MERRILL LYNCH WORLD MINING TRUST plc
All information is at 31 October 2007 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Five
month months year years years
Net asset value* (undiluted) 8.1% 23.1% 70.9% 277.3% 578.3%
Net asset value* (diluted) 7.3% 20.4% 62.4% 250.1% 516.3%
Share price* 5.5% 12.8% 59.4% 260.6% 558.1%
HSBC Global Mining Index 7.0% 23.1% 65.8% 223.5% 445.2%
Sources: BlackRock, HSBC Global Mining Index, Datastream
*Net asset value and share price performance includes the warrant reinvestment,
assuming the 2004 and 2006 bonus warrant entitlements per share were sold and
the proceeds reinvested on the first day of trading.
At month end
Net asset value Including Income Capital Only
Undiluted: 845.33p* 838.07p
Diluted: 786.99p 780.88p
*Includes net revenue of 7.26p
Share price: 687.00p
Discount to NAV**: 12.02%
Warrant price: 222.00p
Total assets: £1,323.32m
Net yield: 0.36%
Gearing: 0.0%
Ordinary shares in issue: 157,900,479
Warrants in issue: 29,814,855
Ordinary shares held in Treasury: 14,242,800
**Discount to NAV based on capital only, fully diluted NAV.
During the month 566,123 ordinary shares were bought back to be held in
treasury for a total consideration of £3,830,946.56
Sector % Total Country % Total
Analysis Assets Analysis Assets
Diversified 49.1 Latin America 25.4
Base Metals 24.6 Global 20.6
Platinum 7.8 South Africa 13.8
Gold 6.1 Australasia 9.7
Silver/Diamonds 5.6 Canada 8.4
Industrial Minerals 3.7 Other Africa 6.6
Other 3.7 USA 6.1
Net current liabilities (0.6) India 4.1
----- Europe 2.7
100.0 Kazakhstan 1.1
----- Indonesia 1.0
Laos 0.8
China 0.3
Net current liabilities (0.6)
-----
100.0
-----
Ten Largest Equity Investments
Company Region of Risk
Alcoa USA
Anglo American Global
BHP Billiton Global
CVRD Latin America
First Quantum Minerals Zambia
Impala Platinum South Africa
Minas Buenaventura Latin America
Rio Tinto Global
Teck Cominco Canada
Zinifex Australasia
Commenting on the markets, Graham Birch, representing the Investment Manager
noted:
Whilst demand for metals remained strong over the period, the market was once
again impacted by fears over global growth in mid month. In equity news, both
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, the world's two largest mining companies, released
third quarter production numbers that fell short of analyst expectations. Lack
of infrastructure, labour and equipment were key constraints for both
companies. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are two of the highest quality operators
in the mining industry and we perceive that their struggle is symptomatic of
the industry's inability to significantly grow production. This, in our view,
will keep upwards pressure on commodity prices going forward.
Please note that on 8 November, and thus outside the period under review, BHP
Billiton approached Rio Tinto with regards to a potential combination of the
two businesses. Both Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are top ten holdings of the
Company.
Looking at the remainder of the year and into the start of 2008, we may see
further M&A driven by the fact that it remains far cheaper for companies to buy
rather than build production capacity. Meanwhile, demand from developing
nations such as China and India is likely to continue unabated whilst we
continue to see relatively muted growth from the supply side. In addition, we
expect numerous commodity price upgrades between now and the end of the year as
analysts mark their forecasts to market, providing the opportunity for
additional potential upside in mining equities.
Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/its on the
internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV
terminal).
15 November 2007
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