Portfolio Update

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

All information is at 30 April 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

14.7%

-13.3%

-15.1%

-18.9%

-5.5%

-6.7%

Share price

16.7%

-18.1%

-20.8%

-27.3%

-17.3%

-20.4%

Sources: Datastream, BlackRock

At month end

Net asset value – capital only:

60.87p

Net asset value cum income*:

61.49p

Share price:

51.80p

Discount to NAV (cum income):

15.8%

Net yield:

7.7%

Gearing - cum income:

7.3%

Total assets:

£69.8m

Ordinary shares in issue:

113,470,349

Gearing range (as a % of net assets):

0-20%

Ongoing charges**:

1.5%

* Includes net revenue of 0.62p. ** 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

34.8

Global

61.9

Diversified Mining

18.9

USA

16.2

Gold

18.1

Canada

8.3

Copper

12.1

Latin America

6.2

Exploration & Production

6.1

Australia

4.2

Distribution

5.0

Asia

2.4

Silver

4.1

South Africa

2.1

Diamonds

1.7

Africa

0.2

Platinum Group Metals

0.7

Net Current Liabilities^

-1.5

Net Current Liabilities^

-1.5

-----

----

100.0

100.0

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^ 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 5.7% of the Company’s net asset value.

Ten Largest Investments

Company

Region of Risk

% Total Assets

First Quantum Minerals*

Global

8.6

BHP

Global

7.1

Barrick Gold

Global

6.6

Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’

Global

5.4

Chevron

Global

5.0

Newmont Mining

Global

4.9

Total

Global

4.3

Vale

Latin America

4.0

BP

Global

3.7

Williams Companies

USA

3.4

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

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

The Company’s NAV increased by 14.7% during the month of April (in Sterling terms). Global equity markets started to recover in April as a rebound in oil prices, encouraging early signs of COVID-19 treatment trials and expectations of further government stimulus, helped to recover some of the losses experienced in February and March. For reference, the MSCI All Country World Index rose by 10.6%. China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced a step-up in infrastructure spending in the country to boost economic growth post COVID-19, which improved sentiment towards mining. Most mined commodities’ prices rose over the month, with copper, nickel and gold prices up by 4.5%, 6.0% and 5.8% respectively. The iron ore (62% fe) price was flat over the month, albeit at a healthy level of $85/tonne, having held up well this year. Within the precious metals space, April was a spectacular month for gold equities in which they exhibited a high beta to the rise in the gold price. This reflected a ‘catch-up’ market move, in our view, after they had lagged the gold price through Q1 2020.  Sentiment around equities in general improved in April on the back of coordinated central bank action. The gold price finished the month at $1,705/oz., the highest level since December 2012. Within the energy sector, oil prices displayed volatility during the month but ended modestly higher, with Brent and WTI (West Texas Intermediate) at prices of $25/bbl and $24/bbl respectively. The energy industry is clearly experiencing an unprecedented demand shock. At the start of the year, oil demand was expected to grow by 1% year on year (1.0-1.2m b/d). The International Energy Agency now sees demand declining by 9% (or over 9m b/d). For context, this would mark only the third time in the past 35 years in which oil demand has contracted; 2008/09 being the other two. Even during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, oil demand only fell by 2% peak-to-trough.  April will likely mark the peak of demand destruction, as around 60% of the world’s population are under some form of lockdown, with oil demand in April expected to fall 25-30% year on year. April should also mark the peak of oil supply, following a jump in OPEC exports post the public falling-out between Saudi Arabia and Russia in March and ahead of the subsequently agreed cuts (9.7m b/d headline) that will begin in May. Land-locked crudes have the potential to run well below this for short periods too, given localised limitations on storage. WTI’s brief foray into negative pricing recently is obviously an extreme example of this, albeit the move there was exacerbated by low liquidity into contract expiry and the nature of the WTI futures contract, which physically settles. Those unable to take delivery of the oil needed to sell their contract before expiry to someone that was and this proved challenging given limited storage availability at the delivery hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. All data points in US Dollar terms unless otherwise specified. Commodity price moves sourced from Thomson Reuters Datastream. 28 May 2020

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.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.