. Following OPEC's announcement to cut production
in November, oil and energy stocks performed strongly again in December as
non-OPEC oil producers also agreed to cut supply.
Due to the strong performance of the oil & gas sector, the lower weighting
towards the sector detracted from performance. The lower allocation to the
health care sector, however, was beneficial for performance, as stocks
sensitive to the increase in bond yields continued to underperform.
Stock selection was marginally negative for performance over the month with a
number of industrial names detracting from returns. Thales, Assa Aboly, DSV and
ISS, all fell within the top detractors after performing exceptionally strongly
in November following the election of President Trump.
Nevertheless, the pro-inflation and rising rate narrative continued to support
banks. Therefore, the lower weighting in the Company towards this sector, and
in particular not holding Spanish bank Santander, detracted from performance. A
holding in Sberbank Russia, however, was positive for returns.
The top contributing stock over the period was steel pipe provider Tenaris,
benefiting from the strength of the energy market. Danish jewelry company
Pandora was also beneficial for returns, recovering from a November lull as
investor confidence in the stock was bolstered by evidence of strong google
search trends for the brand.
At the end of the period, the Company had higher weightings when compared with
the reference index to industrials, technology and consumer services. The
Company had a lower weighting towards health care, oil & gas, utilities, basic
materials, financials, telecoms and consumer goods.
Outlook
The outlook for the global economy on balance has improved, with leading
indicators suggesting more positive signals across regions. The unexpected
election victory of Donald Trump - leading to expectations for large tax cuts,
increased infrastructure spending and reduced regulation - has likely amplified
reflationary expectations and could help support the economic cycle further.
Some parts of emerging market economies are also seeing a solid recovery take
root, with higher factory output and signs that companies are confident enough
to pass on higher prices to customers. It is also important to be aware that
central banks are heading towards divergent paths, with the likelihood of the
monetary policy in Europe remaining accommodative for the time being. In
contrast, the Fed is likely to continue on the tightening path initiated last
December.
These conditions should be attractive for European equities and, after a
difficult year in 2016, we think that conditions for Europe are much brighter
for 2017. On the earnings front, the European market is seeing a more
supportive earnings revision trend, and margins are now beginning to improve on
the back of better macro backdrop, cost discipline, improvement in pricing
power and weaker currencies. Finally, with the Fed rate cycle likely to be on a
firmer upward trend than previously expected, we have had a major adjustment in
the fixed income market, which could persist for some time, and this has
significant implications regarding equities style leadership.
12 January 2017
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 Greater Euro Inv Tst : EUROPE INVESTMENT TRUST PLC - Portfolio Update
January 12, 2017 at 02:07 pm
Share
Share
© PRNewswire - 2017
