BERI Blackrock Energy And Resources Income Trust Plc

BLACKROCK ENERGY AND RESOURCES INCOME TRUST plc (LEI:54930040ALEAVPMMDC31)

All information is at 30 November 2024 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

One

Three

Six

One

Three

Five

Month

Months

Months

Year

Years

Years

Net asset value

4.5%

7.2%

1.3%

15.4%

47.1%

125.1%

Share price

1.5%

5.3%

1.5%

14.0%

39.9%

129.9%

Sources: Datastream, BlackRock

At month end

Net asset value – capital only:

137.10p

Net asset value cum income1:

   137.73p

Share price:

121.00p

Discount to NAV (cum income):

12.1%

Net yield:

3.7%

Gearing - cum income:

13.3%

Total assets:

£167.4m

Ordinary shares in issue2:

121,552,497

Gearing range (as a % of net assets):

0-20%

Ongoing charges3:

1.19%

1 Includes net revenue of 0.63p.

2 Excluding 14,033,697 ordinary shares held in treasury.

3 The Company’s ongoing charges are 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 other non-recurring items for the year ended 30 November 2023. In addition, the Company’s Manager has also agreed to cap ongoing charges by rebating a portion of the management fee to the extent that the Company’s ongoing charges exceed 1.25% of average net assets.

Sector Overview

Mining

40.4%

Energy Transition                

30.9%

Traditional Energy                

29.3%

Net Current Liabilities             

-0.6%

-----

100.0%

=====

Sector Analysis

% Total Assets^

Country Analysis

% Total Assets^

Mining:

Diversified

20.0

Global

49.3

Copper

5.9

United States

26.5

Gold

3.7

Canada

11.3

Aluminium

2.9

Latin America

3.6

Industrial Minerals

2.3

United Kingdom

3.1

Uranium

2.2

Australia

2.0

Nickel

1.2

Italy

1.9

Steel

1.2

Other Africa

1.8

Metals & Mining 

Subtotal Mining:

1.0

40.4

Germany

Ireland

Net Current Liabilities

0.6

0.5

-0.6

-----

100.0%

=====

Traditional Energy:

E&P

16.1

Integrated

6.5

Distribution

3.6

Oil Services

3.3

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

1.4

Subtotal Traditional Energy:

30.9

Energy Transition:

Energy Efficiency

12.8

Electrification

8.0

Renewables

5.7

Storage

1.9

Transport

0.9

Subtotal Energy Transition:

29.3

Net Current Liabilities

-0.6

-----

100.0

=====

^ Total Assets for the purposes of these calculations exclude bank overdrafts, and the net current liabilities figure shown in the tables above therefore exclude bank overdrafts equivalent to 12.7% of the Company’s net asset value.

Ten Largest Investments

Company

Region of Risk

% Total Assets

Anglo American

Global

4.6

Rio Tinto

Global

4.5

Targa Resources

United States

3.6

Shell

Global

2.9

Vertiv Holdings

Global

2.9

Norsk Hydro

Global

2.9

Permian Resources

United States

2.9

Vale - ADS

Latin America

2.8

EOG Resources

United States

2.8

Glencore

Global

2.7

Commenting on the markets, Tom Holl and Mark Hume, representing the Investment Manager noted:

The Company’s net Asset Value (NAV) increased by 4.5% in November (in GBP terms).

Global equity markets moved higher in November 2024 on expectations of lower tax in the US, deregulation and tougher trade policy, following the election of President Trump and Republican majority in the House and Senate. Markets remained ‘risk on’ and Fed Chair Powell reiterated a meeting by meeting approach to interest rate decisions. The latest monthly CPI inflation data was in line with expectations and suggestive of higher-for-longer interest rates.

The US election results led to weakness in sustainable energy related companies, similar to the market reaction following the election in November 2016. However, it is worth noting that, sustainable energy companies went on to outperform global equity markets as measured by MSCI AC World Index under President Trump’s first term.

Whereas, the US election result was viewed as supportive for parts of the energy sector, with infrastructure companies reacting to potential for planning reform. In practice, increased electricity demand expectations are likely to require investment in all forms of energy, in line with BlackRock’s recent publication on Energy Pragmatism. The Brent oil price rose by 1.2%, whilst the WTI oil price fell by 1.9%, ending the month at $74/bbl and $68bbl respectively. The US Henry Hub natural gas price rose by 25% during the month to end at $3.4/mmbtu.

The mining sector experienced volatility as Donald Trump’s US election victory increased uncertainty around future trade tensions with China. The election result also led to outperformance from US stocks including US mining companies. Meanwhile, stimulus measures announced by China had an underwhelming effect on commodity demand expectations. Performance in the commodities space was mixed, with iron ore (62% Fe) and nickel prices rising by 1.0% and 1.4% respectively, whilst the copper fell by 5.1%. In the precious metals space, gold and silver prices fell by 3.0% and 8.0% respectively, as the US dollar strengthened significantly following Trump's election, creating a headwind. Uranium supply-side risk increased as Russia announced temporary restrictions on the export of enriched uranium to the US. Additionally, technology hyperscalers have expressed a preference for nuclear energy to power their artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, boosting sentiment for uranium and uranium mining companies. Increasing global demand for nuclear energy and significant supply constraints could lead to a tighter market in the coming years.

18 December 2024

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/beri 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.