Portfolio Update

The information contained in this release was correct as at 31 August 2022. 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 SUSTAINABLE AMERICAN INCOME TRUST PLC (LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468)
All information is at 31 August 2022   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	0.6%	0.1%	4.3%	12.0%	31.6%	56.5%
Share price	-0.3%	1.2%	4.8%	10.5%	19.3%	60.5%
Russell 1000 Value Index	1.5%	2.3%	7.7%	10.9%	35.0%	61.7%

At month end

Net asset value - capital only:	213.72p
Net asset value - cum income:	213.80p
Share price:	202.50p
Discount to cum income NAV:	5.3%
Net yield1:	4.0%
Total assets including current year revenue:	£171.5m
Gearing:	3.8%
Ordinary shares in issue2:	80,229,044
Ongoing charges3:	1.1%

¹ Based on a quarterly interim dividend of 2.00p per share declared on 3 November 2021 for the year ended 31 October 2021, and three quarterly dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 22 March 2022, 11 May 2022 and 4 August 2022 for the year ending 31 October 2022 and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 August 2022.

² Excluding 20,132,261 ordinary shares held in treasury.

³ Ongoing charges represent the management fee and all other operating expenses excluding interest as a % of average shareholders’ funds for the year ended 31 October 2021.

Sector Analysis	Total Assets (%)
Financials	22.4
Health Care	19.5
Information Technology	14.2
Consumer Discretionary	9.9
Energy	8.5
Consumer Staples	5.4
Industrials	5.3
Materials	5.3
Communication Services	5.1
Utilities	4.8
Real Estate	1.3
Net Current Liabilities	-1.7
	----
	100.0
	=====

Country Analysis	Total Assets (%)
United States	83.3
United Kingdom	6.0
Japan	4.1
France	2.8
Australia	2.2
Canada	1.9
Switzerland	1.4
Net Current Liabilities	-1.7
	-----
	100.0
	=====

Top 10 Holdings	Country	% Total Assets
Cisco Systems	United States	3.4
Verizon Communications	United States	3.1
AstraZeneca	United Kingdom	3.1
Cigna	United States	2.9
Laboratory Corporation of America	United States	2.9
Sanofi	France	2.8
Wells Fargo	United States	2.8
Willis Towers Watson	United States	2.8
Pepsico	United States	2.7
Citigroup	United States	2.5

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

For the one-month period ended 31 August 2022, the Company’s NAV increased by 0.6% and the share price fell by 0.3% (all in sterling). The Company’s reference index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned +1.5% for the period.

The largest contributor to relative performance was allocation decisions in the energy sector. Specifically, our overweight exposure to and selections within the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry helped relative returns. Selection decisions in the financial sector also boosted relative results, most notably our overweight exposure to and decisions within the banking industry. Other notable contributors during the period included our underweight exposure to the real estate sector and, at the industry level, our underweight exposure to semiconductors.

The largest detractor from relative performance was due to allocation decisions in communication services. Most notably, our selection decisions in diversified telecoms and underweight exposure to entertainment weighed on relative returns. Our selection decisions within information technology also hurt relative performance, with our stock selection in IT services and our overweight exposure to technology hardware, storage and peripherals proving costly. Other notable detractors for the period included allocation decisions in the health care and utilities sectors.

Transactions

During the month, the Company initiated new purchases in Cardinal Health, Cheniere Energy and Robert Half. Conversely, the Company sold its positions in ConocoPhillips, Steel Dynamics and SL Green Realty Corp.

Positioning

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

Source: BlackRock.

20 September 2022

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.