BlackRock Energy and Resources Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

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

All information is at 30 September 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

1.6%

-0.3%

2.5%

3.8%

46.6%

104.4%

Share price

2.7%

1.8%

6.0%

5.6%

43.7%

107.3%

Sources: Datastream, BlackRock

At month end

Net asset value – capital only:

130.34p

Net asset value cum income1:

130.46p

Share price:

118.00p

Discount to NAV (cum income):

9.6%

Net yield:

3.8%

Gearing - cum income:

6.2%

Total assets:

£159.2m

Ordinary shares in issue2:

122,019,497

Gearing range (as a % of net assets):

0-20%

Ongoing charges3:

1.19%

1 Includes net revenue of 0.12p.

2 Excluding 13,566,697 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

43.0%

Energy Transition                

29.9%

Traditional Energy                

27.7%

Net Current Liabilities             

-0.6%

-----

100.0%

=====

Sector Analysis

% Total Assets^

Country Analysis

% Total Assets^

Mining:

Diversified

21.7

Global

52.8

Copper

6.4

United States

24.9

Gold

3.2

Canada

8.3

Aluminium

2.9

United Kingdom

3.7

Steel

2.6

Australia

2.4

Industrial Minerals

2.5

Italy

2.2

Uranium

1.3

Other Africa

2.1

Nickel

1.3

Latin America

1.6

Metals & Mining 

Subtotal Mining:

1.1

43.0

Finland

Germany

Ireland 

Net Current Liabilities

1.3

0.7

0.6

-0.6

-----

100.0%

=====

Traditional Energy:

E&P

12.4

Integrated

6.6

Oil Services

3.2

Distribution

2.7

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

1.5

Refining & Marketing

1.3

Subtotal Traditional Energy:

27.7

Energy Transition:

Energy Efficiency

13.0

Electrification

7.4

Renewables

6.0

Storage

2.3

Transport

1.2

Subtotal Energy Transition:

29.9

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 5.5% of the Company’s net asset value.

Ten Largest Investments

Company

Region of Risk

% Total Assets

Rio Tinto

Global

5.4

Anglo American

Global

4.4

Glencore

Global

3.7

Shell

Global

3.2

Teck Resources

Global

3.0

Norsk Hydro

Global

2.9

Targa Resources

United States

2.7

National Grid

United Kingdom

2.6

Schneider Electric

Global

2.5

ConocoPhillips

Global

2.4

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

The Company’s Net Asset Value (NAV) increased 1.6% in September 2024 (in GBP terms).

September was marked by significant volatility in equity markets, driven by mixed economic data, central bank decisions and geopolitical uncertainties. In the US, early September conditions mirrored the downturn seen in early August, reflecting a partial repeat of the summer’s sell-off, which was triggered by disappointing data from the manufacturing sector and the jobs market. The Federal Reserve (Fed) reduced borrowing costs by 0.5%, exceeding the 0.25% cut anticipated by many analysts. Fed Chair Jerome Powell alleviated concerns by indicating that the US economy was on track for the “soft landing” that markets had long hoped for. Towards the end of the month, China contributed to market gains with the announcement of substantial stimulus measures, as the government intensified efforts to meet its growth targets for 2024 and beyond. However, geopolitical uncertainty persisted, particularly with rising tensions in the Middle East.

Within the energy sector, oil prices fell reflecting concerns about slower economic growth and oil demand growth from China, where expectations were revised down from growth of 700kbpd to less than 200kbpd, whilst 2024 sees oil production rise as large projects in Norway and Guyana move into production. On the other hand, oil demand from the US, Indian and Asian ex-China was stronger than expectations, softening the impact of weaker oil demand from China. Natural gas prices increased on potential disruption from hurricanes in the US and as demand begins to rise heading into the winter season. In the days following month end, oil prices increased on escalating events in the Middle East, with potential for oil supply disruption. The Brent oil price fell by 9.8%, whilst WTI fell by 7.7%, ending the month at $72/bbl and $69/bbl respectively. The US Henry Hub natural gas price rose by 37% during the month to end at $2.91/mmbtu.

Within the mining sector, the main news was China announcing a range of stimulus measures. Iron ore (62% fe), copper and gold prices rose by 8.4%, 6.3% and 5.1% respectively. Meanwhile, energy costs came down during the month, suggesting a positive outlook for the miners’ margins. Elsewhere, the uranium price rose by 3.0% as excitement built around nuclear. During the month, Microsoft signed a deal with Constellation Energy to restart its Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to help power its data centres.

Within the sustainable energy theme, the World Meteorological Organisation forecast that 2024 will be the warmest on record and that the number of ‘hot days’ faced by major cities would climb, likely further increasing the demand for cooling and increased related energy demand. Meanwhile, in clean transportation, the European Commission pushed back against the European car industry lobby proposed delay of the European Union (EU)’s CO2 emission target reduction to 93.6 g/km, emphasising that automakers had ample time to prepare since the regulations were first introduced.

All data points in US dollar terms unless otherwise specified. Commodity price moves sourced from Thomson Reuters Datastream.

22 October 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.