Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK SUSTAINABLE AMERICAN INCOME TRUST PLC (LEI:549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31 August 2023 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
 

	One Month	Three Months	Six Months	One Year	Three Years	Five Years
Net asset value	-2.9	3.7	-4.1	-4.0	37.0	33.9
Share price	-3.5	1.5	-8.6	-6.1	35.4	26.2
Russell 1000 Value Index	-1.2	5.1	-0.3	-0.3	46.8	44.6

At month end

Net asset value - capital only:	196.95p
Net asset value - cum income:	197.21p
Share price:	182.25p
Discount to cum income NAV:	7.6%
Net yield1:	4.4%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£158.2m
Net gearing:	0.7%
Ordinary shares in issue2:	80,229,044
Ongoing charges3:	1.01%

¹ Based on one quarterly dividend of 2.00p per share declared on 2 November 2022 for the year ended 31 October 2022 and three quarterly dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 22 March 2023, 11 May 2023 and 3 August 2023 for the year ending 31 October 2023 and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 August 2023.

² Excluding 20,132,261 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 2022.

Sector Analysis	Total Assets (%)
Health Care	20.0
Financials	18.7
Information Technology	14.7
Consumer Discretionary	10.7
Industrials	8.8
Energy	8.7
Consumer Staples	6.5
Communication Services	4.1
Materials	3.8
Utilities	3.4
Real Estate	1.3
Net Current Liabilities	-0.7
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	100.0
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Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
United States	85.2
United Kingdom	6.1
Japan	3.6
France	1.9
Australia	1.8
Canada	1.4
Denmark	0.7
Net Current Liabilities	-0.7
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	100.0
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Top 10 Holdings	Country	% Total Assets
Cisco Systems	United States	3.1
Shell	United Kingdom	2.9
Citigroup	United States	2.6
Cognizant Technology Solutions	United States	2.6
L3Harris Technologies	United States	2.6
Kraft Heinz	United States	2.5
Willis Towers Watson	United States	2.5
American International	United States	2.5
Verizon Communications	United States	2.5
Cigna	United States	2.4

Tony DeSpirito, David Zhao and Lisa Yang, representing the Investment Manager, noted:

For the one-month period ended 31 August 2023, the Company’s NAV decreased by 2.9% and the share price by 3.5% (all in sterling). The Company’s reference index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned -1.2% for the period.

The largest contributor to relative performance, stemmed from stock selection in information technology, particularly in IT Services and communication equipment. Selection decisions in communication services also boosted relative performance, with an overweight allocation in diversified telecom services proving beneficial. Another modest contributor during the period at the sector level included stock selection in utilities.

The largest detractor from relative performance stemmed from selection decisions in consumer staples, notably stock selection in consumer staples distribution & retail and an overweight allocation to food products weighed on the relative performance. Stock selection in financials at the sector level, with selection decisions along with an overweight allocation in the banks industry proved costly. Other modest detractors during the period included an overweight allocation along with stock selection in consumer discretionary.

Transactions

During the month the Company purchased Allegion, Dollar General and Crown Holdings. The Company exited its positions in Caci International, Ralph Lauren and EQT.

Positioning

As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the reference index were in the health care, consumer discretionary and information technology sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the reference index were in the industrials, real estate and utilities sectors.

Source: BlackRock.

20 September 2023

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

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Release

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