Portfolio Update

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

All information is at 31 January 2020 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

-7.1%

-2.0%

-11.3%

-2.1%

-3.5%

16.7%

Share price

-8.5%

-3.3%

-12.2%

-5.2%

-14.8%

0.7%

Sources: Datastream, BlackRock

At month end

Net asset value – capital only:

71.63p

Net asset value cum income*:

72.22p

Share price:

64.60p

Discount to NAV (cum income):

10.6%

Net yield:

6.2%

Gearing - cum income:

3.7%

Total assets:

£88.3m

Ordinary shares in issue:

113,870,349

Gearing range (as a % of net assets):

0-20%

Ongoing charges**:

1.5%

* Includes net revenue of 0.59p. ** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding any interest costs and excluding taxation for the year ended 30 November 2019.

Sector Analysis

% Total Assets^

Country Analysis

% Total Assets^

Integrated Oil, Gas and Energy

36.8

Global

62.1

Diversified Mining

20.1

USA

12.6

Gold

15.2

Canada

9.2

Copper

9.4

Latin America

4.6

Exploration and Production

6.2

Australia

3.6

Silver

3.7

Asia

2.3

Distribution

3.0

South Africa

1.7

Diamonds

2.2

Africa

0.5

Net Current Assets^

3.4

Net Current Assets^

3.4

----

-----

100.0

100.0

=====

=====

^ Total Assets for the purposes of these calculations exclude bank overdrafts, and the net current asset figure shown in the tables above therefore excludes bank overdrafts equivalent to 7.4% of the Company’s net asset value.

Ten Largest Investments

Company

Region of Risk

% Total Assets

BHP

Global

7.5

First Quantum Minerals*

Global

7.3

Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’

Global

6.1

BP Group

Global

5.4

Barrick Gold

Global

4.5

Rio Tinto

Global

3.8

ConocoPhillips

USA

3.8

Total

Global

3.7

Newmont Mining

Global

3.3

Chevron

Global

3.2

*The holding in First Quantum Minerals includes both an equity holding and a holding in several bonds.

Commenting on the markets, Olivia Markham and Tom Holl, representing the Investment Manager noted:

The Company’s NAV decreased by 7.1% during the month of January (in Sterling terms). Global equity markets came under pressure in January, with the MSCI World Index returning -0.9%. At the beginning of the year, markets were impacted by increased tensions in the Middle East after a US-led drone strike killed the Iranian General, Qasem Soleimani. As we progressed through the month, stock markets were also negatively impacted by the outbreak of the coronavirus, due to fears around the effect that the epidemic could have on the global economy.  Against this macroeconomic backdrop, oil prices decreased, with Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) indices returning -14.6% and -15.6%, to end the period at prices of $58/bbl and $52/bbl respectively. Despite the oil price performing well at the beginning of the month on the back of increased tensions in the Middle East, it gave back this performance as fears surrounding the coronavirus mounted and subsequently impacted air travel.  For reference, British Petroleum announced that they expect 400,000-500,000 barrels per day of demand destruction from the virus. In order to offset the effect of the virus on oil demand, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have indicated that they are considering additional temporary cuts. There has also been a meaningful outage in Libya which has lasted longer than expected and has offset some of the fall in demand. In terms of the energy equities, a number of the oil majors released their Q4 results during the month.  Generally, results for the integrated oil and gas companies have been relatively weak, with solid upstream performance being offset by weaknesses in chemical and refining margins. Mined commodity prices came under pressure with copper, aluminium and nickel prices returning -9.7%, -4.3%, and -8.5% respectively. For precious metals, the gold price rose by 4.4% in January, finishing the month at a price of $1,589/oz, as the yellow metal performed well on the back of safe-haven buying. However, gold equities lagged the move up in the gold price, partly reflecting the strong performance of the mid-cap gold companies in Q4 of 2019, as well as some of the higher beta names announcing poorer results than the market expected. In other news, BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, wrote a letter to CEO’s, as well as another open letter to clients underlining BlackRock’s commitment to make sustainability the new standard for investing. One important element within Larry’s letter was that BlackRock has committed to remove from its discretionary managed portfolios companies that generate more than 25% of their revenues from thermal coal production in an effort to strengthen the firm’s commitment to sustainability. For the Company, thermal coal appears in the investment universe. As a team, we have not had pure-play thermal coal exposure for some time, due to the environmental risks that we deem to be material.  All data points in US dollar terms unless otherwise specified. Commodity price moves sourced from Thomson Reuters Datastream.

Source: BlackRock. Data as at 31 January 2020.

20 February 2020

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brci 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.