Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC All information is at31 July 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)#			3.3		7.9		21.7	86.0			159.3
Net asset value (fully diluted)			3.3		7.9		21.7	86.0			142.0
Share price			1.7		13.0		22.1	98.2			156.0
Benchmark*			1.5		4.3		13.3	64.9			91.2
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:									384.16p
Net asset value incl. income:									390.13p
Share price									330.88p
Discount to cum income NAV									15.2%
Net yield									1.4%*
Total Gross assets									£285.5m**
Net market exposure as a % of net asset value^									105.6%
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 declared and paid respectively. ** 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.
Industry Weightings				% of Total Gross Assets
Industrials				25.9
Consumer Services				21.0
Financials				19.9
Consumer Goods				8.9
Health Care				7.6
Basic Materials				6.1
Technology				5.9
Oil & Gas				3.0
Telecommunications				0.4
Net current liabilities				1.3
				-----
Total				100.0
				=====
Market Exposure (Quarterly)
	31.08.14	30.11.14				28.02.15				31.05.15
	%	%				%				%
Long	113.5	117.4				121.9				116.8
Short	13.5	9.8				10.3				9.6
Gross exposure	127.0	127.2				132.2				126.4
Net exposure	100.0	107.6				111.6				107.2
Ten Largest Investments
Company				% of Total Gross assets
4imprint Group				2.7
CVS Group				2.6
Workspace Group				2.5
Savills				2.4
Lookers				2.2
Topps Tiles				2.2
Rathbone Brothers				2.0
Ted Baker				1.9
Polar Capital Holdings				1.9
Cineworld				1.9
Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis and Dan Whitestone, representing the Investment Manager noted: During July the Company’s NAV per share rose by 3.3% on a cum income basis whilst the benchmark rose by 1.5%; the FTSE 100 Index rose by 2.8%. Outperformance was derived mainly from stock selection in the long only portfolio and by a strong performance from the CFD portfolio. The long only portfolio rose in value by 2.8%, outperforming the benchmark by 1.3%. The CFD portfolio added 0.7% to the NAV with the long positions adding 0.5% and the short positions 0.2%. These individual portfolio returns are before costs. The largest positive contributors to stock selection during the month from the long only portfolio were our holdings in Fever-tree Drinks, 4imprint and Quintain Estates. Fever-tree announced interim results with revenues up by 62% and EBITDA up by 68%; all territories are performing strongly. 4imprint also announced interims, with revenues up by 20%, all organic, and profit before tax up by 25%, management remain confident for the full year. Quintain announced a bid for the company by an investment vehicle of the US private equity group Lone Star; the bid was at a 22.4% premium to the Quintain share price prior to the bid. There were no major detractors from relative outperformance within the long only portfolio during the month. Within the CFD portfolio we saw gains from the long and short books. The top 5 positive contributors were all long positions (JD Sports, 4imprint, Cineworld, Robert Walters, and Betfair), and the gains ranged from 0.06% to 0.09%. The biggest contributor was JD Sports, where the shares responded strongly to a trading update announcing that profit before tax for the year ending 31 January 2016 should be 10% ahead of market expectations. Several short positions delivered strong performance, from a range of different industries, all contributing 0.04% each to performance. Turning to the detractors within the CFD portfolio, the top 5 all contributed negatively, to the extent of -0.04% each, and comprised of 4 long positions (Aldermore Bank, Zotefoams, IPF, Restore) and 1 short position (a general retailer). The biggest detractor was the challenger bank Aldermore following George Osborne’s Budget announcement of an unexpected 8% surcharge tax for the whole banking sector as well as changes to the tax deductibility of mortgage interest for private landlords. We did not make any significant changes to the long only or CFD portfolios during the month.
12 August 2015
ENDS
Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/thrg 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.