Portfolio Update

The information contained in this release was correct as at 31 January 2021.  Information on the Company’s up to date net asset values can be found on the London Stock Exchange Website at:

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html. 

BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003B7ETS1JEDPF59)
 

All information is at 31 January 2021 and unaudited.
Performance at month end is calculated on a cum income basis

	One Month %	Three months %	One year %	Three years %	Five years %
Net asset value	-0.1	20.7	11.8	38.3	115.4
Share price	-1.2	21.2	10.9	63.4	155.0
Benchmark*	0.7	21.3	7.9	10.9	51.4

Sources: BlackRock and Datastream

*With effect from 22 March 2018 the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index replaced the Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index as the Company’s benchmark. The performance of the indices have been blended to reflect this.

At month end
Net asset value capital only:	739.05p
Net asset value incl. income:	746.13p
Share price	756.00p
Premium to cum income NAV	1.3%
Net yield1:	1.4%
Total Gross assets2:	£666.4m
Net market exposure as a % of net asset value3:	119.7%
Ordinary shares in issue4:	89,310,400
2020 ongoing charges (excluding performance fees)5,6:	0.60%
2020 ongoing charges ratio (including performance fees)5,6,7:	1.60%

1. Calculated using the 2020 interim dividend declared on 23 July 2020 and paid on 26 August 2020, together with the 2019 final dividend declared on 06 February 2020 and paid on 27 March 2020.

2. Includes current year revenue and excludes gross exposure through contracts for difference.

3. Long exposure less short exposure as a percentage of net asset value.

4. Excluding 0 shares held in treasury.

5. Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 November 2019.

6. With effect from 1 August 2017 the base management fee was reduced from 0.70% to 0.35% of gross assets per annum.

7. Effective 1st December 2017 the annual performance fee is calculated using performance data on an annualised rolling two year basis (previously, one year) and the maximum annual performance fee payable is effectively reduced to 0.90% of two year rolling average month end gross assets (from 1% of average annual gross assets over one year). Additionally, the Company now accrues this fee at a rate of 15% of outperformance (previously 10%). The maximum annual total management fees (comprising the base management fee of 0.35% and a potential performance fee of 0.90%) are therefore 1.25% of average month end gross assets on a two-year rolling basis (from 1.70% of average annual gross assets).

Sector Weightings	% of Total Assets
Industrials	33.2
Consumer Services	18.3
Financials	17.2
Consumer Goods	10.1
Health Care	6.6
Technology	6.1
Telecommunications	3.5
Basic Materials	1.8
Net current assets	3.2
	-----
Total	100.0
	=====
Country Weightings	% of Total Assets
United Kingdom	88.0
United States	7.2
France	2.4
Australia	0.7
Switzerland	0.6
Denmark	0.6
Netherlands	0.4
Israel	0.1
	-----
Total	100.0
	=====

Market Exposure (Quarterly)
	29.02.20 %	31.05.20 %	31.08.20 %	30.11.20 %
Long	119.3	118.6	121.0	120.4
Short	8.9	2.1	2.4	1.9
Gross exposure	128.2	120.7	123.4	122.3
Net exposure	110.4	116.6	118.6	118.6

Ten Largest Investments
Company	% of Total Gross Assets 1
Games Workshop	3.3
YouGov	3.1
Electrocomponents*	3.0
Gamma Communications	2.8
Watches of Switzerland	2.8
Impax Asset Management	2.5
Breedon*	2.2
IntegraFin*	2.1
Chegg*	2.0
Pets at Home*	2.0

¹ These percentages reflect portfolio exposure gained from both the equity holdings and exposure through contracts for differences where relevant

Commenting on the markets, Dan Whitestone, representing the Investment Manager noted:

During January the Company returned -0.1%, while its benchmark, the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index, returned 0.7%. The long book contributed positively during the month, while the short book modestly detracted (both on a gross basis).

Despite a positive and optimistic start to January, global stock markets subsequently retreated as the rates of COVID-19 infections continued to worsen, while lockdowns were tightened and extended. UK small & mid-caps, however, were able to buck the trend and deliver a positive return through January as the removal of the risk associated with a no-deal Brexit saw continued interest in this end of the market.

January has seen many businesses continue to trade strongly, and in the early reporting season most of our long holdings that have reported have beaten estimates and raised guidance, often on both revenues and profits. This reaffirms our faith in their differentiation and gives us confidence in the outlook for the Company’s returns going forward. It also meant that January was a month where we saw great opportunities and made several new purchases as well as increasing our positions in companies that reported good results.

The largest contributor came from the purchase of Dr Martens which we had been working on for several months and where we were able to cornerstone the IPO (Initial Public Offering). The nature of retail is changing, and Dr Martens has global brand recognition and a global retail presence supported by a strong online offer. Watches of Switzerland, once again contributed positively to performance, is a retailer that has continued to trade extremely well during the lockdowns as the company has innovated and adapted to meet consumer demand through online channels. Specialist sustainable investing fund manager, Impax Asset Management, reported a 24.8% increase in assets under management, as the trend of increasing investor demand for sustainable products continued through the quarter.

Many of the larger detractors during January were shares that rallied which the Company does not own. However, our holding in Games Workshop detracted this month as it simply fell back from last month’s strong gains, something we see as temporary and we believe it remains a good long-term investment. Our position in Spirent was also a detractor after the shares weakened post an in-line full-year trading update.

Despite the nervous sentiment of January and the headlines of a difficult market environment, our main takeaway has been that we have seen a very robust early reporting season with many companies beating estimates at both the revenue and profit lines. We believe this is a solid underpin for long-term share price returns and gives us reassurance that we are on the right track. The IPO market remains strong and has presented us with the opportunity to invest in several exciting new businesses, and the pipeline for upcoming IPOs looks encouraging. As such, we have seen January as a great source of opportunity and look forward with confidence to the rest of the year. The overall net exposure is now c.120%, reflecting conviction in our long positions, an increase in exciting investment opportunities and our constructive view on UK small and mid-caps for 2021.

We thank shareholders for their support and look forward to the rest of 2021.

¹Source: BlackRock as at 31 January 2021

18 February 2021

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/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.