The
information contained in this release was correct as at
31 March 2024.
Information on
the Company’s up to date net asset values can be found on the
London Stock Exchange Website at:
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html.
BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC (LEI:
5493003B7ETS1JEDPF59)
All
information is at
31 March
2024 and
unaudited.
Performance
at month end is calculated on a cum income
basis
|
One
Month
%
|
Three
months
%
|
One
year
%
|
Three
years
%
|
Five
years
%
|
Net
asset value
|
3.4
|
2.7
|
10.2
|
-12.6
|
32.1
|
Share
price
|
1.7
|
-3.2
|
3.4
|
-22.5
|
26.2
|
Benchmark*
|
3.0
|
-0.8
|
3.0
|
-12.7
|
14.9
|
Sources:
BlackRock and Deutsche Numis
*With
effect from 15 January 2024 the Numis
Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index
changed to the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding
Investment Companies).
At month
end
|
Net
asset value capital only:
|
650.37p
|
Net
asset value incl. income:
|
653.68p
|
Share
price
|
587.00p
|
Discount to cum
income NAV
|
10.2%
|
Net
yield1:
|
2.5%
|
Total
Gross assets2:
|
£609.7m
|
Net
market exposure as a % of net asset value3:
|
118.4%
|
Ordinary shares
in issue4:
|
93,278,514
|
2023
ongoing charges (excluding performance fees)5,6:
|
0.54%
|
2023
ongoing charges ratio (including performance
fees)5,6,7:
|
0.87%
|
1.
Calculated using the interim dividend declared on 07 July 2023 paid on 29
August 2023, together with the final dividend declared on
05 February 2024 paid on 28 March 2024
2.
Includes current year revenue and excludes gross exposure through
contracts for difference.
3.
Long exposure less short exposure as a percentage of net asset
value.
4.
Excluding 9,931,350 shares held in treasury.
5.
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 performance fees, finance costs,
direct transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain
other non-recurring items for the year ended 30 November 2023.
6.
With effect from 1 August 2017 the
base management fee was reduced from 0.70% to 0.35% of gross assets
per annum. 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, including performance fees, but
excluding finance costs, direct transaction charges, VAT recovered,
taxation and certain other non-recurring items for the year ended
30 November 2023.
7.
Effective 1st December 2017 the
annual performance fee is calculated using performance data on an
annualised rolling two-year basis (previously, one year) and the
maximum annual performance fee payable is effectively reduced to
0.90% of two year rolling average month end gross assets (from 1%
of average annual gross assets over one year). Additionally, the
Company now accrues this fee at a rate of 15% of outperformance
(previously 10%). The maximum annual total management fees
(comprising the base management fee of 0.35% and a potential
performance fee of 0.90%) are therefore 1.25% of average month end
gross assets on a two-year rolling basis (from 1.70% of average
annual gross assets).
Sector Weightings
|
% of Total Assets
|
|
|
Industrials
|
36.0
|
Consumer
Discretionary
|
22.8
|
Financials
|
15.7
|
Basic
Materials
|
6.8
|
Technology
|
6.5
|
Telecommunications
|
3.8
|
Health
Care
|
2.2
|
Consumer
Staples
|
1.9
|
Energy
|
1.2
|
Communication
Services
|
1.1
|
Real
Estate
|
0.9
|
Other
|
0.1
|
Net
Current Assets
|
1.0
|
|
-----
|
Total
|
100.0
|
|
=====
|
|
|
Country Weightings
|
% of Total Assets
|
|
|
United
Kingdom
|
91.6
|
United
States
|
4.8
|
Ireland
|
1.4
|
Australia
|
0.8
|
France
|
0.8
|
Switzerland
|
0.5
|
Canada
|
0.4
|
Sweden
|
-0.3
|
|
-----
|
Total
|
100.0
|
|
=====
|
Market Exposure (Quarterly)
|
|
|
31.05.23
%
|
31.08.23
%
|
30.11.23
%
|
29.02.24
%
|
Long
|
111.7
|
112.7
|
111.3
|
117.9
|
Short
|
3.6
|
4.5
|
3.8
|
3.2
|
Gross
exposure
|
115.3
|
117.2
|
115.1
|
121.1
|
Net
exposure
|
108.1
|
108.2
|
107.5
|
114.7
|
Ten Largest Investments
|
|
Company
|
% of Total Gross Assets
|
|
|
FTSE
250 Index Future
|
3.6
|
Breedon
|
3.2
|
Gamma
Communications
|
3.1
|
4imprint
Group
|
3.0
|
Oxford
Instruments
|
2.9
|
WH
Smith
|
2.9
|
Grafton
Group
|
2.9
|
Rotork
|
2.5
|
Hill
& Smith Holdings
|
2.5
|
YouGov
|
2.3
|
|
|
|
|
Commenting
on the markets, Dan Whitestone,
representing the Investment Manager noted:
The
Company returned 3.4% in March, outperforming its benchmark the
Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment
Companies) Index which returned 3.0%.
March
was another strong month for risk assets broadly, with equity
markets globally delivering solid returns across the board on back
of positive macro data points and falling rates of inflation.
Specifically, within the UK, CPI data continued to come in below
forecast and is heading towards the Bank of England’s (BOE) target.
Indeed, if we annualise the last seven months of UK CPI then
inflation is already below 2%. This leaves the path open for cuts
to UK rates before the Federal Reserve, something unthinkable in
June last year.
The
largest positive contributor to performance during March was UK
wealth manager Mattioli
Woods, which received
a cash bid from financial private equity specialist Pollen Street
Capital. The sale of Mattioli Woods marks another name in a long
(and growing) list of UK listed businesses, which have been
targeted by Private Equity firms or Corporates taking advantage of
the attractive valuations currently placed on the UK market,
particularly when compared to comparable companies in other listed
markets. The second largest contributor was Gamma
Communications, the UK listed
cloud communications company, which delivered robust results with
organic revenues growing around 9%. Additionally, the company
initiated its first buyback, utilising some of its £130m net cash
pile while leaving enough capacity to continue to do bolt on
acquisitions. The shares have re-rated to a mid-teens PE (price to
earning ratio) this year, but this is still at a steep discount to
other stable high single digit organic growth companies.
4imprint
also
contributed positively after reporting a 36% rise in pre-tax profit
and a 16% increase in total revenue, once again demonstrating their
market leading position and ongoing market share gains.
The
largest detractor was veterinary services business,
CVS
Group. The shares fell
in response to an announcement from the CMA (Competition and
Markets Authority) that they would be progressing to a full Market
Investigation into the veterinary market in the UK. The CMA had
announced an initial review in September last year and we reduced
the position to reflect uncertainty then. Our work at the time
indicated that the market was functioning reasonably well for
consumers and there was limited evidence of overcharging or
anticompetitive practices so we were surprised and disappointed by
the CMA's decision. Alas, this is now a cloud that will hang over
the shares for 18 months so reflecting that prolonged uncertainty
we have reduced the position size further. YouGov
was
the second biggest detractor after a set of results which, although
in line with expectations, demonstrated a larger than anticipated
slowdown in the core Data Products business and a larger than
expected weighting to H2 to meet their FY guidance. We have
moderated the position but retain a holding as we still believe in
the long term growth potential for YouGov's proprietary data and
sophisticated analytics platform. Shares in IT reseller
Computacenter
fell
in response to providing a cautious outlook for 2024, despite
delivering another year of record revenue and profits.
March
was a positive month, rounding out a positive first quarter in
2024. We remain pleased with the breadth of returns in the
portfolio, with positive contributions across a broad range of
holdings both in the month and year-to-date. We are also reassured
that the returns are primarily driven by stock specifics rather
than any one factor or macro bet. Though it remains a source of
frustration for us, the continued underperformance of UK small
& mid-caps remains the biggest opportunity for the strategy.
There were some tentative signs of increasing breadth within
markets in March, but largely within large caps, if this were to
spread to small & mid-caps, it would provide an even more
positive environment for the strategy. The net of the fund is
around 113% while the gross is around 119%.
We
thank shareholders for your ongoing support.
1Source: BlackRock
as at 31 March 2024
29 April 2024
ENDS
Latest
information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/thrg 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.