BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust plc (LON:BRSA) has announced its latest portfolio update.
All information is at 31 March 2024 and unaudited.
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Performance at month end with net income reinvested
| One Month | Three Months | Six Months | One Year | Three Years | Five Years | |
| Net asset value | 4.9 | 8.7 | 14.7 | 16.7 | 31.2 | 61.2 |
| Share price | 7.9 | 5.7 | 10.9 | 12.7 | 19.2 | 45.4 |
| Russell 1000 Value Index | 5.1 | 10.0 | 15.3 | 17.7 | 38.0 | 68.5 |
At month end
| Net asset value – capital only: | 223.33p |
| Net asset value – cum income: | 223.40p |
| Share price: | 198.75p |
| Discount to cum income NAV: | 11.0% |
| Net yield1: | 4.0% |
| Total assets including current year revenue: | £174.3m |
| Net gearing: | 1.3% |
| Ordinary shares in issue2: | 78,011,399 |
| Ongoing charges3: | 1.03% |
1 Based on three quarterly dividends of 2.00p per share declared on 11 May 2023, 3 August 2023 and 2 November 2023 for the year ended 31 October 2023 and one quarterly dividend of 2.00p per share declared on 14 March 2024 for the year ending 31 October 2024 and based on the share price as at close of business on 31 March 2024.
2 Excluding 22,349,906 ordinary shares held in treasury.
3 The Company’s ongoing charges 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 non-recurring items for the year ended 31 October 2023.
| Sector Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| Financials | 20.4 |
| Health Care | 18.8 |
| Information Technology | 16.2 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 9.3 |
| Industrials | 8.0 |
| Energy | 7.3 |
| Consumer Staples | 6.5 |
| Communication Services | 5.2 |
| Materials | 4.2 |
| Utilities | 3.7 |
| Real Estate | 1.6 |
| Net Current Liabilities | -1.2 |
| —– | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Country Analysis | Total Assets (%) |
| United States | 90.2 |
| United Kingdom | 5.2 |
| France | 2.0 |
| South Korea | 1.5 |
| Australia | 1.2 |
| Switzerland | 1.1 |
| Net Current Liabilities | -1.2 |
| —– | |
| 100.0 | |
| ===== |
| Top 10 Holdings | Country | % Total Assets |
| Citigroup | United States | 3.6 |
| American International | United States | 3.0 |
| Shell | United Kingdom | 2.6 |
| Kraft Heinz | United States | 2.5 |
| Cardinal Health | United States | 2.5 |
| Baxter International | United States | 2.4 |
| Johnson Controls International | United States | 2.4 |
| Cisco Systems | United States | 2.4 |
| Verizon Communications | United States | 2.4 |
| Fidelity National Information Services | United States | 2.3 |
Tony DeSpirito, David Zhao and Lisa Yang, representing the Investment Manager, noted:
For the one-month period ended 31 March 2024, the Company’s NAV increased by 4.9% and the share price by 7.9% (all in sterling). The Company’s reference index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, returned +5.1% for the period.
The largest contributor to relative performance stemmed from stock selection in industrials, with investment decisions in building products boosting relative performance. Selection decisions in health care also boosted relative performance, most notably in health care equipment and supplies. Other modest contributors during the period at the sector level included selection decisions in consumer discretionary and information technology.
The largest detractor from relative performance stemmed from stock selection in energy, most notably in oil, gas and consumable fuels. Selection decisions in consumer staples detracted from relative performance, with stock selection in consumer staples distribution and retail proving to be detrimental. Other modest detractors during the period included stock selection in utilities, with the cash position also weighing down relative performance.
Transactions
During the month, the Company’s largest purchases included WPP. The Company exited its position in Acuity Brands.
Positioning
As of the period end, the Company’s largest overweight positions relative to the reference index were in the health care, information technology and consumer discretionary sectors. The Company’s largest underweight positions relative to the reference index were in the industrials, real estate and utilities sectors.
Source: BlackRock.
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