BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST plc
All information is at 31 March 2015 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Five
Month Months Year Years Years
Net asset value -5.3% -1.5% -26.6% -50.0% -47.1%
Share price -3.8% -0.9% -32.6% -49.8% -44.1%
Euromoney Global Mining Index -7.0% -0.9% -14.5% -37.4% -43.0%
(Total return)
Sources: BlackRock, Euromoney Global Mining Index, Datastream
At month end
Net asset value including income*: 334.77p
Net asset value capital only: 329.92p
*Includes net revenue of 4.85p
Share price: 294.00p
Discount to NAV**: 12.2%
Total assets: £669.4m
Net yield***: 7.1%
Net gearing: 13.7%
Ordinary shares in issue: 177,287,242
Ordinary shares held in treasury: 15,724,600
Ongoing charges****: 1.4%
** Discount to NAV including income.
*** Based on final dividend of 14.00p per share and interim dividend of 7.00p
per share for the year ended 31 December 2014.
**** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses,
excluding finance costs for the year ended 31 December 2014.
Sector % Total Country Analysis % Total
Assets Assets
Diversified 43.1 Global 55.4
Base Metals 22.0 Latin America 12.4
Gold 13.7 Australasia 8.5
Silver & Diamonds 8.1 Other Africa 7.8
Other 4.7 Canada 5.5
Industrial Minerals 4.6 Emerging Europe 3.5
Energy Minerals 2.6 South Africa 3.5
Aluminium 1.7 China 2.6
Zinc 0.3 USA 1.1
Net current liabilities (0.8) Indonesia 0.5
Net current liabilities (0.8)
----- -----
100.0 100.0
===== =====
Ten Largest Investments % Total
Assets
Company
BHP Billiton 12.8
Rio Tinto 10.4
First Quantum Minerals 8.9
Glencore 8.3
Lundin Mining 4.6
Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde 3.4
MMC Norilsk Nickel 3.1
Iluka Resources 2.8
Fresnillo 2.8
China Shenhua Energy 2.6
Commenting on the markets, Evy Hambro, representing the Investment Manager
noted:
Performance
After a positive reporting season and strong share price performance, the
mining sector sold-off in March as commodity prices trended lower and market
sentiment deteriorated on the back of weak Chinese economic data, including PMI
figures below 50 (indicating a contracting economy) and property prices showing
year-on-year falls across nearly all of the major cities indicated. The market
now expects to see some form of liquidity injection into the Chinese market as
we move into the second quarter (typically a seasonally stronger period for
construction) which should support markets in the short term. Despite a more
dovish tone from the US Federal Reserve, the US dollar continued to perform
well and remained a key headwind for commodity prices.
Iron ore was the worst performing mined commodity, down -14.1% over the month,
as a result of the aforementioned soft Chinese economic data and an expectation
of further growth in supply from the Australian iron producers. The nickel
price was also weak, falling -12.1% as nickel LME inventories rose to record
highs. Copper bucked the downward commodity price trend, rising +2.4% over the
month as torrential rain in Chile forced the shutdown of several large copper
mines. This, combined with the high-profile project deferrals announced earlier
this year, led analysts to cut their estimates for a supply surplus in the
copper market in 2015.
The Company's overweight to copper and zinc producers, such as First Quantum,
Cerro Verde, Hudbay Minerals and Boliden, coupled with an underweight to the
major gold producers and to Vale (the Brazilian iron ore producer), positively
impacted relative performance versus the benchmark, the Euromoney Global Mining
Index. In addition, the Company's exposure to Norilsk was a positive
contributor to performance as the company released strong full year results
during the month which highlighted the potential for further strong dividends.
Strategy and Outlook
In 2014, good company strategy was outweighed by weakening commodity demand and
falling commodity prices and the sector ultimately trended lower. Looking
ahead, the outlook for commodity prices remains subdued, given expectations of
further US dollar strength and a modest demand outlook. This pressure will
continue to force tough decisions and mining companies are likely to remain in
austerity mode. Recent commodity price falls suggest further cuts to analyst
earnings will be required. As the year progresses, we would expect an
acceleration of closures of high-cost capacity in oversupplied markets. This
bodes well for the longer term and limits the industry's ability to respond to
the next upturn in demand which will ultimately see prices go higher.
While the sector continues to face headwinds, it is important to remember that
we are another year further into the underinvestment phase and closer to the
deficit markets that we foresee. We expect an inflection point to be reached
once price (and consequently return) expectations start to recover as a result
of the supply curtailment, which should accelerate with the current commodity
price weakness.
All data in USD terms unless otherwise stated.
13 April 2015
ENDS
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