The information contained in this release was correct as at 30 November 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 GREATER EUROPE INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI - 5493003R8FJ6I76ZUW55)
All information is at 30 November 2024 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
One Three One Three Launch
Month Months Year Years (20 Sep 04)
Net asset value (undiluted) -0.1% -7.4% 6.3% -9.3% 731.6%
Share price 0.2% -7.9% 5.7% -18.1% 680.2%
FTSE World Europe ex UK -1.3% -4.6% 8.2% 15.9% 435.1%
Sources: BlackRock and Datastream
At month end
Net asset value (capital only): 591.68p
Net asset value (including income): 591.80p
Share price: 548.00p
Discount to NAV (including income): 7.4%
Net gearing: 10.4%
Net yield1: 1.3%
Total assets (including income): £580.0m
Ordinary shares in issue2: 98,013,150
Ongoing charges3: 0.95%
1Based on an interim dividend of 1.75p per share and final dividend of 5.25p per
share for the year ended 31 August 2024.
2Excluding 19,915,788 shares held in treasury.
3The 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, write back of prior year expenses and certain non
-recurring items for the year ended 31 August 2024.
Sector Analysis Country Analysis Total Assets (%)
Total Assets (%) Netherlands 19.7
Industrials France 18.9
30.5 Switzerland 17.0
Consumer Denmark 10.3
Discretionary 20.6 United Kingdom 7.4
Health Care Ireland 6.1
15.3 Sweden 4.9
Technology Italy 4.4
14.9 Germany 4.1
Financials United States 4.1
10.4 Finland 2.3
Basic Materials Belgium 2.0
7.3 Net Current Liabilities -1.2
Real Estate -----
1.3 100.0
Consumer Staples =====
0.9
Net Current
Liabilities -1.2
-----
100.0
=====
Top 10 holdings Country Fund %
Novo Nordisk Denmark 8.0
RELX United Kingdom 7.3
ASML Netherlands 5.8
Schneider Electric France 5.3
Safran France 4.7
Partners Group Switzerland 4.6
Ferrari Italy 4.3
Hermès France 4.1
Linde United States 4.1
Allied Irish Banks (AIB) Ireland 3.7
Commenting on the markets, Stefan Gries and Alexandra Dangoor, representing the
Investment Manager noted:
During the month, the Company's NAV was flat at -0.1% and the share price
returned 0.2%. For reference, the FTSE World Europe ex UK Index returned -1.3%
during the period.1
Europe ex UK equities were down in November. The disparity in performance
between European and US equities became more prominent during the month
following the result of the US election. Comparatively stronger US macroeconomic
data and investor confidence, bolstered by expectations of deregulation and
fiscal stimulus, drove US markets. On the other hand, Europe faced slightly
worsening economic conditions, highlighted by declining PMIs (the Purchasing
Managers' Index) and negative economic surprises, likely exacerbated by
uncertainty from US tariffs and the political backdrop in France . One area which
shows continued progress in Europe is inflation, supporting continued interest
rate cuts into 2025.
European markets were driven by expectations of what President-elect Donald
Trump is likely to implement when he comes into office. Over the period we also
had the remainder of the Q3 earnings. In summary, corporate reporting
highlighted ongoing trends: weakness in the automotive sector, polarization in
the luxury market, industrial short-cycle businesses awaiting a demand rebound
and strong performance from long-duration, capex focused companies.
Going into next year, we maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook on European
equities, given the combination of very low sentiment, attractive valuations and
the prospect of faster monetary easing in Europe compared to the US. As interest
rates come down there are cyclical sectors such as construction and other short
-cycle industries that have faced significant challenges which could see a
recovery from depressed levels.
Within the reference index, sectors such as technology performed strongly thanks
to post-election optimism and strong investor sentiment. Telecoms also rose,
while sectors including materials and the consumer sectors fell.
The Company was ahead of its reference index during the month, largely driven by
stock selection whilst sector allocation was also positive.
In sector terms, the portfolio benefited from an overweight exposure to
industrials, particularly those with high exposure to the US, with Trump's clear
pro-business mandate being seen as beneficial for growth and capex spend.
Similarly, the portfolio's higher allocation to technology was positive as
`animal spirits' kicked driving many cyclical shares higher.
On the flip side, a lower weight to financials detracted, although significantly
offset by stock selection. Higher weights to consumer discretionary and
materials detracted from active returns.
From a stock specific perspective, there were a number of positive contributors
driven by the factors mentioned above. For example, information and analytics
company RELX was also amongst the best performers, with approximately 55% of its
revenue coming from North America and the company's operations in the US span
across its various business segments, including scientific, technical, and
medical information, risk and business analytics, legal, and exhibitions.
Linde also benefited from strong exposure to the US. At Q3 results, Americas
represented about 43% of sales but 72% of the project backlog, indicating strong
opportunities for further growth in the market.
Aerospace company Safran was also amongst the top performers over the month,
benefiting from strong results in the previous month where trends in the market
continue to be favourable.
Within financials, the portfolio benefited from its exposure to Partners Group,
an alternative asset manager. Shares performed strongly during the month as
financing conditions and deal activity continues to improve. There is also
increasing optimism around potential deregulation and tax cuts in the US, which
could create a favourable environment for private equity investments.
In the technology sector, BE Semi provided the top positive attribution effect
as shares bounced off recent weakness that had been driven by the broader
semiconductor sector sell-off. Whilst traditional packaging markets have yet to
recover, there is optimism that we are at the bottom of the cycle, while their
more advanced Hybrid Bonding technology is also seeing encouraging order trends.
Shares in Chemometec continued on a positive trajectory over the month. The
company released encouraging results for the July-September quarter and upgraded
its full-year 2024/25 revenue and EBITDA guidance. We remain encouraged by the
company's accelerating top line momentum driven by new launches.
On the negative side, a holding in Kingspan was the largest detractor following
a trading update that guided to flat year-on-year EBIT, a small cut to
expectation. Whilst price-cost has been a headwind for Kingspan in 2024, the
results demonstrated improving volume dynamics and also solid order intake which
should be bode well for 2025.
Finally, shares in Ferrari detracted in the month, having performed well for
much of the year. The company reported overall solid results but there was a
lack of upgrades which led to some profit taking. Management expressed their
increased confidence in earnings over the medium term supported by a full order
book.
Outlook
We believe underlying economic conditions remain robust with consumers and
corporates in healthy positions. Inflation is retreating and rate cutting cycles
have begun in earnest across the globe, which increases investor propensity to
move up the risk curve in search for higher returns. We continue to take scaled
and deliberate cyclical risk in European equities as profitability continues to
be resilient in many European cyclicals, with their sensitivity to economic
shocks and the domestic economy significantly reduced. After a long period of
underinvestment, long duration and structural investment spend is now in place
to support these businesses and their underlying earnings should move higher
over a multi-year period.
Alongside investment opportunities afforded by structural forces, such as the
energy transition or AI, we also detect a cyclical upturn in a variety of
industries like construction, life-sciences and chemicals which have suffered
from pronounced volume declines for the best part of two years. We remain
positive on the outlook, given a structurally improved market composition in
Europe , potential for a cyclical recovery, and valuations in the European market
at a record wide discount relative to the US.
1Source: BlackRock
16 December 2024
ENDS
Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.com/uk/brge 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.
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com