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1 Includes net
revenue of 0.54p.
2 Excluding
7,815,382 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.
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Commenting
on the markets, Tom Holl and Mark Hume, representing the Investment
Manager noted:
The
Company’s Net Asset Value (NAV) fell by 0.4% during the month of
February (in GBP terms).
February was a
positive month for equity markets, with the MSCI All Country World
Index rising by 4.2%. Resilient macro-economic data and strong
earnings reports from top tech companies offset higher yields.
Chinese equity markets had hit five-year lows coming into the
month, however, activity data over the Lunar New Year holiday
period strengthened, and the Chinese government announced a number
of supportive interventions, which buoyed Chinese listed
equities.
February was a
challenging month for the mining sector, particularly relative to
broader equity markets.
Most
mined commodities experienced price declines, appearing to reflect
lower consumption levels in China as domestic activity slowed
during the Chinese New Year holiday period. Ongoing property sector
weakness in the country also contributed to the
decline.
China’s
manufacturing PMI remained below 50 and fell marginally
month-on-month from 49.2 to 49.1. For reference, prices for iron
ore (62% fe) and zinc fell by 11.7% and 5.4% respectively, although
nickel bucked the trend, rising by 10.3%. Meanwhile, the gold price
remained stable but the other precious metals came under pressure,
with silver and platinum prices falling by 2.1% and 4.0%
respectively. The mining sector's reporting season demonstrated
that companies are generally adhering to their capital allocation
frameworks. Operating
cost inflation appears to have peaked; however, some capital costs
remain persistently high.
Lastly, delays to
copper production growth were a notable theme which increased our
conviction in supply-side tightness for the metal over the next few
years.
Within the energy
sector, oil prices were firmer on robust oil demand and positive
refining margins. There was no reduction to apparent geopolitical
risk with attacks on Red Sea shipping continuing. A warm winter in
Europe has meant lower demand for imported liquified natural gas
than might have been expected, whilst LNG exports from the US and
Middle East have increased to replace lost Russian pipeline natural
gas. Consequently, natural gas prices and European power prices
fell during the month.
The
US energy sector saw further consolidation with Diamondback’s
merger with Endeavour Energy Resources and Chord’s acquisition of
Enerplus. Against this backdrop, Brent and WTI oil prices rose by
1.9% and 3.9%, ending the month at $85/bbl and $79/bbl
respectively.
The
US Henry Hub natural gas price fell by 13.1% during the month to
end at $1.85/mmbtu.
Within the energy
transition theme, the spotlight remained firmly on energy
security.
The
IEA reported a further increase in energy related global carbon
emissions despite the record level of renewable power installations
in 2023, indicating the scale necessary to achieve the energy
transition -For onshore wind power, COP28’s aim to treble renewable
energy capacity by 2030 suggests a need to increase installed wind
turbine capacity from ~1,000GW to over 3,000GW by 2030, a 20%+ per
annum growth rate from the current ~90GW per annum rate for
2023.
Within clean
transportation, the Geneva motor show saw the launch of a number of
mass market EVs with lower price points. For EVs to continue strong
market share growth, increased choice of lower priced EV is an
important step.
All
data points in US dollar terms unless otherwise specified.
Commodity price moves sourced from Thomson Reuters
Datastream.
26
March 2024
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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.
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