BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST plc
All information is at 30 April 2015 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Five
Month Months Year Years Years
Net asset value 7.2% 8.9% -21.7% -46.0% -41.6%
Share price 7.5% 9.9% -26.6% -45.6% -38.9%
Euromoney Global Mining Index 6.6% 5.7% -9.7% -31.7% -38.1%
(Total return)
Sources: BlackRock, Euromoney Global Mining Index, Datastream
At month end
Net asset value including income*: 358.75p XD
Net asset value capital only: 351.92p XD
*Includes net revenue of 6.83p
Share price: 316.00p XD
Discount to NAV**: 11.9%
Total assets: £710.6m
Net yield***: 6.7%
Net gearing: 9.6%
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 an interim dividend of 7.00p and a final dividend of 14.00p in
respect of 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 42.6 Global 55.4
Base Metals 23.3 Latin America 12.4
Gold 13.4 Australasia 8.3
Silver & Diamonds 8.2 Other Africa 7.6
Other 4.3 Canada 5.1
Industrial Minerals 3.7 Emerging Europe 4.2
Energy Minerals 1.2 South Africa 2.8
Aluminium 1.1 China 1.1
Zinc 0.3 USA 0.7
Net current assets 1.9 Indonesia 0.5
Net current assets 1.9
----- -----
100.0 100.0
===== =====
Ten Largest Investments % Total
Assets
Company
BHP Billiton 12.7
Rio Tinto 10.2
First Quantum Minerals 8.9
Glencore 8.5
Lundin Mining 4.7
MMC Norilsk Nickel 3.9
Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde 3.6
Fresnillo 2.8
Iluka Resources 2.6
Hudbay Minerals 2.5
Commenting on the markets, Evy Hambro, representing the Investment Manager
noted:
Performance
The mining sector rebounded strongly in April as commodity prices rallied on
the back of US dollar weakness and positive sentiment out of China as a number
of easing measures were announced. These measures include a cut to the reserve
requirement ratio as well as reduced restrictions for second time homebuyers,
which should improve liquidity conditions and be supportive for the Chinese
market.
Base metals performed particularly well during the month, with zinc and nickel
rising 14.2% and 12.8%, whilst aluminium and copper increased by 8.5% and 5.0%
respectively in US dollar terms. Iron ore, which has remained under pressure
during 2015, finished the month 10% higher as it benefited from announcements
of mine closures. Further support came from the announcement that BHP Billiton
would defer the expansion of their shipping facility in Western Australia
limiting additional supply growth to the market.
The Company's overweight to copper producers such as Lundin Mining and Cerro
Verde, coupled with an underweight to BHP Billiton as the market favoured more
leveraged names, aided relative performance during the month. The recent upward
move in the iron ore price detracted from performance, principally via our
underweight to Vale the major Brazilian iron ore producer. For the month of
April, the NAV delivered a total return of 7.2%, taking the return for the
Company year-to-date back into positive territory.
Within the Company's unquoted investments, Avanco Resources a copper
development company where the Company secured a US$12m royalty in July 2014,
announced an equity raise to fully finance their Antas (Stage 1) copper mine
into production. This places Avanco in an advantageous position of being fully
financed, debt free and unhedged as it enters construction. The royalty
transaction is expected to settle in Q2 2015, with Avanco targeting first
production late 2015 / early 2016. In addition, Banro, where the Company has
exposure via a gold-linked preference share and senior secured notes, announced
that it had closed the US$70m balance of its previously announced financing
package.
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.
14 May 2015
ENDS
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