Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK INCOME AND GROWTH INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI:5493003YBY59H9EJLJ16)

All information is at 31 December 2017 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

	One Month	Three Months	One Year	Three Years	Five Years	Since 1 April 2012
Sterling
Share price	4.5%	5.0%	14.4%	31.8%	75.4%	92.0%
Net asset value	4.4%	4.3%	12.6%	33.4%	69.2%	80.0%
FTSE All-Share Total Return	4.8%	5.0%	13.1%	33.3%	63.0%	72.5%
Source: BlackRock

BlackRock took over the investment management of the Company with effect from 1 April 2012.

At month end
Sterling:
Net asset value - capital only:	210.38p
Net asset value - cum income*:	215.18p
Share price:	209.50p
Total assets (including income):	£52.5m
Discount to cum-income NAV:	2.6%
Gearing:	3.7%
Net yield**:	3.2%
Ordinary shares in issue***:	24,376,565
Gearing range (as a % of net assets)	0-20%
Ongoing charges****:	1.1%

* includes net revenue of 4.80 pence per share

** The Company’s yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 3.2% and includes the 2017 interim dividend of 2.50p per share declared on 26 June 2017 and paid to shareholders on 1 September 2017 and the 2017 final dividend of 4.10p per share declared on 20 December 2017 and payable to shareholders on 9 March 2018.

*** excludes 8,557,367 shares held in treasury

**** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 31 October 2017.

Sector Analysis	Total assets (%)
Banks	9.1
Oil & Gas Producers	8.0
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology	7.3
Tobacco	7.2
Non-Life Insurance	6.9
Media	6.8
Support Services	6.4
Financial Services	6.2
Travel & Leisure	5.3
Construction & Materials	4.5
General Retailers	3.9
Food Producers	3.8
Industrial Engineering	3.8
Fixed Line Telecommunications	2.7
Beverages	2.6
Food & Drug Retailers	2.6
General Industrials	2.5
Mobile Telecommunications	2.0
Household Goods & Home Construction	2.0
Aerospace & Defence	1.6
Chemicals	1.5
Gas, Water & Multiutilities	1.4
Real Estate Investment Trusts	1.0
Software & Computer Services	0.8
Net current assets	0.1
	-----
Total	100.0
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Ten Largest Equity Investments
Company	Total assets (%)
British American Tobacco	6.3
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’	5.2
RELX	4.2
Lloyds Banking Group	3.9
Unilever	3.8
Rentokil Initial	3.4
John Laing Group	3.3
HSBC Holdings	3.1
Ferguson	3.0
Shire	2.8

Commenting on the markets, Adam Avigdori and David Goldman representing the Investment Manager noted:

UK equities finished the year on a strong note with a total return of 5.0% over the quarter and 13.1% for the year1.  The UK economic growth rate slowed in 20172, but the impact of Brexit was far less than many had feared: consumption and investment weakened but net trade provided an offset; the Chancellor took the opportunity provided by the Budget to modestly ease the fiscal stance. The domestic political environment remained febrile but the year ended with a declaration from the European Commission that ‘sufficient progress’ had been made to allow discussions to move on to Britain’s future relationship with the EU.  Global economic growth remained robust and led to further monetary tightening with interest rates rising in both the UK and the US.  Small and mid-cap indices performed strongly over the year but broadly in line with the FTSE 100 in the fourth quarter1.  The rally in the oil price in the second half of the year led to further strength in the Oil & Gas sector; the Mining sector similarly benefited from the strength of metals prices towards the year end.

Over the quarter the Company delivered a return of 3.9%, underperforming the FTSE All-Share which delivered a return of 5.0%3.

Inchcape was the largest detractor from performance over the quarter. The company has been increasing its footprint in emerging markets and becoming more vertically integrated. Although next year’s forecasts have been impacted by currency downgrades, the company has a strong balance sheet which we expect them to deploy through highly accretive M&A4. Next underperformed as concerns mounted around Christmas trading although the trading statement after the quarter end revealed that it had exceeded expectations, particularly in its Online business5. An underweight position in Royal Dutch Shell has been a performance drag relative to the benchmark as profits announcements were slightly ahead of expectations. There has been nervousness around the dividend but we do not see this being under pressure and believe that Shell will continue with their current dividend strategy.

Premier Asset Management was the largest contributor to performance as they’ve been beneficiaries of strong market performance and a continuation of inflows into multi-asset products, where Premier currently has first quartile performance6. The firm has also recently declared a dividend. Intercontinental Hotel Group performed well over the quarter, aided by Sterling strength. The business has a very strong loyalty scheme with high recognition of their brands and a strong franchising culture. Their movement to an asset-light model has been beneficial and resulted in a low cost to serve with attractive free cash flow4. Ferguson rallied over the second half of the year as sales growth accelerated and it achieved a better-than-expected price for the sale of its Nordic operations. Ferguson demonstrates good control of working capital and their cash flow is strong with net debt falling7.

We are positioning the portfolio more defensively and have made a number of recent transactions along these lines. The political deterioration post the election has made us more cautious of some of the traditional defensive names and in this regard we have sold our position in Babcock. We are being increasingly selective in our domestic UK holdings and have sold Foxtons and reduced our holdings in Forterra, Lloyds and Next. We have added to turnaround position Standard Chartered and participated in the IPO of Sabre Insurance as we are reassured by the pricing outlook in the motor insurance market. We have added to holdings in CRH, Diageo and TP ICAP3.

As Brexit negotiations continue to stutter, the nervousness associated with the UK is palpable and this has been reflected in the substantial discount applied to UK domestic franchises.  Whilst we share this caution, we do believe that the indiscriminate discount applied to UK domestic franchises is generating interesting opportunities to invest in some fantastic long-term, cash generative companies at attractive valuations.  Elsewhere, we are positively disposed to companies exposed to infrastructure and construction spend in developed markets where activity levels remain subdued relative to longer term averages and requirements and are well supported by the political environment.

Rising interest rates, while reassuring in affirming we are on the path of normalisation for monetary policy will impact corporate refinancing costs.  We believe that it is crucial to invest in companies with sustainably strong cash generation and robust balance sheets such that they are able to perpetuate growth over the medium and longer term from within and not by relying on unlimited cheap credit.

1   Source: London Stock Exchange as at 31 December 2017

2   Source: ONS (Office for National Statistics) as at 31 December 2017

3   Source: BlackRock as at 31 December 2017

4   Source: Company financial statements

5   Source: Company statement

6   Source: Morningstar as at 31 December 2017

7   Source: Company statement and financial accounts

18 January 2018