| BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST plc (LEI - LNFFPBEUZJBOSR6PW155) | ||||||||||||||
| All information is at 30 June 2017 and unaudited. | ||||||||||||||
| Performance at month end with net income reinvested | ||||||||||||||
| One | Three | One | Three | Five | ||||||||||
| Month | Months | Year | Years | Years | ||||||||||
| Net asset value | -0.9% | -7.8% | 22.6% | -9.2% | -26.8% | |||||||||
| Share price | -0.2% | -2.8% | 29.3% | -11.9% | -22.1% | |||||||||
| Euromoney Global Mining Index | 0.2% | -7.1% | 19.4% | 2.7% | -12.9% | |||||||||
| (Total return) | ||||||||||||||
| Sources: BlackRock, Euromoney Global Mining Index, Datastream | ||||||||||||||
| At month end | ||||||||||||||
| Net asset value including income1: | 371.90p | |||||||||||||
| Net asset value capital only: | 366.50p | |||||||||||||
| 1 Includes net revenue of 5.40p | ||||||||||||||
| Share price: | 333.50p | |||||||||||||
| Discount to NAV2: | 10.3% | |||||||||||||
| Total assets: | £749.8m | |||||||||||||
| Net yield3: | 4.8% | |||||||||||||
| Net gearing: | 15.4% | |||||||||||||
| Ordinary shares in issue: | 176,455,242 | |||||||||||||
| Ordinary shares held in treasury: | 16,556,600 | |||||||||||||
| Ongoing charges4: | 1.10% | |||||||||||||
| 2 Discount to NAV including income. 3 Based on a quarterly interim dividend of 3.00p per share declared on 4 May 2017 in respect of the year ending 31 December 2017 and an interim dividend of 4.00p per share and a final dividend of 9.00p per share in respect of the year ended 31 December 2016. 4 Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding finance costs, for the year ended 31 December 2016. |
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| Sector | % Total | Country Analysis | % Total | |||||||||||
| Assets | Assets | |||||||||||||
| Diversified | 44.9 | Global | 64.6 | |||||||||||
| Copper | 20.3 | Latin America | 13.0 | |||||||||||
| Gold | 18.6 | Australasia | 11.0 | |||||||||||
| Silver & Diamonds | 9.6 | Other Africa | 6.4 | |||||||||||
| Industrial Minerals | 5.8 | Canada | 4.2 | |||||||||||
| Iron Ore | 1.1 | South Africa | 1.0 | |||||||||||
| Zinc | 0.7 | Russia | 0.4 | |||||||||||
| Net current liabilities | (1.0) | Kazakhstan | 0.3 | |||||||||||
| ----- | Emerging Europe | 0.1 | ||||||||||||
| 100.0 | Net current liabilities | (1.0) | ||||||||||||
| ===== | ----- | |||||||||||||
| 100.0 | ||||||||||||||
| ===== | ||||||||||||||
| Ten Largest Investments | ||||||||||||||
Company |
% Total Assets |
|||||||||||||
| Rio Tinto | 11.2 | |||||||||||||
| First Quantum Minerals | 8.2 | |||||||||||||
| Glencore | 7.7 | |||||||||||||
| BHP Billiton | 7.0 | |||||||||||||
| Vale | 6.5 | |||||||||||||
| Lundin Mining | 4.2 | |||||||||||||
| Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde | 3.3 | |||||||||||||
| Teck Resources | 3.3 | |||||||||||||
| Newmont Mining | 3.2 | |||||||||||||
| South32 | 2.7 | |||||||||||||
| Commenting on the markets, Evy Hambro and Olivia Markham, representing the Investment Manager noted: |
| Performance |
| Macroeconomic data points were mixed in June. China Caixin manufacturing PMI increased to 50.4, back above 50 and indicating a return to year-on-year expansion. On the other hand, China’s steel PMI traded down from a twelve-month high of 54.1 to 54. According to the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, the retreat was primarily due to the dip in the sub-index for new orders which was down 2.1 points, as producers received fewer new orders due to seasonal factors. Elsewhere, US economic data was weaker-than-expected as demand for capital goods fell unexpectedly and improvements in non-farm payrolls slowed. In spite of this, the US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25% for the second time this year. Against this backdrop, broader equity markets posted modest positive performance, with the MSCI World Index increasing by 0.4% over the month. |
| Whilst the mining sector sold off at the beginning of the month following rhetoric around tightening in China, performance was broadly positive for the base metals during the month as the language transitioned more towards the potential for easing. Nickel, zinc and copper increased by 4.8%, 6.4% and 4.8% respectively, whilst aluminium bucked this positive trend and declined by 0.6%. Iron ore on the other hand bounced off lows, increasing by 12.1% on the back of a more positive outlook on China. |
| In sector news, a new mining charter was unveiled in South Africa with new rules on ownership, employment and redistribution of revenues. At a presentation in Pretoria, mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane put forward plans to raise the minimum level of black ownership of South African mines from 26% to 30% and announced that black ownership must remain at 30%, even when the original Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) owners sell their stakes. The new charter also includes a stipulation that companies must pay 1% of total revenue to BEE investors before any other shareholder pay-outs and also includes a requirement that 70% of goods be procured from black-owned companies and must be made within South Africa. The Chamber of Mines of South Africa has applied to the courts for an urgent interdict to stop the implementation of the charter. |
| Strategy and Outlook |
| We remain positive on the outlook for mining shares and have been leaning into the recent weakness, adding to our preferred names. Our confidence to take such positive action comes from the high free cash flow being generated by the companies at current metal prices. Mined commodity prices have recently given back some of their gains as the market has become concerned about tighter credit conditions in China. However, it is worth remembering that in 2016, the perfect buying opportunity for mining shares was when concerns around a ‘hard-landing’ in China peaked and miners were being forced to slash their dividends. We believe we are very unlikely to see share prices return to these levels due to the reduction in balance sheet debt. We do, however, expect continued volatility and have been maintaining our quality bias in anticipation of some profit taking. We recognize that China remains the key risk for investors in the mining sector but believe that the Chinese administration has shown itself willing and able to step in with support to avoid a ‘hard-landing’ type event. China should also benefit from a spillover effect from the general improvements we have seen in global economic growth in recent months; this is reflected by 2017 being expected to be the best year for China’s export growth since 2012. In addition, global growth is beating expectations and now looks to be synchronous for the first time in years. Meanwhile, commodity prices should be supported by constraints on the supply side resulting from the underinvestment we have seen in the mining sector in recent years - global mining sector capex has fallen 66% since the peak in 2012. At current commodity prices, the miners are still trading on attractive free cash flow yields and company action over the past 18 months has meant that balance sheets are in much better shape than they were at the start of 2016. Finally, mining shares are trading at attractive valuations relative to broader equity markets with relative price-to-book multiples close to historic lows. |
| All data points are in US dollar terms unless stated otherwise. |
| 13 July 2017 |
| 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. |
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