Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC All information is at31 October 2015 and unaudited.
Performance at month end is calculated on a cum income basis
			One		Three		One	Three			Five
			month		months		year	years			years
			%		%		%	%			%
Net asset value (undiluted)#			2.1		-0.6		24.8	68.8			110.7
Net asset value (fully diluted)			2.1		-0.6		24.8	68.8			96.7
Share price			-2.3		-2.7		19.6	73.5			108.0
Benchmark*			1.8		-3.0		12.6	46.5			64.7
Sources: BlackRock and Datastream #Prior to dilution arising on conversion of subscription shares. *With effect from 1 December 2013 the Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM (excluding investment companies) Index replaced the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding investment companies) Index as the Company’s benchmark. The three and five year period indices have been blended to reflect this.
At month end
Net asset value capital only:									380.08p
Net asset value incl. income:									386.77p
Share price									321.00p
Discount to cum income NAV									17.0%
Net yield									1.46%*
Total Gross assets									£282.8m**
Net market exposure as a % of net asset value^									106.7%
Ordinary shares in issue:									73,130,326***
2014 ongoing charges (excluding performance fees):									1.1%****
2014 ongoing charges ratio (including performance fees):									1.2%
* Calculated using current year interim and prior year final dividends paid. ** Includes current year revenue and excludes the gross exposure through contracts for difference. *** Excluding 7,400,000 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 30 November 2014. ^Long positions less short positions as a percentage of net asset value.
Sector Weightings				% of Total Assets
Industrials				25.6
Consumer Services				21.2
Financials				20.3
Technology				8.5
Consumer Goods				8.3
Health Care				8.2
Basic Materials				5.1
Oil & Gas				2.7
Telecommunications				0.5
Net current liabilities				-0.4
				-----
Total				100.0
				=====
Market Exposure (Quarterly)
	30.11.14	28.02.15				31.05.15				31.08.15
	%	%				%				%
Long	117.4	121.9				116.8				115.2
Short	9.8	10.3				9.6				9.0
Gross exposure	127.2	132.2				126.4				124.2
Net exposure	107.6	111.6				107.2				106.2
Ten Largest Investments
Company				% of Total Gross assets
4imprint Group				2.9
CVS Group				2.6
Workspace Group				2.5
Rathbone Brothers				2.5
JD Sports				2.4
Savills				2.2
Avon Rubber				2.0
Topps Tiles				1.9
Lookers				1.9
Ted Baker				1.9
Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis and Dan Whitestone, representing the Investment Manager noted:
During October the Company’s NAV per share rose by 2.1% on a cum income basis whilst our benchmark index rose by 1.8%; the FTSE 100 Index rose by 5.2%. Relative outperformance mainly derived from good stock selection. Sector allocation had a slightly negative impact on relative performance during the month, whilst the CFD portfolio had a slightly positive impact on relative performance. The largest positive contributors to stock selection during the month were our holdings in Hutchison China MediTech (‘Chi-Med’) and Avon Rubber. Chi-Med announced that it had filed for an IPO in the US and was planning to raise money listing its shares on the Nasdaq, which had been taken well. We had a good meeting with management who are very confident about the prospects for their key oncology drugs. Avon Rubber announced that its financial year to 30 September 2015 had ended strongly, helped by a late order from a Middle Eastern customer for respirators. As a result management anticipate profits will be significantly ahead of market expectations. The largest detractor from relative performance came from a stock in the benchmark which we do not own, Al Noor Hospitals. The company was subject to a bid. Within the long only portfolio we reduced or sold holdings in a few, mainly midcap, companies where our conviction about trading has weakened. We made small new investments in a few microcap companies including Quartix and Gama Aviation. Quartix is a leading supplier of subscription-based vehicle tracking systems, software and services. Installations of Quartix solutions continue to grow fast in the UK, and are beginning to grow in the US. Gama Aviation is a global private aviation services company having more than 100 aircraft under management across 5 continents. Gama offers a comprehensive fleet management service to business jet owners managing a wide range of aspects of running an aircraft on behalf of the aircraft owner. Much of Gama’s revenues are essential, non-cyclical spend, charter being a small proportion of revenues. We were impressed with management, their track record so far, and their strategy. Within the CFD portfolio, the return for the month was a positive 6 basis points (bps), with the 32bp gain in the long book offsetting the 28bp loss in the short book.  The losses in the short book were impacted by 2 short positions that were bid for during the month.  The top 5 positive contributors comprised 1 short (a small cap technology share) and 4 longs (YouGov, FDM Group, Restore and Safestore), and their positive performance ranged from 7bps to 4bps. The biggest contributor to performance was from a short position in a small cap technology company where the shares fell heavily in response to a negative sell-side research note, which prompted the Board to investigate further. The conclusion from this process was that the shares were suspended from trading on the AIM market and the company has subsequently filed for administration.  The top detractors ranged from 10bps to 3bps of negative performance, and comprised 3 short and 2 long positions (Robert Walters and Foxtons).  As previously mentioned, 2 of these 3 short positions were subject to bids (an industrial, and a Middle Eastern healthcare services provider). No major changes were made to the CFD portfolio during the month, and we continue to find interesting opportunities in this market for the long and short books.
16 November 2015
ENDS
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