BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST plc | ||||||||||||||
All information is at 30 June 2015 and unaudited. | ||||||||||||||
Performance at month end with net income reinvested | ||||||||||||||
One | Three | One | Three | Five | ||||||||||
Month | Months | Year | Years | Years | ||||||||||
Net asset value | -10.1% | -6.0% | -32.2% | -45.3% | -41.9% | |||||||||
Share price | -7.4% | -1.9% | -33.9% | -41.6% | -37.9% | |||||||||
Euromoney Global Mining Index | -10.4% | -8.3% | -23.3% | -34.9% | -39.3% | |||||||||
(Total return) | ||||||||||||||
Sources: BlackRock, Euromoney Global Mining Index, Datastream | ||||||||||||||
At month end | ||||||||||||||
Net asset value including income*: | 314.74p | |||||||||||||
Net asset value capital only: | 305.14p | |||||||||||||
*Includes net revenue of 9.6p | ||||||||||||||
Share price: | 288.50p | |||||||||||||
Discount to NAV**: | 8.3% | |||||||||||||
Total assets: | £631.7m | |||||||||||||
Net yield***: | 7.3% | |||||||||||||
Net gearing: | 12.5% | |||||||||||||
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 | 39.7 | Global | 52.3 | |||||||||||
Base Metals | 24.3 | Latin America | 14.2 | |||||||||||
Gold | 12.9 | Australasia | 8.2 | |||||||||||
Silver & Diamonds | 10.1 | Other Africa | 7.6 | |||||||||||
Industrial Minerals | 4.5 | Canada | 6.5 | |||||||||||
Other | 4.0 | Emerging Europe | 5.0 | |||||||||||
Energy Minerals | 2.3 | South Africa | 2.4 | |||||||||||
Aluminium | 1.1 | China | 2.3 | |||||||||||
Zinc | 0.5 | Indonesia | 0.5 | |||||||||||
Net current assets | 0.6 | USA | 0.4 | |||||||||||
Net current assets | 0.6 | |||||||||||||
----- | ----- | |||||||||||||
100.0 | 100.0 | |||||||||||||
===== | ===== | |||||||||||||
Ten Largest Investments | ||||||||||||||
Company |
% Total Assets |
|||||||||||||
BHP Billiton | 11.4 | |||||||||||||
Rio Tinto | 10.3 | |||||||||||||
First Quantum Minerals | 9.4 | |||||||||||||
Glencore | 7.9 | |||||||||||||
Lundin Mining | 4.7 | |||||||||||||
MMC Norilsk Nickel | 4.7 | |||||||||||||
Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde | 3.9 | |||||||||||||
Fresnillo | 3.0 | |||||||||||||
Hudbay Minerals | 2.7 | |||||||||||||
Iluka Resources | 2.6 | |||||||||||||
Commenting on the markets, Evy Hambro, representing the Investment Manager noted: |
Performance |
It was a challenging month for the mining sector, with the deterioration in commodity prices witnessed at the end of May continuing into June. The weakness was primarily driven by a series of poor economic data points from China and a general risk-off environment associated with the Greek crisis. In addition to this, Chinese equity markets came under pressure following a bull market rally since the second half of 2014 with the Shanghai Composite suffering its first negative month since June 2014. |
Despite negativity surrounding China, we have seen some encouraging signs which include government action in the form of a removal of the 85% floor on lending rates and a cut to the deposit rate both of which have led to increasing house prices in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. As we move into the second half of the year we are looking for signs that these various stimulus measures will translate into improved commodity demand. |
The Company’s overweight to copper producers including First Quantum, Cerro Verde and Hudbay aided relative performance during the month. The Company’s largest copper holding, First Quantum, was one of the best performing mining stocks during the month, with the market re-rating the shares following the company’s decision last month to raise C$1.25bn of fresh equity to de-risk the balance sheet and underpin the company’s impressive growth profile over the next few years. |
During the month, the Company looked to further reduce its exposure to some of the smaller-cap companies exiting four positions in the process. In addition, the Company took advantage of the rally in iron ore prices during April/May to further reduce exposure to iron ore via writing calls over a major iron ore producer. |
Strategy and Outlook |
In 2014, good company strategy was outweighed by weakening commodity demand and falling commodity prices with the sector ultimately trending lower. At the half way point in 2015, the outlook for commodity prices continues to remain subdued, given expectations of further US dollar strength and demand weakness in China. However, there are some encouraging signs following the raft of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures announced by the Chinese Government during the 1H 2015, which has seen a pick-up in house prices in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities in recent months. 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 July 2015 |
ENDS |
Latest information is available by typing www.brwmplc.co.uk 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. |