Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC All information is at31 July 2016 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)#			8.1		0.4		-0.5	33.6			73.8
Net asset value (fully diluted)			n/a		n/a		n/a	n/a			66.8
Share price			6.0		-3.9		-3.3	27.7			71.2
Benchmark*			7.3		1.1		-1.3	24.1			51.3
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 five year period indices have been blended to reflect this.
At month end
Net asset value capital only:									375.95p
Net asset value incl. income:									380.00p
Share price									312.00p
Discount to cum income NAV									17.9%
Net yield									2.2%*
Total Gross assets									£277.9m**
Net market exposure as a % of net asset value^									100.4%
Ordinary shares in issue:									73,130,326***
2015 ongoing charges (excluding performance fees):									1.1%****
2015 ongoing charges ratio (including performance fees):									2.3%
* Calculated using current year interim dividend payable on 19 August 2016 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 2015. ^Long positions less short positions as a percentage of net asset value.
Sector Weightings				% of Total Assets
Industrials				28.3
Consumer Services				20.9
Financials				15.1
Consumer Goods				8.8
Technology				8.1
Health Care				7.1
Basic Materials				5.6
Oil & Gas				2.0
Net current assets				4.1
				-----
Total				100.0
				=====
Market Exposure (Quarterly)
	31.08.15	30.11.15				29.02.16				31.05.16
	%	%				%				%
Long	115.2	115.2				118.2				114.4
Short	9.0	9.2				11.2				8.3
Gross exposure	124.2	124.4				129.4				122.7
Net exposure	106.2	106.0				107.0				106.7
Ten Largest Investments
Company				% of Total Gross Assets
4imprint Group				3.1
CVS Group				2.8
Dechra Pharmaceuticals				2.7
JD Sports				2.4
Hill & Smith				2.1
Fevertree Drinks				1.9
Workspace Group				1.8
Cineworld Group				1.8
Restore				1.8
Accesso Technology				1.7
Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis and Dan Whitestone, representing the Investment Manager noted: After the very difficult period following the UK referendum result, markets bounced back in July. During July the Company’s NAV per share rose by 8.1% on a cum income basis whilst our benchmark index rose by 7.3%; the FTSE 100 Index rose by 3.4% (all performance returns in Sterling with income reinvested). The long only portfolio rose in value by 7.6% whilst the CFD portfolio added 0.97% to the NAV during the month, both pre-costs of managing the Company. Within the long only portfolio stock selection contributed to relative performance during the month, with sector allocation being slightly negative. Our holdings in Fevertree Drinks and Accesso both contributed positively. Fevertree’s interim results to 30 June 2016 showed revenue growth of 69% (all organic), EPS growth of 83% and net cash up to £18m. We held another good meeting with management who continue to impress. Accesso did not have newsflow during the month although several brokers did initiate research on the company with positive recommendations. There were no holdings which were significant detractors from relative performance from a stock specific point of view during the month. We continued to suffer from being underweight the mining sector; not holding stocks such as Vedanta, Hochschild, Evraz and Centamin detracted in aggregate 1.0% from relative performance. Turning to the CFD portfolio, July was a strong month for performance, generating nearly 1%, driven by very strong stock specific success in the long book. The CFD long book generated circa 1.4% and the short book detracted circa 0.4%. All the top 10 contributors were longs, and all the top 10 detractors were shorts, which isn’t really a surprise in context of the market rally.  What’s most encouraging for us is what drove the performance, where some of our core holdings in the long book delivered for us, updating the market with emphatically positive trading statements, raising forecasts, and shrugging off Brexit. MicroFocus was the biggest contributor, generating 20 basis points of performance as they produced numbers ahead of expectations and hiked the dividend by 50%. Just Eat and JD Sports were the next biggest contributors, both of which delivered positive updates to the market, showing how in both cases, their proposition is compelling and they have exposure to enduring and differentiated trends.  The short CFDs detracted from performance, but only modestly, and there isn’t really much to pick out of insight, the pleasing thing that no individual short cost more than 4 basis points, so losses were well contained at a single stock level. Opportunities continue to present themselves on both sides of the book, and whilst the majority of companies have yet to report a Brexit impact, it has certainly added further pressure to some industries that were already challenged, so we’ve tactically increased exposures there.  It is our belief that Brexit will create more uncertainty in future, and in that environment, a greater differentiation between winners and losers will emerge.  Therefore, we think the CFD portfolio is well positioned to benefit from this trend. 12 August 2016 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.