BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust Plc - Half-year Report

BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust plc

(Legal Entity Identifier: UK9OG5Q0CYUDFGRX4151)

Information disclosed in accordance with Article 5 Transparency Directive and DTR 4.2

Half Yearly Financial Results Announcement for Period Ended 30 June 2024

1    The change in net assets reflects the portfolio movements during the period and dividends paid.

2    Based on an exchange rate of US$1.26 to £1 at 30 June 2024 and US$1.27 to £1 at 31 December 2023.

3    Alternative Performance Measures, see Glossary contained within the Half Yearly Financial Report.

4    The Company’s performance benchmark index (the MSCI EM Latin America Index) may be calculated on either a gross or a net return basis. Net return (NR) indices calculate the reinvestment of dividends net of withholding taxes using the tax rates applicable to non-resident institutional investors, and hence give a lower total return than indices where calculations are on a gross basis (which assumes that no withholding tax is suffered). As the Company is subject to withholding tax rates for the majority of countries in which it invests, the NR basis is felt to be the more accurate, appropriate, consistent and fair comparison for the Company.

Chairman’s Statement

Dear Shareholder,

Market Overview
Latin American markets have underperformed both developed markets and the MSCI Emerging Markets indices over the period under review, with the MSCI EM Latin America Index net return of -15.7% in US Dollar terms, compared to a rise in the MSCI Emerging Markets EMEA Index net return of 2.9% in US Dollar terms and an increase in the MSCI World Index net return of 12.0% in US Dollar terms. All performance figures are calculated in US Dollar terms with dividends reinvested.

Performance
Over the six months ended 30 June 2024 the Mexican peso fell circa 9%, an unusually large amount by historical standards, which contributed to the fall of 22% in the Company’s net asset value per share over the same period (NAV calculations in US Dollar terms with dividends reinvested). In comparison the benchmark fell by 15.7% and the share price fell by 21.0% (all in US Dollar terms with income reinvested). The largest contributor to performance was driven by the precious metals exposure in Ecuador and in Mexico. The portfolio overweight to Colombia and off-benchmark exposure to Panama also helped relative performance. The biggest detractor to performance was the portfolio overweight in domestic Brazil, with stock selection in several interest rate sensitive sectors impacting negatively. The larger than expected Brazilian fiscal deficit reported in June put pressure on the market. Mexico, the second largest country market exposure was hit with negative market sentiment, with potentially detrimental judicial reforms being introduced by the new government, creating volatility for the Mexican financial stocks with the Mexican peso depreciating significantly as a result.

This followed the Mexican presidential landslide win in early June 2024, giving the new government unopposed law making powers.

Further information on investment performance is given in the Investment Manager’s Report below.

Gearing
The Board’s view is that 105% of NAV is the neutral level of gearing over the longer term and that gearing should be used actively in an approximate range of plus or minus 10% around this as measured at the time that gearing is instigated. The Board is pleased to note that the Investment Managers have used gearing actively throughout the period with a high at 111.4% of NAV in June 2024. Average gearing for the six months ended 30 June 2024 was 107.5% of NAV (year to 31 December 2023 was 103.1% of NAV).

Dividends declared in respect of the year to 30 June 2024

Revenue Returns and Dividends
Revenue return for the six months ended 30 June 2024 was 12.86 cents per share (2023: 15.26 cents per share). The decrease of 15.7% was largely due to the reduction in dividends paid by portfolio companies. Under the Company’s dividend policy dividends are calculated and paid quarterly, based on 1.25% of the US Dollar NAV at close of business on the last working day of March, June, September and December respectively. Dividends will be financed through a combination of available net income in each financial year and revenue and capital reserves.

The Company has declared interim dividends totalling 28.59 cents per share in respect of the twelve months to 30 June 2024 as detailed in the table above; this represented a yield of 6.5% (calculated based on the Company’s share price of 437.38 cents per share, equivalent to the Sterling price of 346.00 pence per share translated into cents at a rate of US$1.26 prevailing at 30 June 2024). As at 30 June 2024, a balance of US$5,115,000 million remained in revenue reserves. Dividends may be funded out of capital reserves to the extent that current year revenue and revenue reserves are insufficient. The Board believes that this removes pressure from the investment managers to seek a higher income yield from the underlying portfolio itself which could detract from total returns. The Board also believes the Company’s dividend policy will enhance demand for the Company’s shares and help to narrow the Company’s discount, whilst maintaining the portfolio’s ability to generate attractive total returns.

Discount Management and New Discount Control Mechanism
The Board remains committed to taking appropriate action to ensure that the Company’s shares do not trade at a significant discount to their prevailing NAV and have sought to reduce discount volatility by offering shareholders a new discount control mechanism covering the four years to 31 December 2025. This mechanism will offer shareholders a tender for 24.99% of the shares in issue excluding treasury shares (at a tender price reflecting the latest cum-income NAV less 2% and related portfolio realisation costs) in the event that the continuation vote to be put to the Company’s AGM in 2026 is approved, where either of the following conditions have been met:

(i)      the annualised total NAV return of the Company does not exceed the annualised benchmark index (being the MSCI EM Latin America Index US Dollar (net return)) by more than 50 basis points over the four-year period from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2025 (the Calculation Period); or

(ii)     the average daily discount to the cum-income NAV exceeds 12% as calculated with reference to the trading of the shares over the Calculation Period.

In respect of the above conditions, the Company’s annualised total NAV return on a US Dollar basis for the period from 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2024 was 5.8%, underperforming the annualised benchmark return of 8.5% over the calculation period by 2.7% (equivalent to 270 basis points).

The cum-income discount of the Company’s ordinary shares over the calculation period has averaged 11.0%.

For the current six month period under review the cum-income discount has ranged from 16.5% to 4.5%, ending the period under review on a discount of 10.7% at 30 June 2024.

The Company has not bought back any shares during the six month period ended 30 June 2024 and up to the date of publication of this report.

Outlook
We have seen the first reduction in US interest rates, which should benefit Latin American economies. Declining interest rates throughout the region should result in better economic activity going forward and thus see a favourable environment for asset prices. While both absolute and relative performance in the first half have been disappointing, we strongly believe that investing in Latin America requires patience and an ability to maintain and add to portfolio positions when others in the market are heading for the exit. To that end, and reflecting our view of the opportunity set, it should be noted that we have increased our leverage by 10.8% since the end of 2023.

CAROLAN DOBSON
Chairman
27 September 2024

Investment Manager’s Report

Market Overview
Latin America has endured a very tough start to 2024, declining -15.5% in the first six months of the year where Brazil (-18.7%) and Mexico (-15.7%) were the primary drivers of the region’s underperformance. For reference, the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index was up 7.2% while the MSCI Emerging Markets EMEA Index climbed 2.9% in the first six months of 2024. The region also underperformed the MSCI USA Index, which was up 14.9%, and developed market equities, as represented by the MSCI World Index, up 12.0%. All performance figures are calculated in US Dollar terms with dividends reinvested.

Strong economic data out of the US at the beginning of the year weighed on emerging markets more broadly as expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut were pushed out. This negatively impacted sentiment, particularly in Brazil, as it raised concerns around the central bank’s ability to cut rates further. In May, Brazil faced additional challenges with severe flooding that disrupted agricultural output, leading to inflation concerns. More recently, fiscal uncertainty has also put pressure on the market after a larger-than-expected fiscal deficit was reported in June.

Mexico held presidential elections in early June and welcomed their first ever female president. Claudia Sheinbaum, leader for the ruling party Morena, won a landslide ~59% of the votes in what turned out to be the highest voter turnout in Mexican (democratic) history. The outcome of the elections has created a lot of volatility for Mexican financial assets, with the peso depreciating significantly. Investors are concerned that the landslide win of president-elect Sheinbaum and the Morena party will result in reduced checks and balances for the government and detrimental judicial reforms.

Elsewhere in our universe, Argentina was the strongest performer, returning +21.4%. The market has been excited about Milei’s push for economic reforms which, coupled with easing inflation pressures and rising commodity prices, has helped support the stock market. Peru was also among the best performing markets, climbing +18.1%, helped by higher copper prices.

Performance Review and Positioning
The Company underperformed its benchmark over the six month period ended 30 June 2024, returning -22.0% on a total return basis in US Dollar terms. Over the same time horizon, the Company’s benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Index, returned -15.7% on a net basis in US Dollar terms.

The most notable positive contributor to performance was our precious metals exposure in Ecuador and in Mexico. Our overweight to Colombia and off-benchmark exposure to Panama also helped relative performance. Our position in MAG Silver Corp, the Mexican silver miner, was the largest contributor to relative returns over the period. Another precious metals stock that helped performance was Lundin Gold, a Canadian based mining company with operations in Ecuador. Both stocks have been propelled higher by rising gold and silver prices and the former has also shown strong operational resilience, delivering first quarter of 2024 EBITDA results up +18% quarter over quarter and +6% year over year. Elsewhere, Colombian exposure through bank Bancolombia was also supportive of relative returns. So was off-benchmark exposure in Argentina through steel pipe manufacturer Tenaris. The stock rose following a fourth quarter of 2023 EBITDA beat, where results had been helped due to an increase in shipments to the Middle East and for offshore pipeline projects. Overweight in Becle Sab De, a Mexican producer and supplier of alcoholic beverages most famously known for their high-end tequila brand Jose Cuervo, also helped returns. The company delivered strong results for the fourth quarter of 2023, beating consensus by 15%.

However, these positives were more than offset by developments in Brazil. The biggest economy in Latin America drove the majority of the underperformance on concerns surrounding the central bank’s ability to cut rates, amidst US rate cut expectations being pushed out and domestic fiscal challenges.

Within Brazil, a collection of rate sensitive names detracted. The largest detractor was our overweight position in EZTEC Empreendimentos e Participacoesa, a Brazilian homebuilder. The company has struggled with elevated inventory levels, but this has improved over the second quarter of 2024. While the position has detracted, it remains a high conviction position for us as the company is net cash and trades on a cheap private equity multiple. Another detractor was Brazilian retailer, Lojas Renner, as their latest earnings report surprised to the downside. Warm weather during Brazil’s winter months and the flooding in Rio Grande do Sol, Renner’s home state, have negatively affected sales. However, we regard both as short-term issues that do not affect the medium term outlook. Positioning in Banco Bradesco also hurt after the company reported weak loan growth paired with conservative guidance from their new CEO. While it has taken longer than expected, we continue to believe they will benefit from falling rates in Brazil and subsequently, an improvement in asset quality. Elsewhere, not owning Peruvian miner Southern Copper weighed on performance due to the increase in copper prices.

Over the period, we have increased our exposure to Mexico. We initiated a position in Becle Sab De, the Mexican producer and supplier of alcoholic beverages, on the back of declining agave prices which should have a positive impact on the company’s margins. We also initiated a position in Mexican highway operator PINFRA, which is a well-run, conservative business that trades on low multiples. Later in the period, we took advantage of the relative weakness going into and following the election result to add to Grupo Financiero Banorte as we believe the market overreacted regarding concerns around banking taxes. We reduced our exposure to convenience store operator FEMSA on concerns around labour cost pressures in Mexico and its impact on their results.

Brazil is another country we have increased our exposure to, taking advantage of the meaningful underperformance of this market. We topped up our holding in retailer Lojas Renner as the management has been making proactive changes, including opening a new distribution centre which we think will help their costs and make them more competitive. We also added to our holding in Brazilian oil and gas company Petrobrás, as we believe the government is highly dependent on the company’s dividends for its fiscal budget, resulting in a very attractive dividend yield.

Elsewhere, we exited Chilean pulp and paper company Empresas CMPC on the back of relative performance. Pulp prices went up on supply disruptions and we believe the overall market will become more oversupplied going forward. In Argentina, we exited steel pipe manufacturer Tenaris as our investment case has played out. We also further diversified our bets by adding to IT services company Globant.

Brazil is the largest portfolio overweight at the end of the period. Mexico is our second largest overweight. On the other hand, we remain underweight in Peru due to its political and economic uncertainty. The second largest portfolio underweight is Chile.

Outlook
We remain optimistic about the outlook for Latin. Central banks have been proactive in increasing interest rates to help control inflation, which has fallen significantly across the region. As such we have started to see central banks beginning to lower interest rates, which is supporting both economic activity and asset prices. In addition, the whole region is benefitting from being relatively isolated from global geopolitical conflicts. We believe that this will lead to both an increase in foreign direct investment and an increase in allocation from investors across the region.

Brazil is the highlight of this thesis, with the central bank having already cut the policy rate and economic activity improving strongly, while realised inflation remains benign. However, fiscal trends have disappointed in the first half of the year, which has led to higher inflation expectations and a sell-off in both the currency and interest rates. After carefully examining the data, we believe that the market is overreacting. The fiscal expenditure year-to-date looks artificially high because the government has decided to accelerate some of the spending that was planned over the full year into the first half of the year 2024. We therefore expect better fiscal results over the next few months. Nevertheless, the Brazilian central bank is pausing its rate cutting cycle and is instead hiking interest rates in the short term to prevent the currency from selling off further. We remain comfortable with our equity positioning because the underlying earnings trends are positive, driven by the strong economic activity.

We remain positive on the outlook for the Mexican economy as it is a key beneficiary of the friend-shoring of global supply chains. Mexico remains defensive as both fiscal and the current accounts are in order. The outcome of the presidential elections in early June has created a lot of volatility for Mexican financial assets, with the peso depreciating significantly. Investors are concerned that the landslide win of president-elect Sheinbaum and the Morena party will result in reduced checks and balances for the government. The passing of the controversial judicial reform in early September is a good example of this. We are certainly concerned about the implications of the reform for judicial independence. We have visited Mexico in the week after the election to meet with investors, business owners and political advisors. Our conclusion from that trip is that we believe the government will remain relatively pragmatic and fiscally prudent, even more so than during AMLO’s (President Andrés Manuel López Obrador) term. Since the election, Sheinbaum has made an extensive effort to seek dialogue with the business community, which we see as a positive sign. We have therefore used the market correction to add to certain positions.

We continue to closely monitor the political and economic situation in Argentina, after libertarian Javier Milei unexpectedly won the presidential elections in November. Milei is facing a very difficult situation, with inflation around 270% year-on-year, foreign exchange reserves depleted and multiple economic imbalances. To further gauge sentiment on the ground, we travelled to the country in January 2024. The trip further instilled our cautious view on the economic outlook for the country, and we see no fundamental reasons as to why we would want to buy into this market now. We have become incrementally more cautious on Argentina over the past month, as the weakening of the informal exchange rate suggests that official exchange rate might be overvalued. Therefore, we see the risk of another exchange rate devaluation, which could reignite inflationary pressures.

The recent data in the United States supports our thesis that the US labour market is slowing down, which has led the Federal Reserve to reduce its monetary policy rates by 50bps in September. This should be supportive for Emerging Market carry countries, including Latin America. We maintain our view that declining interest rates throughout the region will result in better economic activity going forward and thus see a favourable environment for asset prices. While both absolute and relative performance in the first half have been disappointing, we strongly believe that investing in Latin America requires patience and an ability to maintain and add to portfolio positions when others in the market are heading for the exit. To that end, and reflecting our view of the opportunity set, it should be noted that we have increased our leverage by 10.8% since the end of 2023.

SAM VECHT
and CHRISTOPH BRINKMANN
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited
27 September 2024

Portfolio Analysis as at 30 June 2024

Geographical weighting (gross market exposure) vs MSCI EM Latin America Index

Sources: BlackRock and MSCI.

Sector allocation (gross market exposure) vs MSCI EM Latin America Index

Sources: BlackRock and MSCI.

Ten Largest Investments as at 30 June 2024

Together, the ten largest investments represented 54.8% of total investments of the Company’s portfolio as at 30 June 2024 (31 December 2023: 55.3%).

1 ▲ Petrobrás (2023: 2nd)

Energy

Market value – American depositary receipt (ADR): US$9,165,000
Market value – preference shares ADR: US$3,803,000

Market value – ordinary shares: US$3,310,000
Share of investments: 10.1% (2023: 8.6%)

is a Brazilian integrated oil and gas group, operating in the exploration and production, refining, marketing, transportation, petrochemicals, oil product distribution, natural gas, electricity, chemical-gas and biofuel segments of the industry. The group controls significant assets across Africa, North and South America, Europe and Asia, with a majority of production based in Brazil.

2 ▼ Vale (2023: 1st)

Materials

Market value – American depositary share (ADS): US$11,882,000
Market value – ordinary shares: US$1,460,000
Share of investments: 8.3% (2023: 9.6%)

is one of the world’s largest mining groups, with other business in logistics, energy and steelmaking. Vale is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and nickel but also operates in the coal, copper, manganese and ferro-alloys sectors.

3 ▲ Grupo Financiero Banorte (2023: 10th)

Financials

Market value – ordinary shares: US$11,664,000
Share of investments: 7.2% (2023: 3.1%)

is a Mexican banking and financial services holding company and is one of the largest financial groups in the country. It operates as a universal bank and provides a wide array of products and services through its broker dealer, annuities and insurance companies, retirements savings funds (Afore), mutual funds, leasing and factoring company and warehousing.

4 ► Walmart de México y Centroamérica (2023: 4th)

Consumer Staples

Market value – ordinary shares: US$9,268,000
Share of investments: 5.8% (2023: 5.9%)

is also known as Walmex, it is the Mexican and Central American Walmart division.

5▼Banco Bradesco (2023: 3rd)

Financials

Market value – ADR: US$6,248,000
Market value – preference shares: US$2,759,000
Share of investments: 5.6% (2023: 6.2%)

is one of Brazil’s largest private sector banks. The bank divides its operations into two main areas – banking and insurance services and management of complementary private pension plans and savings bonds.

6 ▼ B3 (2023: 5th)

Financials

Market value – ordinary shares: US$7,045,000
Share of investments: 4.4% (2023: 5.1%)

is a stock exchange located in Brazil, providing trading services in an exchange and OTC environment. B3’s scope of activities includes the creation and management of trading systems, clearing, settlement, deposit and registration for the main classes of securities, from equities and corporate fixed income securities to currency derivatives, structured transactions and interest rates, and agricultural commodities. B3 also acts as a central counterparty for most of the trades carried out in its markets and offers central depository and registration services.

7 ▲ Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (2023: 8th)

Industrials

Market value – ADS: US$6,635,000
Share of investments: 4.1% (2023: 4.0%)

is a Mexican airport operator headquartered in Guadalajara, Mexico. The company holds concessions to operate, maintain and develop approximately 10 international airports in the Pacific and Central regions of Mexico, and an international airport in Jamaica.

8 ▲ Itaú Unibanco (2023: 9th)

Financials

Market value - ADR: US$5,317,000
Share of investments: 3.3% (2023: 3.8%)

is a Brazilian financial services group that services individual and corporate clients in Brazil and abroad. Itaú Unibanco was formed through the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco in 2008. It operates in the retail banking and wholesale banking segments.

9 ▲ Hapvida Participacoes (2023: 11th)

Health Care

Market value – ADR: US$4,914,000
Share of investments: 3.1% (2023: 3.0%)

is a Brazilian holding healthcare company. The company operates with a vertical service structure and is one of the largest healthcare solutions providers in the country. The company provides medical assistance and dental care plans and their operating structure includes facilities such as hospitals, walk-in emergencies, clinics and diagnostic imaging units.

10 ▲ Lojas Renner (2023: 21st)

Consumer Discretionary

Market value – ordinary shares: US$4,602,000
Share of investments: 2.9% (2023: 2.0%)

is a fashion and lifestyle company operating in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The company operates in Retail and Financial Products segments. It trades in a variety of products including clothes, sports products, shoes, accessories, perfumery, housewares, towels and linen, furniture and decoration articles.

All percentages reflect the value of the holding as a percentage of total investments. For this purpose, where more than one class of securities is held, these have been aggregated.

The percentages in brackets represent the value of the holding as at 31 December 2023.

Arrows indicate the change in relative ranking of the position in the portfolio compared to its ranking as at 31 December 2023.

Portfolio of Investments as at 30 June 2024

All investments are in equity shares unless otherwise stated.

The total number of investments held at 30 June 2024 was 41 (31 December 2023: 39). At 30 June 2024, the Company did not hold any equity interests comprising more than 3% of any company’s share capital (31 December 2023: nil).

Interim Management Report and Responsibility Statement

The Chairman’s Statement and the Investment Manager’s Report above give details of the events which have occurred during the period and their impact on the financial statements.

Principal Risks and Uncertainties
The principal risks faced by the Company can be divided into various areas as follows:

·       Counterparty;

·       Investment performance;

·       Income/dividend;

·       Legal and regulatory compliance;

·       Operational;

·       Market;

·       Financial; and

·       Marketing.

The Board reported on the principal risks and uncertainties faced by the Company in the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023. A detailed explanation can be found on pages 42 to 47 and in note 16 on pages 98 to 106 of the Annual Report and Financial Statements which are available on the website maintained by BlackRock at www.blackrock.com/uk/brla.

The Board and the Investment Manager continue to monitor investment performance in line with the Company’s investment objectives, and the operations of the Company and the publication of net asset values are continuing.

In the view of the Board, there have not been any changes to the fundamental nature of the principal risks and uncertainties since the previous report and these are equally applicable to the remaining six months of the financial year as they were to the six months under review.

Going Concern
The Board is mindful of the risk that unforeseen or unprecedented events including (but not limited to) heightened geopolitical tensions such as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, their longer-term effects on the global economy, high inflation and the current cost of living crisis could have a significant impact on global markets. Notwithstanding this significant degree of uncertainty, the Directors, having considered the nature and liquidity of the portfolio, the Company’s investment objective, the Company’s projected income and expenditure, are satisfied that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and is financially sound.

Related Party Disclosure and Transactions with the Manager
BlackRock Fund Managers Limited (BFM) was appointed as the Company’s AIFM (Alternative Investment Fund Manager) with effect from 2 July 2014. BFM has (with the Company’s consent) delegated certain portfolio and risk management services, and other ancillary services, to BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited (BIM (UK)). Both BFM and BIM (UK) are regarded as related parties under the Listing Rules. Details of the fees payable are set out in note 11 to the financial statements.

The related party transactions with the Directors are set out in note 12 to the financial statements.

Directors’ Responsibility Statement
The Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the UK Listing Authority require the Directors to confirm their responsibilities in relation to the preparation and publication of the Interim Management Report and Financial Statements.

The Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge that:

·       the condensed set of financial statements contained within the Half Yearly Financial Report has been prepared in accordance with the applicable UK Accounting Standard FRS 104 ‘Interim Financial Reporting’; and

·       the Interim Management Report, together with the Chairman’s Statement and Investment Manager’s Report, include a fair review of the information required by 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R of the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

The Half Yearly Financial Report has not been audited or reviewed by the Company’s Auditors.

The Half Yearly Financial Report was approved by the Board on 27 September 2024 and the above responsibility statement was signed on its behalf by the Chairman.

CAROLAN DOBSON
For and on behalf of the board
27 September 2024

Income statement for the six months ended 30 June 2024

The total columns of this statement represent the Company’s profit and loss account. The supplementary revenue and capital accounts are both prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued during the period. All income is attributable to the equity holders of the Company.

The net profit/(loss) on ordinary activities for the period disclosed above represents the Company’s total comprehensive income/(loss).

Statement of Changes in Equity for the six months ended 30 June 2024

1    Quarterly dividend of 8.05 cents per share for the year ended 31 December 2023, declared on 2 January 2024 and paid on 9 February 2024; and quarterly dividend of 7.39 cents per share for the year ending 31 December 2024, declared on 2 April 2024 and paid on 16 May 2024.

2    Quarterly dividend of 6.29 cents per share for the year ended 31 December 2022, declared on 3 January 2023 and paid on 8 February 2023; special dividend of 13.00 cents per share for the year ended 31 December 2022, declared on 3 January 2023 and paid on 8 February 2023; and quarterly dividend of 6.21 cents per share for the year ending 31 December 2023, declared on 3 April 2023 and paid on 16 May 2023.

3    Quarterly dividend of 6.29 cents per share for the year ended 31 December 2022, declared on 3 January 2023 and paid on 8 February 2023; special dividend of 13.00 cents per share for the year ended 31 December 2022, declared on 3 January 2023 and paid on 8 February 2023; quarterly dividend of 6.21 cents per share for the year ended 31 December 2023, declared on 3 April 2023 and paid on 16 May 2023; quarterly dividend of 7.54 cents per share for the year ended 31 December 2023, declared on 3 July 2023 and paid on 11 August 2023; quarterly dividend of 7.02 cents per share, declared on 2 October 2023 and paid on 9 November 2023.

For information on the Company’s distributable reserves, please refer to note 9 below.

Balance Sheet as at 30 June 2024

Statement of Cash Flows for the six months ended 30 June 2024