BERI Blackrock Energy And Resources Income Trust Plc

BLACKROCK ENERGY AND RESOURCES INCOME TRUST plc (LEI:54930040ALEAVPMMDC31)

All information is at 31 May 2024 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

One

Three

Six

One

Three

Five

Month

Months

Months

Year

Years

Years

Net asset value

2.9%

15.8%

13.9%

16.6%

53.0%

123.8%

Share price

-0.8%

16.9%

12.3%

13.2%

32.9%

119.5%

Sources: Datastream, BlackRock

At month end

Net asset value – capital only:

137.55p

Net asset value cum income1:

138.32p

Share price:

121.50p

Discount to NAV (cum income):

12.2%

Net yield:

3.7%

Gearing - cum income:

9.5%

Total assets:

£172.3m

Ordinary shares in issue2:

124,586,194

Gearing range (as a % of net assets):

0-20%

Ongoing charges3:

1.19%

1 Includes net revenue of 0.77p.

2 Excluding 11,000,000 ordinary shares held in treasury.

3 The Company’s ongoing charges are calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets and using the management fee and all other operating expenses excluding finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain other non-recurring items for the year ended 30 November 2023. In addition, the Company’s Manager has also agreed to cap ongoing charges by rebating a portion of the management fee to the extent that the Company’s ongoing charges exceed 1.25% of average net assets.

Sector Overview

Mining

45.8%

Traditional Energy

28.5%

Energy Transition                

26.4%

Net Current Liabilities             

-0.7%

-----

100.0%

=====

Sector Analysis

% Total Assets^

Country Analysis

% Total Assets^

Mining:

Diversified

23.6

Global

52.4

Copper

7.9

USA

20.7

Steel

3.8

Canada

9.5

Industrial Minerals

2.9

Latin America

4.1

Gold

2.5

Other Africa

2.8

Aluminium

1.8

Germany

2.6

Metals & Mining

1.8

United Kingdom

2.5

Nickel

1.5

Australia

2.4

Subtotal Mining:

45.8

France

1.8

Italy

1.3

Ireland

0.6

Net Current Liabilities

-0.7

Traditional Energy:

-----

E&P

12.3

100.0

Integrated

8.5

Distribution

3.3

Oil Services

2.2

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

1.4

Refining & Marketing

0.8

Subtotal Traditional Energy:

28.5

Energy Transition:

Energy Efficiency

9.5

Electrification

7.1

Renewables

5.5

Transport

3.0

Storage

1.3

Subtotal Energy Transition:

26.4

Net Current Liabilities

-0.7

----

100.0

=====

^ Total Assets for the purposes of these calculations exclude bank overdrafts, and the net current liabilities figure shown in the tables above therefore exclude bank overdrafts equivalent to 8.7% of the Company’s net asset value.

Ten Largest Investments

Company

Region of Risk

% Total Assets

Anglo American

Global

4.7

Rio Tinto

Global

4.7

Teck Resources

Global

4.2

Glencore

Global

3.4

Shell

Global

3.3

Filo Corp

Latin America

2.6

NextEra Energy

United States

2.5

BHP

Global

2.3

Schneider Electric

Global

2.2

Hess

Global

2.1

Commenting on the markets, Tom Holl and Mark Hume, representing the Investment Manager noted:

The Company’s Net Asset Value (NAV) returned by 2.9% during the month of May (in GBP terms).

In 2024, US inflation and growth have been higher than expected resulting in bond yields rising, to price in one or two interest rate cuts by year end, having previously indicated up to six cuts. In May, however, US core PCE inflation eased, and payroll growth was less than expected. US Tech and AI-related Q1 earnings growth was strong, with evidence of a broadening of earnings growth beyond these areas supporting global equity markets. Mining equities outperformed broader equity markets in May, however, helped by improving sentiment around China, mined commodity prices remained at strong levels. Economic activity in China showed signs of improvement and support measures for its struggling property market were announced, with its central bank setting up a CN¥ 300 billion (US$42 billion) facility for local state-owned enterprises to buy unsold homes. After a strong run in April, most mined commodity prices were relatively flat through May. The copper price reached a new all-time high of US$5.20/lb during the month but pulled back to end the period up just by 0.2%, whilst the silver price rose by 14.8% on strong physical demand in Asia. In company news, after a month of negotiations, BHP withdrew its proposed takeover of Anglo American after the companies failed to reach an agreement.

Within energy, economic data that was lower-than-expected and a normalisation of refining margins during the month from higher levels, created uncertainty around oil demand growth and relative weakness in energy equities. M&A activity within energy remained a feature: Conocophillips announced plans to acquire Marathon Oil at a relatively low premium, in a further sign of US shale consolidation and indicative of industry capital discipline. The Brent oil price fell by 10.0%, whilst WTI fell by 6.6%, ending the month at $79/bbl and $78/bbl respectively. The US Henry Hub natural gas price rose by 32% during the month to end at $2.58/mmbtu.

Within the energy transition theme, recent analysis forecast rapid increases in electricity demand from the build out of AI data centres (Thunder Said Energy estimate +1000TWh in in the US by 2030). Not only does the expected increase in power demand require huge investment in new electricity generation, but it will also necessitate investment in the electricity grid and related infrastructure. The hyperscalers building the AI data centres have previously announced decarbonisation targets and therefore these may further accelerate investment in renewable power. Microsoft recently announced a global framework with Brookfield to supply 10.5GW of new renewable projects between 2026-2030. Clean power utility RWE announced two power purchase agreements with Microsoft for onshore wind projects in Texas. Private equity groups appear to be recognising the valuation opportunity in the publicly listed sector with a number of acquisitions of renewable energy developers announced at significant bid premiums to where the stocks were trading. KKR bid for Encavis at a 60% premium, EQT bid for OX2 at a 43% premium and BNN Bloomberg reported that Brookfield was in negotiations to purchase a majority stake in Neoen.

All data points in US dollar terms unless otherwise specified. Commodity price moves sourced from Thomson Reuters Datastream.

02 July 2024

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/beri 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.