BlackRock American Income Trust Plc - Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK AMERICAN INCOME TRUST PLC (LEI:549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31 May 2025 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
 

At month end

1 Based on two quarterly dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 1 August 2024 and 13 November 2024 for the year ended 31 October 2024, one quarterly dividend of 2.00p per share declared on 1 April 2025 and one quarterly dividend of 3.03p per share declared on 15 May 2025 for the year ending 31 October 2025 and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 May 2025.

² Excluding 38,747,433 ordinary shares held in treasury.

³ The Company’s ongoing charges 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 non-recurring items for the year ended 31 October 2024.

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Travis Cooke and Muzo Kayacan, representing the Investment Manager, noted:

For the month ended 31 May 2025, the Company’s NAV increased by 2.5% in sterling terms, closely tracking the Russell 1000 Value Index which rose by 2.5%. The share price outperformed, rising by 3.8%, also in sterling terms. 

At the sector level, stock selection within financials was a key driver of relative performance. An underweight position in Berkshire Hathaway - whose shares have lagged the broader market since Warren Buffett announced his plans to step down as CEO at the end of 20251 - was complemented by overweight positions in Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, with trading revenue, and the M&A pipeline in both funds supporting strong post ‘Liberation Day’ performance2. 

Positioning in energy was less successful, with long exposures to names such as Targa Resources, which extended its April losses into May amid continued weakness in natural gas liquids markets3. In contrast, underweights in stocks like Marathon Petroleum, whose refining operations offer some insulation from commodity price volatility, performed more resiliently, detracting from relative performance4.

At the signal level, sentiment-oriented insights – including those that use text mining of management earnings calls, or that track the trading activity of hedge funds - were the primary contributors to relative performance. They steered the portfolio towards some overweight positions within consumer discretionary - buoyed by resilient spending data - as well as an underweight positioning in industrials, where weaker PMI readings and softer global demand weighed on performance. 

In contrast, more fundamental signals - such as those assessing balance sheet quality through implied default probabilities on corporate debt - underperformed. Unsurprisingly, in the context of a strong market rebound over the period, more defensive signals also lagged. These included those that favour companies which tend to outperform when equity markets fall.

Positioning changes

The portfolio moved from a small overweight in consumer staples to an underweight position, while increasing its overweight position in the financial sector.

1Reuters, “Buffett to step down as Berkshire CEO after 60 years at helm, passes baton to Abel”, May 2025   

2Reuters “Citi expects banking fees, trading revenue to climb despite US tariff anxiety”, June 2025 

3Reuters, “Micron rejigs business units to highlight AI data center demand”, April 2025 

4Reuters, “Oil refiners’ robust profits defy souring outlook”, May 2025 

Source: BlackRock.

3 July 2025

Latest information is available by typing blackrock.com/uk/brai 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.