BlackRock American Income Trust Plc – Final Results

BlackRock American Income Trust plc

LEI: 549300WWOCXSC241W468

Annual Report and Financial Statements 31 October 2025

Key highlights

· Introduction of a new innovative and differentiated investment mandate
managed by BlackRock’s Systematic Active Equity team, that combines human
insight with big data and AI, retaining a focus on value stocks with an
attractive dividend, and at a lower fee.
· Net asset value per share (NAV) total return and share price total return
for the year were +11.5% and +20.9% respectively, compared to a total return of
the index of +8.4%. (All performance in sterling terms with dividends
reinvested).
· Enhanced dividend policy introduced with payment of quarterly dividends
equivalent to 1.5% of the Company’s net asset value, equivalent to 6% of net
assets value annually.
· As a result of the changes and positive sentiment towards the Company, the
discount reduced significantly to -5.0% by 31 October 2025 and as at close of
business on 30 January, the share price was at -1.2% discount to net asset value
per share.

David Barron, the Chairman of the Company said:

«The Company’s systematic investment approach, which we believe is truly
innovative and the first of its kind in the UK investment company sector, its
diversified exposure to US value stocks beyond the US mega cap names, and its
enhanced income mean it is a truly differentiated proposition. We are pleased
that since the change in strategy, the Company has outperformed its benchmark
and seen a significant narrowing of its discount. The Board is confident that
the strategy will continue to deliver for investors over the long-term. We thank
shareholders for their support during the year.»

Performance record

[][][][]
As at As at
31 October 31 October
2025 2024
Net assets (£’000)[1] 129,499 155,067
Net asset value per ordinary share (pence) 229.56 216.24
Ordinary share price (pence) 218.00 190.00
Ongoing charges[2] 0.73% 1.06%
Discount to cum income net asset value[2] 5.0% 12.1%
Russell 1000 Value Index – net total return[3] 2747.32 2533.77
========= =========
[][][]
Performance (with dividends reinvested) For the year For the year
ended ended
31 October 31 October
2025 2024
Net asset value per share[2] 11.5% 16.0%
Ordinary share price[2] 20.9% 13.8%
Russell 1000 Value Index – net total return[3] 8.4% 23.2%
========= =========
[][][]
Performance (with For the For the five For the For the
dividends reinvested) five year period period since period since
year ended inception to inception to
period 31 October 31 October 31 October
ended 2024 2025 2024
31
October
2025
Net asset value per 78.3% 45.8% 286.3% 246.5%
share[2]
Ordinary share price[2] 86.4% 26.5% 268.3% 204.7%
Russell 1000 Value 88.7% 60.4% 350.1% 315.1%
Index – net total
return[3]
========= ========= ========= =========
[]
For the year For the year Change
ended ended %
31 October 31 October
2025 2024
Revenue
Net profit after 1,781 2,604 -31.6
taxation (£’000)
Revenue earnings per 2.83 3.39 -16.5
ordinary share
(pence)[4]
————— ————— —————
Interim dividends
(pence)
1st interim 2.00 2.00 –
2nd interim 3.03 2.00 51.5
3rd interim 3.23 2.00 61.5
4th interim 3.44 2.00 72.0
————— ————— —————
Total dividends 11.70 8.00 46.3
payable/paid
========= ========= =========

[1]     The change in net assets reflects portfolio movements, shares
repurchased into treasury, shares tendered and dividends paid during the year.

[2]     Alternative Performance Measures, see Glossary in the Company’s Annual
Report for the year ended 31 October 2025.

[3]     The Company’s performance benchmark (the Russell 1000 Value Index) may
be calculated on either a gross or a net total return basis. Net total return
(NR) indices calculate the reinvestment of dividends net of withholding taxes
using the tax rates applicable to non-resident institutional investors, and
hence give a lower total return than indices where calculations are on a gross
total return basis. As the Company is subject to the same withholding tax rates
for the countries in which it invests, the NR basis is felt to be the most
accurate, appropriate, consistent and fair comparison for the Company.

[4]     Further details are given in the Glossary in the Company’s Annual Report
for the year ended 31 October 2025.

Chairman’s Statement

Dear Shareholder

Introduction
This has been a year of significant development for your Company. Before turning
to a review of performance, outlook and the Board report on the strategy of the
Company, it is worth reviewing the changes which shareholders approved.

The changes proposed by the Board reflected our desire to deliver a more
compelling and scalable proposition for shareholders by adopting a
differentiated, lower-cost approach while retaining the Company’s value-oriented
philosophy. The new mandate, managed by BlackRock’s Systematic Active Equity
team, commenced on 17 April 2025.

The package of measures put forward by the Board included the following:

–        shareholders were invited to participate in a tender offer of up to 20%
of the shares in issue. The tender was undersubscribed with approximately 16.15%
of the share capital being tendered;

–        those shareholders who remained invested benefitted from a six-month
fee holiday to 31 October 2025, resulting in a more competitive ongoing charges
ratio for the year. The management fee agreed at the times of the proposal was
0.35% on net assets up to £350 million and 0.30% in excess of £350 million
(reduced from 0.70% on net assets);

–        a regular quarterly dividend equivalent to 1.5% of the Company’s net
asset value equivalent to 6% of net asset value annually;

–        a commitment to offer a tender should the investment management
performance not exceed the benchmark by a margin of 0.5% over the three years
following the introduction of the new strategy.

The transition to the new investment strategy was implemented with minimal
transaction costs on a single day.

The Board is encouraged by the positive performance achieved since the new
mandate took effect and by the meaningful narrowing of the discount over the
period. While it remains early in the life of the new strategy, these
developments provide a promising foundation as the Company seeks to deliver
attractive returns and income to shareholders, through a differentiated
systematic approach that blends data science and investment expertise. At the
time of the tender, the price at which shares could be tendered was 192.05p. The
discount on the day prior to announcement of the proposals was 6.6%. As at 30
January 2026, the share price was 234.00p and the discount to NAV is 1.2%.
Performance is discussed in greater detail below however since the introduction
of the new investment approach, the NAV has outperformed the benchmark by 3.7%.

Market overview
US equity markets delivered solid gains over the year to 31 October 2025 despite
considerable political and economic volatility. Early concerns around the impact
of widespread trade tariffs, slowing growth and a weaker US Dollar weighed on
sentiment, but conditions improved meaningfully as the year progressed.
Inflation continued to ease, the Federal Reserve began to cut interest rates,
and economic activity rebounded strongly in the second quarter. Targeted policy
actions from the new US administration also supported areas such as AI and
technology supply chains. These developments helped restore risk appetite and
supported a broadly positive market backdrop.

Performance
Over the year to 31 October 2025, the Company’s net asset value per share (NAV)
returned +11.5% and the share price returned +20.9%. This compares with a rise
of +8.4% of the Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index – net total
return[1] (all figures are in Sterling terms with dividends reinvested). In the
same period, and as a broader comparison, the S&P 500 Index was up by +18.4%.

From the date of the Company’s change of strategy on 17 April 2025, the
Company’s NAV returned +22.0% and the share price return +19.1%, compared with
the Company’s benchmark which rose by +18.3%.

Since the financial year end and up to close of business on 30 January 2026, the
Company’s NAV had increased by 4.8% (with dividends reinvested). More details on
this and the significant contributors to and detractors from performance during
the year are given in the Investment Manager’s Report.

Revenue earnings and dividends
During the year, the Company adopted an enhanced dividend policy, approved by
shareholders. The Company’s ability to pay the enhanced dividends is no longer
reliant on revenue generation to fund dividend. Revenue earnings per share for
the year were 2.83p (2024: 3.39p), reflecting the change in investment approach
which does not specifically look to generate revenue return. One dividend was
paid under the previous policy, with the remaining three dividends paid in
accordance with the new approach, whereby the Company distributes 1.5% of net
asset value each quarter.

In total, shareholders received dividends of 11.70p per share during the year,
reflecting three quarterly payments at an annualised rate of 6% of net asset
value and one payment made under the previous dividend policy. Based on the
share price at 31 October 2025, this represents a dividend yield of 5.4%. The
Board continues to believe that the enhanced policy provides shareholders with
an attractive and sustainable income level while enabling ongoing exposure to
the breadth of the US equity market.

Management of share rating
The Directors recognise the importance to investors that the market price of the
Company’s shares should not trade at a significant premium or discount to the
underlying NAV. The Board regards the successful delivery of an attractive long
-term investment proposition as a key driver of the rating of the Company’s
shares. This was one of the factors driving the changes implemented earlier in
the year. We also recognise that whilst systematic investing is well-established
in other markets, it is less known here. As a Board, we have spent significant
time with the BlackRock teams responsible for promoting the Company. The
systematic approach has a long and highly credible track record and BlackRock
has committed significant resource, know-how and thought to how to build
consumer awareness of the Company and its approach in our key target markets.
The success of both the investment approach and the promotion of the Company to
establish the benefits to shareholders of what the Board believes is a new and
innovative approach in the investment trust sector, will be a key determinant of
the achievement of our strategic aims.

In the broader market, the investment trust sector average discount remained
relatively wide over the year as markets were affected by volatility stemming
from increased geopolitical instability and election uncertainty in both the US
and Europe as well as structural shifts in the pattern of demand for investment
company shares. Within this context, the AIC North America sector traded at an
average discount of 21.5% as at 31 October 2025. While the Company experienced a
wider discount earlier in the year, the change in strategy implemented on 17
April 2025 has coincided with a noticeable improvement in investor sentiment.

The Company’s discount narrowed meaningfully following the transition and stood
at 5.0% as at 31 October 2025. As at the date of this report, the Company’s
discount stood at 1.2%. The Company retains its powers to buyback shares and
resolutions to renew the authorities to issue and buy back shares will be put to
shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. The most recent buyback
took place on 1 August 2025. Since 31 October 2025 to date, the prevailing
narrow discount has been supported by investor demand, and there have been no
additional shares bought back.

Over the Company’s financial year to end 31 October 2025, the Company’s shares
have traded at an average discount of 6.3%. During the year, the Company
purchased 4,386,580 shares (4.6% of shares in issue) at an average price of
206.01p per share at an average discount of 8.4% for a total cost of £9,037,000.
Figures exclude the shares repurchased through the tender offer, under which
10,910,252 shares were bought back at 192.05p per share for a total cost of
£20,953,000. The tender offer and buyback of shares during the year has provided
a gross capital uplift of £1.09 million (0.81% of the average daily NAV for the
year).

Following Shareholder approval of the amendment to the Company’s investment
objective and investment policy, the Board has implemented an enhanced discount
control mechanism applying to rolling three-year periods commencing on 1 May
2025. Under this mechanism, Shareholders are offered the opportunity to tender
for up to 100% of the Company’s issued share capital at a price reflecting the
latest cum-income NAV per ordinary share, less 2% and adjusted for portfolio
realisation costs, where the Company’s annualised total NAV return over the
three year period does not exceed the annualised benchmark by more than 50 basis
points. In addition, the Board retains discretion to implement a tender offer on
the same terms where the Company’s cum-income NAV at the end of the three-year
period is below £125 million.

These additional protections for shareholders reflects both the Board’s
confidence in the new investment approach but also a recognition that success
will ultimately be judged by good investment performance, leading to asset
growth, increased interest in the Company’s shares and a consistently strong
rating leading to share issuance. These remain our key strategic aims.

Board composition
As stated in the 2025 Half Yearly Financial Report, Alice Ryder did not seek re
-election at the Company’s Annual General Meeting in April. On behalf of the
Board, I would once again like to extend our sincere thanks to Alice for her
wise counsel and the significant contribution she made to the Company both as a
Director and, more recently, as Chair. Following her retirement, I assumed the
role of Chair and Solomon Soquar became the Senior Independent Director.

The Board also advised at the interim stage that an external recruitment firm
had been appointed to support the search for an additional Director. I am
pleased to report that, following this process, Gaynor Coley joined the Board on
25 June 2025. Gaynor’s extensive experience will both enhance and complement the
capabilities of the Board, and she has assumed the role of Chair of the Audit
Committee.

I am pleased to report that the Board remains fully compliant with the
recommendations of both the Parker Review and the FTSE Women Leaders Review and,
as at the date of this report, has achieved a 50:50 gender balance. The Board
has also disclosed its ethnic diversity, together with its broader policy on
diversity and inclusion, within the Corporate Governance Statement in the
Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2025.

Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at the offices of
BlackRock at 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2DL on Monday, 23 March 2026 at
12 noon. Details of the business of the meeting are set out in the Notice of
Annual General Meeting in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31
October 2025. The Board very much looks forward to meeting shareholders on the
day and we hope you will be able to attend.

Outlook
The outlook for the US economy remains broadly positive, supported by moderating
inflation, resilient consumer demand and the Federal Reserve’s shift toward a
more accommodative policy stance. Although uncertainty surrounding trade
measures and regulatory priorities may continue to generate short-term
volatility, these factors are not expected to derail the underlying momentum of
the US economy, which continues to compare favourably with other major developed
markets.

Valuations across several areas of the market remain appealing, particularly
among high-quality and attractively valued companies that have lagged the more
speculative parts of the market during the recent rally. History suggests that
fundamentals tend to reassert themselves over time, creating a potentially
supportive environment for investors with a disciplined, long-term approach.

Against this backdrop, the Company’s diversified, systematic investment process
aims to balance fundamental, valuation and sentiment insights, enabling it to
capture opportunities across different market conditions. The Board believes
that this approach positions the Company well to continue providing shareholders
with exposure to the breadth and resilience of the US equity market.

The Company’s differentiated investment approach, its diversified exposure to US
value stocks beyond the US mega cap names, its enhanced income and its
systematic investment approach give the Board confidence that there are good
reasons to view the future of the Company with confidence. We thank shareholders
for their support during the year.

DAVID BARRON
Chairman
3 February 2026

[1]     Return on net total return index is calculated including the
reinvestment of dividends net of withholding taxes.

Investment Manager’s Report

Market overview
Over the year to 31 October 2025, the Company’s net asset value per share (NAV)
returned +11.5% and the share price returned +20.9%. This compares with a return
of +8.4% in the Russell 1000 Value Index – net total return. Over the five year
period to 31 October 2025, the NAV returned +78.3%, the share price returned
+86.4% and the benchmark returned +88.7% (all percentages calculated in Sterling
terms with dividends reinvested).

The past 12 months have been characterised by substantial volatility from a
political, economic and markets perspective. In the final two months of 2024, a
clean sweep of the White House, House of Representatives and the Senate for the
Republicans raised expectations for a business-friendly environment
characterised by deregulation and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity. But
as we moved into 2025, it became clear that one of the new President’s top
priorities was trade tariffs, culminating in April’s `Liberation Day’
announcement of substantial and widespread levies being imposed on countries
across the world. This was accompanied by something of a reversal in economic
momentum, with the annualised gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the fourth
quarter of 2024 of 2.3% being followed by a 0.3% rate of contraction in the
first quarter of 2025.

Concerns around the health of the US economy and public finances, as well as the
unwinding of US exceptionalism oriented sentiment saw the US Dollar fall 8.9%
against Sterling in the first half of the year, while after briefly dipping c4%
in early April. US 10-year yields touched 4.6% the following month. But from
this low point, a huge reversal was to come. Trade tariff related compromises
were made that ensured the tariff picture was not so catastrophic; the Federal
Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25% in September and then again in October; and
the Trump administration took a number of actions that favoured certain sectors
including drone manufacturers, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence (AI) and
rare earth metals. Meanwhile GDP growth surged back to 3.8% in the second
quarter of 2025. This prompted a surge in risk appetite not only for speculative
growth stocks, but also more traditionally high beta stocks exposed to broader
economic growth. By the end of October, the S&P 500 Index was up 21.0% in US
Dollar terms, while the Russell 1000 Value – net total return was up 10.3% (net
total return index is calculated including the reinvestment of portfolio company
dividends net of withholding taxes).

Portfolio overview
The investment approach of the Manager changed during the period, with the
Company being managed using a systematic active equity approach from 17 April
2025. Over the subsequent months, the broadly speculative and risk-seeking
market environment saw quality-focused signals struggle. For example, insights
that favour more stable companies with low expectations for defaulting on their
debt did not fare well. But valuation and sentiment signals – particularly
sentiment insights that track the trading activity of certain investors – nicely
captured the mood in the market. In particular, the use of valuations to inform
top-down industry views steered the portfolio towards some investment banks,
which benefitted from buoyant markets and expectations for deregulation.
Meanwhile signals that favour stocks which are not seeing significant shorting
activity helped to inform overweights in a number of semiconductor firms, which
benefitted from AI-related enthusiasm.

Before we discuss attribution and positioning at a sector and stock level, it is
worth noting that we follow a highly diversified approach, holding a relatively
large number of positions, as well as only moderate overweights or underweights
in any given stock or sector. So in any given period, the risk and performance
will be driven by a broad range of positions within the portfolio. (Please refer
to the investment process section in the Company’s Annual Report for the year
ended 31 October 2025).

From a sector perspective, positions within the Information Technology (IT),
Financials, Health Care, Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary sectors all
made significantly positive contributions to relative returns. Many of the
largest contributors at the stock level were overweight positions in technology
stocks that benefitted from the ongoing enthusiasm around AI, or capital markets
-exposed banks that caught a tailwind from both a buoyant economy and trading
activity in the market. Overweight exposures to Lam Research, Morgan Stanley,
Citigroup and Bank of America were the top contributors to relative returns.

In terms of detractors at the sector level, it was only within the Energy and
Real Estate sectors that significant negative contributions were experienced.
Stock selection within energy was the source of the negative contribution with,
for example, an overweight in energy explorer and producer Devon Energy versus
and underweight in Marathon Petroleum, whose refining operations offered some
insulation from commodity price volatility, not working well. Within real
estate, an overweight in data centre-focused REIT Equinix was the largest
detractor, as investors fretted over capital expenditure requirements.

Financials: 0.3% underweight (21.6% of the portfolio)
The portfolio has no holding in Wells Fargo, a bank which scores negatively on
both quality and investor sentiment metrics. Text analysis of company reports
implies weak revenue growth, while hedge fund trading activity has a bias
towards shorts in this stock. But the portfolio is overweight Morgan Stanley,
which look particularly attractive on signals focusing on momentum in
fundamentals.

Industrials: 1.6% overweight (14.8% of the portfolio)
The portfolio is overweight electrical equipment firm AMETEK, which looks
attractive based on fundamental momentum and investor sentiment signals. Text
analysis of broker research using transformer-based Large Language Models, and
trends in shorting activity both point towards a positive outlook.

Health Care: 1.2% overweight (13.1% of the portfolio)
The portfolio holds an overweight position in pharmaceuticals firm Pfizer,
driven by both bottom measures of fundamental momentum, and top-down industry
timing signals. AI-based analysis of broker-produced financial metrics, as well
as insights that take industry views based on macro and market data are key
drivers of this position.

Information Technology: 3.1% overweight (14.5% of the portfolio)
The portfolio has an overweight position in networking company Arista Networks,
driven by positive views from top-down industry and bottom-up investor sentiment
insights. The hardware industry looks attractive as a result of macroeconomic
data and strong cash flows, while shorting activity is muted.

Consumer Discretionary: 1.5% overweight (9.2% of the portfolio)
The portfolio is overweight online retailer Amazon, thanks to bullish views
coming from quality and investor sentiment signals. The company’s high level of
research and development spending and strong support from retail investors are
two drivers of the position.

Communication Services: 1.8% underweight (6.4% of the portfolio)
The portfolio has no holding in Walt Disney thanks to weak scores on quality
signals, in particular insights that perform text analysis on company filings in
an effort to predict future fundamentals. But the portfolio holds an overweight
in Meta Platforms, which scores more positively on quality metrics.

Consumer Staples: 0.9% underweight (6.4% of the portfolio)
The portfolio has no holding in PepsiCo, thanks to negative views coming from
fundamental momentum insights, including those that seek to capture brand
sentiment from online consumer activity. But the portfolio is overweight
Walmart, which scores positively across quality, investor sentiment and top-down
industry metrics.

Energy: 1.4% underweight (4.4% of the portfolio)
The portfolio holds an underweight position in Exxon Mobil, driven by negative
scores on investor sentiment and fundamental momentum metrics. Information from
credit markets and analysis of hiring trends both suggest a negative outlook.
But the portfolio is overweight Devon Energy, which looks attractive from a
fundamental momentum and investor sentiment perspective.

Materials: 0.4% underweight (3.5% of the portfolio)
The portfolio has no holding in chemicals firm Linde, which scores negatively
across all areas of the model. Hiring trends and text-based thematic analysis
are two notable drivers of the negative view. But the portfolio is overweight
chemicals firm Corteva, which scores highly on fundamental momentum and investor
sentiment insights.

Utilities: 1.4% underweight (3.2% of the portfolio)
The portfolio has no holding in electric utility Constellation Energy, driven by
negative fundamental momentum and top-down industry timing views – the latter
coming from relatively weak cash flow trends at the industry level. But the
portfolio is overweight electric utility Entergy, which scores positively across
all bottom-up signal types.

Real Estate: 1.2% underweight (2.9% of the portfolio)
The portfolio has no holding in healthcare REIT, Welltower, thanks to negative
scores. Fundamental momentum insights, particularly those focused on broker
-produced metrics, are the main contributors to this positioning. But the
portfolio is overweight Ventas, which looks attractive based on quality and
fundamental momentum measures.

Benchmark
The Company’s benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index (net total return),
provides a dynamic and evolving representation of the US large-capitalisation
value equity universe, with inclusion determined by valuation characteristics
rather than traditional sector classifications. As a result, large and even
technology-focused companies can enter the index when their share prices,
earnings profiles or balance sheet metrics begin to exhibit value attributes,
meaning that well-known mega-cap names such as Alphabet, Amazon and Meta may
feature at certain points in the cycle when market conditions or investor
sentiment create more attractive valuations. The composition of the index
changes over time, with companies entering and leaving through its regular semi
-annual reconstitution as relative valuations and fundamentals evolve; stocks
migrate out as they adopt growth characteristics and new opportunities rotate
in. This disciplined, rules-based refresh ensures that the benchmark remains
responsive to changing market conditions and corporate developments, reflecting
the reality that value opportunities in modern equity markets can emerge across
sectors and market capitalisations, rather than being confined to traditional
areas of the market.

Market outlook
Six months ago, in our interim report, we wrote about a potentially worrying
economic and political outlook, highlighting the ongoing uncertainty around
tariffs. Since then, the S&P 500 Index has risen over 20% in local currency
terms, and we have seen a surge in optimism and speculative activity in markets.
Although they have also achieved positive returns in absolute terms, value
stocks have lagged the market, while some of our signals that focus on
fundamental financial indicators and quality have struggled. However, it’s worth
noting that the structural value exposure continues to offer diversifying
properties against a broad market which continues to be dominated by a handful
of mega capitalisation growth stocks. And history suggests that fundamentals and
quality can only be ignored for so long, especially when more speculative areas
of the market get ahead of themselves. At the same time, as the discussion of
portfolio performance and positioning above illustrates, we also have insights
in the model that have captured and may continue to capture shorter term
opportunities in firms that are benefiting from bullish sentiment. By following
a diversified, balanced approach, we seek to ensure that we build portfolios
that can generate positive outcomes regardless of the environment.

TRAVIS COOKE AND MUZO KAYACAN
BLACKROCK INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT (UK) LIMITED
3 February 2026

Ten largest investments

Together, the Company’s ten largest investments represented 25.5% of the
Company’s portfolio as at 31 October 2025 (2024: 26.9%)

1 Alphabet (2024: n/a)
Sector: Communication Services
Market value: £5,171,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 4.0% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 3.6%)

Alphabet, the holding company of Google, is a global technology company. It
offers a wide range of products and platforms including Google Search, Google
Maps, Gmail, Google Play, Google Cloud, Chrome and YouTube. It also offers
hardware products such as pixel phones, smartwatches and Google Nest home
products.

2 Amazon (2024: 28th)
Sector: Consumer Discretionary
Market value: £4,483,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 3.5% (2024: 1.7%) (Benchmark weight: 2.2%)

Amazon is a global technology company primarily involved in the sale of a range
of products and services. The company’s main activities include operating an
online marketplace for both buyers and sellers and producing media content. The
company’s major products and services include merchandise, electronic devices
such as the Kindle and Echo, and services such as cloud computing, digital
content subscriptions and advertising.

3 JPMorgan Chase (2024: n/a)
Sector: Financials
Market value: £4,014,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 3.1% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 3.0%)

JPMorgan Chase is a banking services company that offers consumer and commercial
banking, investment banking, financial transaction processing and asset
management solutions.

4 Berkshire Hathaway (2024: n/a)
Sector: Financials
Market value: £3,449,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 2.7% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 3.0%)

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company engaged in a wide range of business
activities. The company’s main operations include insurance, freight rail
transportation and utility and energy generation and distribution. Its major
products and services encompass property and casualty insurance, life and health
insurance and reinsurance.

5 Walmart (2024: n/a)
Sector: Consumer Staples
Market value: £3,242,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 2.5% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 1.4%)

Walmart is a US-based omni-channel retailer. It sells groceries, consumables,
health & wellness products, office products, apparel, fuel and home furnishings,
among others, through grocery stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, department and
discount stores, e-commerce portals and neighbourhood markets.

6 Bank of America (2024: n/a)
Sector: Financials
Market value: £3,061,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 2.4% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 1.1%)

Bank of America is a banking services company offering a wide range of financial
products and services to retail customers, companies and institutions through
its eight lines of business. The bank serves retail customers through its
retail, preferred, wealth management, business banking, global commercial
banking and global corporate and investment banking lines of business.

7 Morgan Stanley (2024: n/a)
Sector: Financials
Market value: £2,457,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 1.9% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 0.6%)

Morgan Stanley is one of the largest providers of financial services. The
company provides institutional securities, wealth management and investment
management services. Solutions under institutional securities and wealth
management consist of lending, investment banking, sales and trading, brokerage
and investment advisory, wealth and financial planning, banking and retirement
planning and insurance.

8 Johnson & Johnson (2024: n/a)
Sector: Health Care
Market value: £2,415,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 1.9% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 1.6%)

Johnson & Johnson is a healthcare company engaged in the research, development,
manufacture, and sale of innovative medicines and medical technologies. The
company provides pharmaceutical products for therapy areas related to immune
disorders, cancer, neurological disorders, infectious, cardiovascular, and
metabolic diseases; and medical devices for use in cardiovascular, orthopaedic,
neurovascular care, general surgery and vision care.

9 Meta Platforms (2024: n/a)
Sector: Information Technology
Market value: £2,288,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 1.8% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 0.9%)

Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook Inc., is a provider of social networking,
advertising and business insight solutions through its major products Facebook,
Instagram, Oculus, Messenger and WhatsApp. The company sells advertising
placements for marketers to reach people based on various factors including age,
gender, location, interests and behaviour.

10 Charles Schwab (2024: n/a)
Sector: Financials
Market value: £2,199,000
Percentage of total portfolio: 1.7% (2024: n/a) (Benchmark weight: 0.5%)

The Charles Schwab Corporation (Charles Schwab) is a savings and loan holding
company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset
management, custody and financial advisory services. The company offers
brokerage accounts, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, managed investing
solutions, alternative investments, banking services and trust services.

All percentages reflect the value of the holding as a percentage of total
investments.

Percentages in brackets represent the value of the holding as at 31 October
2024.

Portfolio analysis as at 31 October 2025

Sector Exposure

Portfolio Portfolio Exposure of Exposure of the S&P 500
exposure exposure the Russell Index at 31 October 2025
at 31 at 31 1000
October October Value Index at
2025 2024 31 October
2025
Communication 6.4% 7.8% 8.2% 10.1%
Services
Consumer 9.2% 10.2% 7.7% 10.5%
Discretionary
Consumer 6.4% 5.8% 7.3% 4.7%
Staples
Energy 4.4% 6.0% 5.8% 2.8%
Financials 21.6% 16.1% 21.9% 12.9%
Health Care 13.1% 18.0% 11.9% 9.0%
Industrials 14.8% 5.8% 13.2% 8.1%
Information 14.5% 16.5% 11.4% 36.1%
Technology
Materials 3.5% 6.6% 3.9% 1.7%
Real Estate 2.9% 2.1% 4.1% 1.8%
Utilities 3.2% 5.1% 4.6% 2.3%

Fifty largest investments as at 31 October 2025

Company Sector Market % of total
value portfolio
£’000
Alphabet Communication 5,171 4.0
Services
Amazon Consumer 4,483 3.5
Discretionary
JPMorgan Chase Financials 4,014 3.1
Berkshire Financials 3,449 2.7
Hathaway
Walmart Consumer 3,242 2.5
Staples
Bank of America Financials 3,061 2.4
Morgan Stanley Financials 2,457 1.9
Johnson & Health Care 2,415 1.9
Johnson
Meta Platforms Information 2,288 1.8
Technology
(IT)
Charles Schwab Financials 2,199 1.7
Corporation
UnitedHealth Health Care 2,125 1.6
Group
Pfizer Health Care 2,062 1.6
Micron IT 1,879 1.5
Technology
Procter & Gamble Consumer 1,825 1.4
Staples
Bristol-Myers Health Care 1,764 1.4
Squibb
Entergy Utilities 1,748 1.4
Citigroup Financials 1,697 1.3
Union Pacific Industrials 1,618 1.3
Boston Health Care 1,592 1.2
Scientific
AMETEK Industrials 1,536 1.2
Corteva Materials 1,505 1.2
Devon Energy Energy 1,481 1.1
Regeneron Health Care 1,468 1.1
Pharmaceuticals
Cardinal Health Health Care 1,458 1.1
Travelers Financials 1,346 1.0
Honeywell Industrials 1,341 1.0
International
Qualcomm IT 1,322 1.0
Caterpillar Industrials 1,153 0.9
Cisco Systems IT 1,146 0.9
3M Industrials 1,138 0.9
Medtronic Health Care 1,126 0.9
Comcast Communication 1,108 0.9
Services
Ferguson Industrials 1,098 0.8
Enterprises
TJX Companies Consumer 1,097 0.8
Discretionary
CME Group Financials 1,070 0.8
Intercontinental Financials 1,070 0.8
Exchange
Philip Morris Consumer 1,068 0.8
International Staples
Salesforce IT 1,068 0.8
McDonald’s Consumer 1,017 0.8
Discretionary
Mueller Industrials 994 0.8
Industries
Costco Wholesale Consumer 982 0.8
Staples
Ventas Real Estate 956 0.7
Intel IT 955 0.7
General Dynamics Industrials 955 0.7
General Motors Consumer 943 0.7
Discretionary
Consolidated Utilities 922 0.7
Edison
Arista Networks IT 905 0.7
AbbVie Health Care 876 0.7
Progressive Financials 874 0.7
Corporation
Huntington Bancs Financials 841 0.7
————— —————
50 largest 83,908 64.9
investments
Remaining 100 45,304 35.1
investments
————— —————
Total 129,212 100.0
========= =========

Details of the full portfolio are available on the Company’s website at
www.blackrock.com/uk/brai.

All investments are listed in the US and ordinary shares unless otherwise
stated. The number of holdings as at 31 October 2025 was 150 (2024: 60).

At 31 October 2025, the Company did not hold any equity interests comprising
more than 3% of any company’s share capital.

Geographic Exposure[1]

[]
As at 31/10/2025 As at 31/10/2024
United States 100.0% 90.2%
United Kingdom 3.4%
Other[2] 2.3%
France 2.2%
South Korea 1.9%

[1 ]Based on the principal place of operation of each investment.

[2] Consists of Ireland and Canada.

Strategic Report

The Directors present the Strategic Report of the Company for the year ended 31
October 2025.

Principal activity
The Company carries on business as an investment trust and is listed on the
London Stock Exchange. Its principal activity is portfolio investment.

Investment objective
The Company’s investment objective is to provide long-term capital growth,
whilst paying an attractive level of income.

Strategy, business model and investment policy
Strategy
The Company invests in accordance with the objective given above. The Board is
collectively responsible to shareholders for the long-term success of the
Company and is its governing body. There is a clear division of responsibility
between the Board and BlackRock Fund Managers Limited (the Manager). Matters
reserved for the Board include setting the Company’s strategy, including its
investment objective and policy, setting limits on gearing, capital structure,
governance and appointing and monitoring performance of service providers,
including the Manager.

Business model
The Company’s business model follows that of an externally managed investment
trust. Therefore, the Company does not have any employees and outsources its
activities to third-party service providers including the Manager who is the
principal service provider. In accordance with the Alternative Investment Fund
Managers’ Directive (AIFMD) the Company is an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF).
BlackRock Fund Managers Limited is the Company’s Alternative Investment Fund
Manager.

The management of the investment portfolio and the administration of the Company
have been contractually delegated to the Manager which in turn (with the
permission of the Company) has delegated certain investment management and other
ancillary services to BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited (the
Investment Manager or BIM (UK)). The Manager, operating under guidelines
determined by the Board, has direct responsibility for the decisions relating to
the day-to-day running of the Company and is accountable to the Board for the
investment, financial and operating performance of the Company.

The Company delegates fund accounting services to the Manager, which in turn
sub-delegates these services to The Bank of New York Mellon (International)
Limited (BNY). Other service providers include the Depositary (also BNY) and the
Registrar, Computershare Investor Services PLC. Details of the contractual terms
with the Manager and the Depositary and more details of arrangements in place
governing custody services are set out in the Directors’ Report. Oversight of
service levels of third-party providers is set out in the Company’s Annual
Report for the year ended 31 October 2025.

Investment policy
The Company invests predominantly in a diversified portfolio of US equity
securities, with a systematic (i.e. rules based) active investment approach,
focussing on large-cap and medium-cap companies. A security is a US equity
security if: (i) the equity security is listed, quoted or traded on a US stock
exchange; or (ii) the majority of the company’s economic exposure is to the US.
Subject to the restrictions set out below, the Company may also invest in (i)
equity securities that are not US equity securities and (ii) other securities
from time-to-time including, inter alia, options, futures contracts, convertible
securities, fixed interest securities, preference shares, non-convertible
preferred stock and depositary receipts. The Company does not invest in
companies which are not listed, quoted or traded on an exchange at the time of
investment, although it may have exposure to such companies where, following
investment, the relevant securities cease to be listed, quoted or traded on an
exchange.

The Investment Manager seeks to pursue the Company’s investment objective by
investing in a systematic manner, harnessing big data, using machine learning
and the power of artificial intelligence to inform proprietary return forecast
models that incorporate quantitative (i.e. mathematical or statistical)
analysis. These forecast models are designed to identify aspects of mispricing
across stocks which the Investment Manager can seek to capture by over- and
underweighting particular equities while seeking to control incremental risk.
The Investment Manager then constructs and rebalances the portfolio by
integrating its investment insights with the model based optimisation process.
The Company has no stated minimum holding period for investments and may buy or
sell securities whenever the Investment Manager sees an appropriate opportunity.
The Investment Manager may engage in active and frequent trading of investments.

Typically, it is expected that the investment portfolio will comprise between
150 and 250 equity securities.

Use of derivatives
The Company may invest in derivatives for efficient portfolio management. Any
use of derivatives for efficient portfolio management is made based on the same
principles of risk spreading and diversification that apply to the Company’s
direct investments.

Risk diversification
Portfolio risk is mitigated by investing in a diversified spread of investments.
In particular, the Company observes the following investment restrictions:

–        no single investment (including for the avoidance of doubt, any single
derivative instrument), at the time of investment, shall account for more than
10 per cent of the gross asset value of the Company;

–        no more than 20 per cent of the gross asset value of the Company, at
the time of investment, shall be invested in securities which are not US equity
securities; and

–        no more than 35 per cent of the gross asset value of the Company, at
the time of investment, shall be exposed to any one sector.

Benchmark
Performance is measured against an appropriate benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value
Index (net total return).

Borrowing and gearing policy
The Company may borrow up to 20 per cent of its net asset value (calculated at
the time of draw down), although typically borrowings are not expected to exceed
10 per cent of its net asset value at the time of draw down. Borrowings may be
used for investment purposes. The Company may enter into interest rate hedging
arrangements.

Currency hedging
The Company’s foreign currency investments are not hedged to Sterling as a
matter of general policy. However, the investment team may employ currency
hedging, either back to Sterling or between currencies (i.e. cross-hedging of
portfolio investments).

Further investment restrictions
In order to comply with the current Listing Rules, the Company also complies
with the following investment restrictions (which do not form part of the
Company’s investment policy):

–        the Company will not conduct any trading activity which is significant
in the context of its group as a whole; and

–        the Company will not invest more than 10 per cent of its gross asset
value in other listed closed-ended investment funds, whether managed by the
Investment Manager or not, except that this restriction shall not apply to
investments in listed closed-ended investment funds which themselves have stated
investment policies to invest no more than 15 per cent of their gross assets in
other listed closed-ended investment funds.

Changes to the investment policy
No material change will be made to the investment policy without the approval of
shareholders by ordinary resolution.

Performance
Over the year ended 31 October 2025, the Company’s net asset value returned
11.5% compared with a return of 8.4% in the Russell 1000 Value Index (net total
return). Since the change of strategy effective from 17 April 2025, the
Company’s net asset value returned 22.0%. The ordinary share price returned
19.1% (all percentages are calculated in Sterling terms with dividends
reinvested). The Investment Manager’s Report includes a review of the main
developments during the year, together with information on investment activity
within the Company’s portfolio.

Results and dividends
The results for the Company are set out in the Statement of Comprehensive
Income. The total return for the year, after taxation, was a profit of
£10,954,000 (2024: £22,572,000) of which the revenue return amounted to a profit
of £1,781,000 (2024: £2,604,000) and the capital return amounted to a profit of
£9,173,000 (2024: £19,968,000).

Previously, the Company paid quarterly dividends of 2.00p per share. The first
quarterly dividend of 2.00p per share was paid on 2 May 2025.

At the General Meeting on 16 April 2025, at the same time shareholders approved
the amendments to the Company’s investment objective and investment policy, the
Company adopted a new enhanced dividend policy. The new policy calculates and
pays a dividend quarterly, based on 1.5% of the Company’s NAV at close of
business on the last working day of January, April, July and October.

The second quarterly dividend was calculated based on 1.5% of the Company’s NAV
at close of business on 30 April 2025 (being the last business day of the
calendar quarter) which was 201.81p per share. A second quarterly dividend of
3.03p per share was declared and was paid on 4 July 2025.

The third quarterly dividend was calculated based on 1.5% of the Company’s NAV
at close of business on 31 July 2025 (being the last business day of the
calendar quarter) which was 215.53 pence per share. A third quarterly dividend
of 3.23p per share was declared and was paid on 12 September 2025.

The fourth quarterly dividend was calculated based on 1.5% of the Company’s NAV
at close of business on 31 October 2025 (being the last business day of the
calendar quarter) which was 229.56 pence per share. A fourth quarterly dividend
of 3.44p per share was declared and was paid on 12 December 2025.

Future prospects
The Board’s main focus is to is to provide long-term capital growth, whilst
paying an attractive level of income. The future of the Company is dependent
upon the success of the investment strategy. The outlook for the Company in the
next twelve months is discussed in both the Chairman’s Statement and in the
Investment Manager’s Report.

Social, community and human rights issues
As an investment trust, the Company has no direct social or community
responsibilities or impact on the environment. However, the Directors believe
that it is important and in shareholders’ interests to consider human rights
issues and environmental, social and governance factors when selecting and
retaining investments.

Modern Slavery Act
As an investment vehicle, the Company does not provide goods or services in the
normal course of business and does not have customers. The Investment Manager
considers modern slavery as part of supply chains and labour management within
the investment process. Accordingly, the Directors consider that the Company is
not required to make any slavery or human trafficking statement under the Modern
Slavery Act 2015. In any event, the Board considers the Company’s supply chains,
dealing predominantly with professional advisers and service providers in the
financial services industry, to be low risk in relation to this matter.

Directors, gender representation and employees
The Directors of the Company on 31 October 2025 are set out in the Directors’
Biographies in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2025.
The Board consists of two male Directors and two female Directors. The Company
does not have any executive employees. Further information on the composition
and diversity of the Board is set out in the Company’s Annual Report for the
year ended 31 October 2025.

Key performance indicators
At each Board meeting, the Directors consider a number of performance measures
to assess the Company’s success in achieving its objectives. The key performance
indicators (KPIs) used to measure the progress and performance of the Company
over time, and which are comparable to other investment trusts, are set out in
the following table.

Additionally, the Board regularly reviews the performance of the portfolio, as
well as the net asset value and share price of the Company and compares this
against various companies and indices. The Board also reviews the performance of
the portfolio against a benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index (net total
return). Information on the Company’s performance is given in the Chairman’s
Statement.

[][][][]
Year ended Year ended
31 October 31 October
2025 2024
Net asset value total return[1,2] 11.5% 16.0%
Share price total return[1,2] 20.9% 13.8%
Dividends per share 11.70p 8.00p
Discount to cum income net asset value[2,3] 5.0% 12.1%
Ongoing charges[4] 0.73% 1.06%
========= =========

[1]     This measures the Company’s share price and NAV total return, which
assumes dividends paid by the Company have been reinvested.

[2]     Alternative Performance Measures, see Glossary in the Company’s Annual
Report for the year ended 31 October 2025.

[3]     This is the difference between the share price and the NAV per share. It
is an indicator of the need for shares to be repurchased or, in the event of a
premium to NAV per share, issued.

[4]     Ongoing charges represent the management fee and all other operating
expenses excluding finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction
charges, VAT recovered, taxation, prior year expenses written back and certain
non-recurring items as a % of average daily net assets.

Principal risks
The Company is exposed to a variety of risks and uncertainties. As required by
the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code (the UK Code), the Board has put in place
a robust ongoing process to identify, assess and monitor the principal and
emerging risks facing the Company, including those that would threaten its
business model. A core element of this process is the Company’s risk register
which identifies the risks facing the Company and assesses the likelihood and
potential impact of each risk and the quality of controls operating to mitigate
it. A residual risk rating is then calculated for each risk based on the outcome
of the assessment.

The risk register, its method of preparation and the operation of key controls
in BlackRock’s and third-party service providers’ systems of internal control,
are reviewed on a regular basis by the Audit Committee. In order to gain a more
comprehensive understanding of BlackRock’s and other third-party service
providers’ risk management processes and how these apply to the Company’s
business, BlackRock’s internal audit department provides an annual presentation
to the Audit Committee chairs of the BlackRock investment trusts setting out the
results of testing performed in relation to BlackRock’s internal control
processes. The Audit Committee also periodically receives and reviews internal
control reports from BlackRock and the Company’s service providers.

The Board has undertaken a robust assessment of both the principal and emerging
risks facing the Company, including those that would threaten its business
model, future performance, solvency or liquidity. For instance, the risk that
unforeseen or unprecedented events including (but not limited to) heightened
geopolitical tensions such as the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle
East, inflation and the current cost of living crisis has had a significant
impact on global markets. The Board has taken into consideration the risks posed
to the Company by these events and incorporated these into the Company’s risk
register. The threat of climate change has also reinforced the importance of
environmental responsibility.

Emerging risks are considered by the Board as they come into view and are
incorporated into the existing review of the Company’s risk register. Emerging
risks that have been considered by the Board over the year include the impact of
climate change, escalating geopolitical conflict and technological advances.

The key emerging risks identified are as follows:

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Advances in computing power means that AI has
become a powerful tool that will impact a huge range of areas and with a wide
range of applications that have the potential to dislocate established business
models and disrupt labour markets, creating uncertainty in corporate valuations.
In addition, the growing use of AI in investment decision-making introduces
risks such as algorithmic bias, lack of transparency and potential systemic
vulnerabilities, which could lead to unintended market distortions. The
significant energy required to power this technological revolution will create
further pressure on environmental resources and carbon emissions.

Climate change: Investors can no longer ignore the impact that the world’s
changing climate will have on their portfolios, with the impact of climate
change on returns, including climate related natural disasters, now potentially
significant and with the potential to escalate more swiftly than one is able to
predict.

The Board will continue to assess these risks on an ongoing basis. In relation
to the UK Code, the Board is confident that the procedures that the Company has
put in place are sufficient to ensure that the necessary monitoring of risks and
controls has been carried out throughout the reporting period.

The principal risks and uncertainties faced by the Company during the financial
year, together with the potential effects, controls and mitigating factors are
set out below.

Movements in the relative risk assessment compared with the position reported in
the previous financial year are given on pages 35 to 38 of the annual report
which can be found on the Company’s website at www.blackrock.com/uk/brai.

Market
Principal risk
Market risk arises from volatility in the prices of the Company’s investments.
It represents the potential loss the Company might suffer through realising
investments in the face of negative market movements. This risk remains
unchanged from the prior year, however market volatility during the year
increased the potential impact of adverse market movements, with the likelihood
of this risk impacting the Company remaining elevated due to ongoing
macroeconomic uncertainty.

Market risk includes the potential impact of changes in economic and market
conditions and events outside the Company’s control, including interest rates,
inflation, geopolitical tensions, political events and legislative change, which
may adversely affect the valuation of investee companies.

Mitigation/Control
The Board considers the diversification of the portfolio, asset allocation,
stock selection and levels of gearing on a regular basis and has set investment
restrictions and guidelines which are monitored and reported on by the
Investment Manager.

The Board monitors the implementation and results of the investment process with
the Investment Manager.

The Board also recognises the benefits of a closed-end fund structure in
extremely volatile markets such as those affected by the current environment of
heightened geopolitical tensions and uncertainty. Unlike open-ended
counterparts, closed-end funds are not obliged to sell-down portfolio holdings
at low valuations to meet liquidity requirements for redemptions. During times
of elevated volatility and market stress, the ability of a closed-end fund
structure to remain invested for the long term enables the portfolio managers to
adhere to disciplined fundamental analysis from a bottom-up perspective and be
ready to respond to dislocations in the market as opportunities present
themselves.

The portfolio managers spend a considerable amount of time understanding the ESG
risks and opportunities facing investee companies and conduct research and due
diligence on new investments and when monitoring investments in the portfolio.

Investment performance
Principal risk
Returns achieved are reliant primarily upon the performance of the portfolio.

The Board is responsible for:

–        deciding the investment strategy to fulfil the Company’s objective; and

–        monitoring the performance of the Investment Manager and the
implementation of the investment strategy.

An inappropriate investment strategy may lead to:

–        underperformance compared to the benchmark;

–        a widening discount to NAV;

–        a reduction or permanent loss of capital; and

–        dissatisfied shareholders and reputational damage.

The assessed level of this risk has decreased during the year following the
implementation of the revised investment objective and policy, under which the
portfolio is constructed to more closely track the benchmark, with controlled
active positioning through modest overweights and underweights to seek
outperformance.

Mitigation/Control
To manage this risk the Board:

–        regularly reviews the Company’s investment mandate and long-term
strategy;

–        has set investment restrictions and guidelines which the Investment
Manager monitors and regularly reports on;

–        receives from the Investment Manager a regular explanation of stock
selection decisions, portfolio exposure, gearing and any changes in gearing and
the rationale for the composition of the investment portfolio;

–        monitors and maintains an adequate spread of investments in order to
minimise the risks associated with particular countries or factors specific to
particular sectors, based on the diversification requirements inherent in the
investment policy; and

–        receives and reviews regular reports showing an analysis of the
Company’s performance against the Russell 1000 Value Index (net total return)
and other similar indices.

Operational
Principal risk
In common with most other investment trust companies, the Company has no
employees. The Company therefore relies on the services provided by
third-parties and is dependent on the control systems of the Manager, the
Depositary and Fund Accountant, which maintain the Company’s assets, dealing
procedures and accounting records.

The security of the Company’s assets, dealing procedures, accounting records and
adherence to regulatory and legal requirements depend on the effective operation
of the systems of these other third-party service providers. There is a risk
that a major disaster renders the Company’s service providers unable to conduct
business at normal operating effectiveness.

Failure by any service provider to carry out its obligations could have a
material adverse effect on the Company’s performance. Disruption to the
accounting, payment systems or custody records (including cyber security risk)
could prevent the accurate reporting and monitoring of the Company’s financial
position.

Mitigation/Control
Due diligence is undertaken before contracts are entered into with third-party
service providers. Thereafter, the performance of the provider is subject to
regular review and reported to the Board.

The Board reviews on a regular basis an assessment of the fraud risks that the
Company could potentially be exposed to and also a summary of the controls put
in place by the Manager, Depositary, Custodian, Fund Accountant and Registrar
specifically to mitigate these risks.

Most third-party service providers produce Service Organisation Control (SOC 1)
reports to provide assurance regarding the effective operation of internal
controls as reported on by their reporting accountants. These reports are
provided to the Audit Committee for review. The Committee would seek further
representations from service providers if not satisfied with the effectiveness
of their control environment.

The Company’s financial instruments held in custody are subject to a strict
liability regime and, in the event of a loss of such financial instruments held
in custody, the Depositary must return financial instruments of an identical
type or the corresponding amount, unless able to demonstrate the loss was a
result of an event beyond its reasonable control.

The Board reviews the overall performance of the Manager, Investment Manager and
all other third-party service providers on a regular basis and compliance with
the Investment Management Agreement annually.

The Board also considers the business continuity arrangements of the Company’s
key service providers on an ongoing basis and reviews these as part of its
review of the Company’s risk register.

Legal & Regulatory Compliance
Principal risk
The Company has been approved by HM Revenue & Customs as an investment trust,
subject to continuing to meet the relevant eligibility conditions, and operates
as an investment trust in accordance with Chapter 4 of Part 24 of the
Corporation Tax Act 2010. As such, the Company is exempt from corporation tax on
capital gains on the profits realised from the sale of its investments.

Any breach of the relevant eligibility conditions could lead to the Company
losing investment trust status and being subject to corporation tax on capital
gains realised within the Company’s portfolio. In such event, the investment
returns of the Company may be adversely affected.

A serious regulatory breach could result in the Company and/or the Directors
being fined or the subject of criminal proceedings, or the suspension of the
Company’s shares which would in turn lead to a breach of the Corporation Tax Act
2010.

Amongst other relevant laws, the Company is required to comply with the
provisions of the Companies Act 2006, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers’
Directive, the UK Listing Rules, Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, the
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and the Market Abuse Regulation.

Mitigation/Control
The Investment Manager monitors investment movements, the level and type of
forecast income and expenditure and the amount of proposed dividends to ensure
that the provisions of Chapter 4 of Part 24 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 are
not breached. The results are reported to the Board at each meeting.

Compliance with the accounting rules affecting investment trusts is also
carefully and regularly monitored.

The Company Secretary, Manager and the Company’s professional advisers provide
regular reports to the Board in respect of compliance with all applicable rules
and regulations. The Board and Manager also monitor changes in government policy
and legislation which may have an impact on the Company.

The Company’s Investment Manager, BlackRock, at all times complies with the
sanctions administered by the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation,
the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United
Nations, European Union member states and any other applicable regimes.

Financial
Principal risk
The Company’s investment activities expose it to a variety of financial risks
which include market risk, counterparty credit risk, liquidity risk and the
valuation of financial instruments.

Mitigation/Control
Details of these risks are disclosed in note 15 of the Company’s Annual Report
for the year ended 31 October 2025, together with a summary of the policies for
managing these risks.

Marketing
Principal risk
There is a failure to communicate adequately with shareholders or reach out to
potential new shareholders resulting in reduced demand for the Company’s shares
and a widening of the discount.

Mitigation/Control
The Board reviews marketing strategy and initiatives and the Manager is required
to provide regular updates on progress. BlackRock has a dedicated investment
trust sales team visiting both existing and potential clients on a regular
basis. The Manager also devotes considerable resources marketing to
self-directed private investors. Data on client meetings and issues raised are
provided to the Board on a regular basis.

Geopolitical
Principal risk
The Company is exposed to geopolitical risks arising from escalating global
political tensions, including conflict, trade disputes, sanctions and changes in
domestic regulation. These developments may increase market volatility, disrupt
global trade and supply chains, weaken economic growth and adversely affect
investor sentiment, corporate earnings and asset valuations, which could result
in increased volatility in the Company’s net asset value and share price and
negatively impact performance.

Mitigation/Control
The Board seeks to mitigate this risk through oversight of a diversified
investment strategy and by monitoring portfolio exposures, sectors and
individual investments. The Investment Manager incorporates ongoing assessment
of geopolitical and macroeconomic developments into its investment process and
portfolio construction, and reports regularly to the Board on market conditions
and risk exposures. The Board also reviews the Company’s risk management
framework on an ongoing basis to ensure it remains appropriate in light of
changing global conditions.

Section 172 statement: Promoting the success of the Company
The Directors are required to explain in detail how they have discharged their
duties under Section 172(1) of the Companies Act 2006 in promoting the success
of their companies for the benefit of members as a whole. This includes the
likely consequences of their decisions in the longer term and how they have
taken wider stakeholders’ needs into account.

The disclosure that follows covers how the Board has engaged with and
understands the views of stakeholders and how stakeholders’ needs have been
taken into account, the outcome of this engagement and the impact that it has
had on the Board’s decisions. The Board considers the main stakeholders in the
Company to be the Manager, Investment Manager and the shareholders. In addition
to this, the Board considers investee companies and key service providers of the
Company to be stakeholders; the latter comprise the Company’s Custodian,
Depositary, Registrar and Broker.

Stakeholders
Shareholders
The Board is focused on fostering good working relationships with shareholders
and on understanding the views of shareholders in order to incorporate them into
the Board’s strategy and objectives in delivering an attractive level of income
return together with capital appreciation over the long term.

Manager and Investment Manager
The Company’s Board has delegated the management of the Company’s portfolio to
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited (the Manager), as well as ancillary
functions such as administration, secretarial, accounting and marketing
services. The Manager has sub-delegated portfolio management to the Investment
Manager (BlackRock Investment Management LLC). Successful management of
shareholders’ assets by the Investment Manager is critical for the Company to
deliver successfully its investment strategy and meet its objective. The Board
engages regularly with both the Manager and the Investment Manager through
formal Board meetings, reporting and ongoing dialogue. The Company is also
reliant on the Manager as AIFM to provide support in meeting relevant regulatory
obligations under the AIFMD and other relevant legislation.

Other key service providers
In order for the Company to function as an investment trust on the London Stock
Exchange’s (LSE) main market for listed securities and generally function as an
investment trust with a listing on the official list of the FCA, the Board
relies on a diverse range of advisors for support in meeting relevant
obligations and safeguarding the Company’s assets. For this reason, the Board
considers the Company’s Custodian, Depositary, Registrar and Broker to be
stakeholders. The Board maintains regular contact with its key external service
providers and receives regular reporting from them through the Board and
Committee meetings, as well as outside of the regular meeting cycle.

A summary of the key areas of engagement undertaken by the Board with its key
stakeholders in the year under review and how Directors have acted upon this to
promote the long-term success of the Company are set out below.

Area of Engagement
Investment mandate and objective
Issue
The Board is committed to promoting the role and success of the Company in
delivering on its investment mandate to shareholders over the long term. The
Board also has responsibility to shareholders to ensure that the Company’s
portfolio of assets is invested in line with the stated investment objective and
in a way that ensures an appropriate balance between spread of risk and
portfolio returns.

The Board recognised that the Company’s performance relative to its benchmark
had been challenged and that regulatory and market developments, including
changes arising from the UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, required a
reassessment of the Company’s investment positioning.

Engagement
The Board worked closely with the Investment Manager throughout the year to
review the Company’s investment mandate. This included detailed discussions on
portfolio performance, cost competitiveness, regulatory developments and the
preferences of shareholders.

As part of this process, the Board undertook a comprehensive review of the
Company’s investment strategy and considered a range of alternative approaches,
including proposals presented by the Investment Manager. The Board also engaged
with advisers and sought feedback from shareholders to understand their views on
the Company’s strategy, structure and long-term prospects.

Impact
Following shareholder approval, the Company adopted a revised investment
objective and policy. The Company now seeks to deliver long-term capital growth
while paying an attractive level of income through the adoption of a systematic
active equity investment approach. The revised mandate is intended to enhance
the consistency of returns, reduce costs and support the long-term
attractiveness of the Company for both existing and prospective shareholders.

The Board believes that the change in investment mandate better positions the
Company to deliver on its objectives over the long term, supports continued
shareholder engagement and provides a stronger platform for future growth while
maintaining an appropriate risk profile.

Shareholders
Issue
Continued shareholder support and engagement are critical to the continued
existence of the Company and the successful delivery of its long-term strategy.

Engagement
The Board is committed to maintaining open channels of communication and
engaging with shareholders. The Company welcomes and encourages attendance and
participation from all shareholders at its Annual General Meetings. Shareholders
will have the opportunity to meet the Directors and Investment Manager and to
address questions to them directly. The Investment Manager will also provide a
presentation on the Company’s performance and outlook. The Chairman and Senior
Independent Director are available to meet with major shareholders and also meet
directly with shareholders providing a forum for canvassing their views and
enabling the Board to be aware of any issues of concern.

The Annual Report and Half Yearly Financial Report are available on the
BlackRock website and are also circulated to shareholders. In addition, regular
updates on performance, monthly factsheets, the daily NAV and other information
are also published on the Manager’s website at www.blackrock.com/uk/brai.

Unlike trading companies, one-to-one shareholder meetings normally take the form
of a meeting with the Investment Manager as opposed to members of the Board. The
Company’s willingness to enter into discussions with institutional shareholders
is also demonstrated by the programmes of institutional presentations by the
portfolio managers. Additionally, the Investment Manager regularly presents at
professional and private investor events to help explain and promote the
Company’s strategy.

If shareholders wish to raise issues or concerns with the Board, they are
welcome to do so at any time. The Chairman is available to meet directly with
shareholders periodically to understand their views on governance and the
Company’s performance where they wish to do so. He may be contacted via the
Company Secretary whose details are given in the Company’s Annual Report for the
year ended 31 October 2025.

Impact
The Board values any feedback and questions from shareholders ahead of and
during Annual General Meetings in order to gain an understanding of their views
and will take action when and as appropriate. Feedback and questions will also
help the Company evolve its reporting, aiming to make reports more transparent
and understandable.

During the year the Chairman and Senior Independent Director offered meetings to
all identifiable major shareholders, without any representatives of the
management group present. These meetings, and private Board discussions with its
Broker Cavendish, are particularly important as the Company approaches its
continuation vote. Feedback from all substantive meetings between the Investment
Manager and shareholders is also shared with the Board. The Directors also
receive updates from the Company’s Broker on any feedback from shareholders, as
well as share trading activity, share price performance and updates from the
Investment Manager.

Portfolio holdings are ultimately shareholders’ assets and the Board recognises
the importance of good stewardship and communication with investee companies in
meeting the Company’s investment objective and strategy. The Board monitors the
Manager’s stewardship activities and receives regular feedback from the
Investment Manager in respect of meetings with the management of portfolio
companies.

Management of share rating
Issue
The Board recognises that it is in the long-term interests of shareholders that
the Company’s shares do not trade at a significant discount (or premium) to
their prevailing NAV. The Board believes this may be achieved by the use of
share buy back powers and the issue of shares.

Engagement
The Board monitors the Company’s share rating on an ongoing basis and receives
regular updates from the Manager and the Company’s Broker, Cavendish Securities,
regarding the level of discount/premium.

The Board believes that the best way of maintaining the share rating at an
optimal level over the long term is to create demand for the shares in the
secondary market. To this end, the Investment Manager is devoting considerable
effort to broadening the awareness of the Company, particularly to wealth
managers and to the wider retail market.

In addition, the Board has worked closely with the Manager to develop the
Company’s marketing strategy, with the aim of ensuring effective communication
with existing shareholders and to attract new shareholders to the Company in
order to improve liquidity in the Company’s shares and to sustain the share
rating of the Company.

The Board has implemented an enhanced discount control mechanism applying to
rolling three-year periods commencing on 1 May 2025. Under this mechanism,
Shareholders are offered the opportunity to tender for up to 100% of the
Company’s issued share capital at a price reflecting the latest cum-income NAV
per Ordinary Share, less 2% and adjusted for portfolio realisation costs, where
the Company’s annualised total NAV return over the three year period does not
exceed the annualised benchmark by more than 50 basis points. In addition, the
Board retains discretion to implement a tender offer on the same terms where the
Company’s cum-income NAV at the end of the three-year period is below £125
million.

Impact
The Board continues to monitor the Company’s premium/discount to NAV and will
look to buy back or issue shares if it is deemed to be in the interests of
shareholders as a whole. During the financial year and up to the date of this
report the Company did not reissue any shares. The Company repurchased 4,386,580
shares during the financial year. Since the year end and up to 30 January 2026,
no further shares have been repurchased.

The Company’s average discount for the year to 31 October 2025 was 6.3% and the
discount at 30 January 2026 stood at 1.2%.

Service levels of third-party providers
Issue
The Board acknowledges the importance of ensuring that the Company’s principal
suppliers are providing a suitable level of service, including the Manager in
respect of investment performance and delivering on the Company’s investment
mandate; the Custodian and Depositary in respect of their duties towards
safeguarding the Company’s assets; the Registrar in its maintenance of the
Company’s share register and dealing with investor queries; and the Company’s
Broker in respect of the provision of advice and acting as a market maker for
the Company’s shares.

Engagement
The Manager reports to the Board on the Company’s performance on a regular
basis. The Board carries out a robust annual evaluation of the Manager’s
performance, their commitment and available resources.

The Board performs an annual review of the service levels of all third-party
service providers and concludes on their suitability to continue in their role.
The Board receives regular updates from the AIFM, Depositary, Registrar and
Broker on an ongoing basis. For example, our Broker, Cavendish Securities,
reports to the Board at each board meeting and provides direct unfiltered
feedback on the views of the shareholders, wider market considerations and
offers Company specific advice. They also arrange meetings for major
shareholders to meet the Chairman, or other Directors, outside the normal
general meeting cycle. The AIFM and Depositary also attend the Audit Committee
meetings and provide a report on their monitoring activities, whilst the
Registrar produces a quarterly report to monitor their level of service and
ensure it is acceptable.

The Board works closely with the Manager to gain comfort that relevant business
continuity plans are operating effectively for all of the Company’s key service
providers.

Impact
All performance evaluations were performed on a timely basis and the Board
concluded that all key third-party service providers, including the Manager,
were operating effectively and providing a good level of service.

The Board has received updates in respect of business continuity planning from
the Company’s Manager, Custodian, Depositary, Fund Accountant, Registrar and
Printer and is confident that arrangements are in place to ensure a good level
of service will continue to be provided.

Board composition
Issue
The Board is committed to ensuring that its own composition brings an
appropriate balance of knowledge, experience and skills, and that it is
compliant with best corporate governance practice under the UK Code, including
guidance on tenure and the composition of the Board’s committees.

Engagement
During the year, the Board appointed a new Director. The Nomination Committee
agreed the selection criteria and the method of selection, recruitment and
appointment. The services of an external search consultant, Cornforth Consulting
Ltd, were used to identify potential candidates.

All Directors are subject to a formal evaluation process on an annual basis
(more details and the conclusions of the 2025 evaluation process are given in
the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2025). All Directors
stand for re-election by shareholders annually.

Shareholders may attend the Annual General Meeting and raise any queries in
respect of Board composition or individual Directors in person or may contact
the Company Secretary or the Chairman using the details provided in the
Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2025 with any issues.

Impact
As a result of the recruitment process, Ms Gaynor Coley was appointed as a
Director of the Company with effect from 25 June 2025.

As at the date of this report, the Board was comprised of two men and two women.
The Board considers that the tenure of the Chairman and Directors should be
determined principally by how the Board’s purpose in providing strategic
leadership, governance and bringing challenge and support to the Manager can
best be maintained, whilst also recognising the importance of independence,
refreshment, diversity and retention of accumulated knowledge. It firmly
believes that an appropriate balance of these factors is essential for an
effective functioning board and, at times, will naturally result in some longer
serving Directors. Furthermore, the Board wishes to retain the flexibility to
recruit outstanding candidates when they become available rather than simply
adding new Directors based upon a predetermined timetable.

Details of each Directors’ contribution to the success and promotion of the
Company are set out in the Directors’ Report and details of Directors’
biographies can be found in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31
October 2025.

The Directors are not aware of any issues that have been raised directly by
shareholders in respect of Board composition in the year under review. Details
of the proxy voting results in favour and against individual Directors’ re
-election at the 2025 Annual General Meeting are given on the Manager’s website
at www.blackrock.com/uk/brai.

Viability statement
In accordance with provision 31 of the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code, the
Directors have assessed the prospects of the Company over a longer period than
the twelve months referred to by the `Going Concern’ guidelines.

The Directors expect the Company to continue for the foreseeable future and have
therefore conducted this review for a period up to the Annual General Meeting in
2029. The new strategy, effective from 17 April 2025, has committed to a
conditional 100% tender offer if the Company does not outperform its benchmark
by 0.50% per annum over each three-year period from 1 May 2025. The Directors
assess viability over a rolling three-year period as they believe it best
balances the Company’s long-term objective, its financial flexibility and scope
with the difficulty in forecasting economic conditions which could affect both
the Company and its shareholders. The Company also undertakes a continuation
vote every three years with the next one taking place at the Annual General
Meeting in 2028.

In making an assessment on the viability of the Company, the Board has
considered the following:

–        the impact of a significant fall in US equity markets on the value of
the Company’s investment portfolio;

–        the principal and emerging risks and uncertainties, as set out above,
and their potential impact;

–        the level of ongoing demand for the Company’s shares;

–        a significant reduction in the Company’s ongoing charges in the new
investment strategy;

–        the Company’s share price discount/premium to NAV;

–        the liquidity of the Company’s portfolio; and

–        the level of income generated by the Company and future income and
expenditure forecasts.

The Directors have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the
Company will continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due
over the period of their assessment based on the following considerations:

–        the Investment Manager’s compliance with the investment objective and
policy, its investment strategy and asset allocation;

–        the portfolio mainly comprises readily realisable assets with low value
at risk which continue to offer a broad range of investment opportunities for
shareholders as part of a balanced investment portfolio;

–        the ongoing processes for monitoring operating costs and income which
are considered to be reasonable in comparison to the Company’s total assets; and

–        the Board’s discount management policy.

In addition, the Board’s assessment of the Company’s ability to operate in the
foreseeable future is included in the Going Concern Statement which can be found
in the Directors’ Report.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD
WILLIAM ROWLEDGE
FOR AND ON BEHALF OF
BLACKROCK INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT (UK) LIMITED
Company Secretary
3 February 2026

Related Party and Transactions with the Investment Manager and AIFM

BlackRock Fund Managers Limited (BFM) provides management and administration
services to the Company under a contract which is terminable on six months’
notice. BFM has (with the Company’s consent) delegated certain portfolio and
risk management services, and other ancillary services, to BlackRock Investment
Management (UK) Limited (BIM (UK)). Further details of the investment management
contract are disclosed in the Directors’ Report in the Company’s Annual Report
for the year ended 31 October 2025.

The investment management fee due for the year ended 31 October 2025 amounted to
£481,000 (2024: £1,146,000). At the year end, £170,000 was outstanding in
respect of the management fee (2024: £1,128,000).

In addition to the above services, BIM (UK) has provided the Company with
marketing services. The total fees paid or payable for these services for the
year ended 31 October 2025 amounted to £42,000 excluding VAT (2024: £87,000).
Marketing fees of £77,000 excluding VAT (2024: £35,000) were outstanding as at
the year end.

The Company has an investment in the BlackRock Institutional Cash Series plc –
US Dollar Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund of £nil (2024: £801,000) at the year
end, which is a fund managed by a company within the BlackRock Group. The
Company’s investment in the Cash Fund is held in a share class on which no
management fees are paid to BlackRock to avoid double dipping. The Cash Fund is
managed by BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited and is subject to an
expense cap of 0.03% of its NAV.

The ultimate holding company of the Manager and the Investment Manager is
BlackRock, Inc., a company incorporated in Delaware, USA.

At the date of this report, the Board consists of four non-executive Directors,
all of whom are considered to be independent of the Manager by the Board.

Disclosures of the Directors’ interests in the ordinary shares of the Company
and fees and expenses payable to the Directors are set out in the Directors’
Remuneration Report on pages 55 to 57. At 31 October 2025, £12,000 (2024:
£12,000) was outstanding in respect of Directors’ fees.

Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities in respect of the Annual Report and
Financial Statements

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial
statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each
financial year. Under that law, the Directors have elected to prepare the
financial statements under UK-adopted International Accounting Standards (IASs)
in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. Under Company
law, the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are
satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the
Company as at the end of each financial year and of the profit or loss of the
Company for that period.

In preparing those financial statements, the Directors are required to:

–        present fairly the financial position, financial performance and cash
flows of the Company;

–        select suitable accounting policies in accordance with IAS 8,
`Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors,’ and then
apply them consistently;

–        present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that
provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable information;

–        make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

–        state whether the financial statements have been prepared in accordance
with IASs in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, subject
to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

–        provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific
requirements in IASs in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act
2006 is insufficient to enable users to understand the impact of particular
transactions, other events and conditions on the Company’s financial position
and financial performance; and

–        prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it
is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are
sufficient to show and explain the Company’s transactions and disclose with
reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and enable
them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.
They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence
for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other
irregularities.

The Directors are also responsible for preparing the Strategic Report,
Directors’ Report, the Directors’ Remuneration Report, the Corporate Governance
Statement and the Report of the Audit Committee in accordance with the Companies
Act 2006 and applicable regulations, including the requirements of the Listing
Rules and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. The Directors have
delegated responsibility to the Manager for the maintenance and integrity of the
Company’s corporate and financial information included on the BlackRock website.
Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of
financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Each of the Directors, whose names are listed in the Company’s Annual Report for
the year ended 31 October 2025, confirm to the best of their knowledge that:

–        the financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with
IASs in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, give a true
and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and net profit of
the Company; and

–        the Strategic Report contained in the Annual Report and Financial
Statements includes a fair review of the development and performance of the
business and the position of the Company, together with a description of the
principal risks and uncertainties that it faces.

The 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code also requires Directors to ensure that the
Annual Report and Financial Statements are fair, balanced and understandable. In
order to reach a conclusion on this matter, the Board has requested that the
Audit Committee advise on whether it considers that the Annual Report and
Financial Statements fulfil these requirements. The process by which the
Committee has reached these conclusions is set out in the Audit Committee’s
report in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2025. As a
result, the Board has concluded that the Annual Report and Financial Statements
for the year ended 31 October 2025, taken as a whole, are fair, balanced and
understandable and provide the information necessary for shareholders to assess
the Company’s position, performance, business model and strategy.

FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
DAVID BARRON
Chairman
3 February 2026

Statement of Comprehensive Income for the year ended 31 October 2025

2025 2024
Notes Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital
Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
£’000
Income from 3 2,693 – 2,693 3,813 –
3,813
investments
held at
fair
value
through
profit
or loss
Other 3 37 – 37 42 –
42
income
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— —–
—-
—— —— —— —— —— —
—-
Total 2,730 – 2,730 3,855 –
3,855
income
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
=========
Net profit – 9,572 9,572 – 20,909
20,909
on
investments
and
derivatives
held at
fair value
through
profit or
loss
Net loss on – (26) (26) – (67)
(67)
foreign
exchange
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— —–
—-
—— —— —— —— —— —
—-
Total 2,730 9,546 12,276 3,855 20,842
24,697
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
=========
Expenses
Investment 4 (120) (361) (481) (286) (860)
(1,146)
management
fee
Other 5 (495) (11) (506) (534) (10)
(544)
operating
expenses
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— —–
—-
—— —— —— —— —— —
—-
Total (615) (372) (987) (820) (870)
(1,690)
operating
expenses
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
=========
Net profit 2,115 9,174 11,289 3,035 19,972
23,007
before
finance
costs and
taxation
Finance – (1) (1) (2) (4)
(6)
costs
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— —–
—-
—— —— —— —— —— —
—-
Net profit 2,115 9,173 11,288 3,033 19,968
23,001
before
taxation
Taxation (334) – (334) (429) –
(429)
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— —–
—-
—— —— —— —— —— —
—-
Profit for 1,781 9,173 10,954 2,604 19,968
22,572
the year
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
=========
Earnings 7 2.83 14.61 17.44 3.39 25.97
29.36
per
ordinary
share
(pence)
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
=========

The total columns of this statement represent the Company’s Statement of
Comprehensive Income, prepared in accordance with UK-adopted International
Accounting Standards (IASs). The supplementary revenue and capital accounts are
both prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment
Companies (AIC). All items in the above statement derive from continuing
operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued during the year. All
income is attributable to the equity holders of the Company.

The Company does not have any other comprehensive income/(loss) (2024: £nil).
The net profit/(loss) for the year disclosed above represents the Company’s
total comprehensive income.

Statement of Changes in Equity for the year ended 31 October 2025

Notes Called Capital Special Capital Revenue
Total
up share redemption reserve reserves reserve
£’000
capital reserve £’000 £’000 £’000
£’000 £’000
For the year
ended 31
October 2025
At 31 October 1,004 1,460 66,412 85,692 499
155,067
2024
Total
comprehensive
income:
Net profit – – – 9,173 1,781
10,954
for
the year
Transactions
with owners,
recorded
directly to
equity:
Ordinary 8,9 – – (8,879) – –
(8,879)
shares
repurchased
into treasury
Treasury 8,9 (50) 50 – – –
–
shares
cancelled
Share 8,9 – – (158) – –
(158)
repurchase
costs
Ordinary 8,9 – – (20,953) – –
(20,953)
shares
repurchased
into treasury
– tender
offer
Tender offer 8,9 – – (350) – –
(350)
and other
costs
relating to
the proposals
BlackRock 8,9 – – 118 – –
118
contribution
to
costs of the
proposals
Dividends 6 – – – (4,336) (1,964)
(6,300)
paid
——— ———- ——— ——— ——— —
——-
—— —– —— —— ——
——
At 31 October 954 1,510 36,190 90,529 316
129,499
2025
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
=========
For the year
ended 31
October 2024
At 31 October 1,004 1,460 82,540 69,201 584
154,789
2023
Total
comprehensive
income:
Net profit – – – 19,968 2,604
22,572
for
the year
Transactions
with owners,
recorded
directly to
equity:
Ordinary 8,9 – – (16,067) – –
(16,067)
shares
repurchased
into treasury
Share 8,9 – – (61) – –
(61)
repurchase
costs
Dividends 6 – – – (3,477) (2,689)
(6,166)
paid
——— ———- ——— ——— ——— —
——-
—— —– —— —— ——
——
At 31 October 1,004 1,460 66,412 85,692 499
155,067
2024
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
=========

For information on the Company’s distributable reserves please refer to note 9
below.

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 October 2025

[]
Notes 2025 2024
£’000 £’000
Non current assets
Investments held at fair value 129,205 155,578
through profit or loss
Current assets
Current tax asset 121 97
Other receivables 162 212
Derivative assets held at fair value 7 –
though profit or loss – index futures
Cash collateral pledged with brokers 35 –
Cash and cash equivalents – cash at 711 274
bank
Cash and cash equivalents – cash – 801
fund[1]
————— —————
Total current assets 1,036 1,384
========= =========
Total assets 130,241 156,962
========= =========
Current liabilities
Other payables (742) (1,895)
————— —————
Total current liabilities (742) (1,895)
========= =========
Net assets 129,499 155,067
========= =========
Equity
Called up share capital 954 1,004
Capital redemption reserve 9 1,510 1,460
Special reserve 9 36,190 66,412
Capital reserves 9 90,529 85,692
Revenue reserve 9 316 499
————— —————
Total shareholders’ funds 129,499 155,067
========= =========
Net asset value per ordinary share 7 229.56 216.24
(pence)
========= =========

[1]     Cash fund represents funds held on deposit with the BlackRock
Institutional Cash Series plc – US Dollar Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund.

Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 October 2025

[][]
2025 2024
£’000 £’000
Operating activities
Net profit before taxation[1] 11,288 23,001
Changes in working capital items:
Decrease in other receivables (excluding 5 17
amounts due from brokers)
(Decrease)/increase in other payables (695) 208
(excluding amounts due to brokers)
Decrease in amounts due from brokers 45 2,385
Decrease in amounts due to brokers – (1,918)
Increase in cash collateral pledged with (35) –
brokers
Other adjustments:
Finance costs 1 6
Net profit on investments and derivatives (9,572) (20,909)
held at fair value through profit or loss
Net loss on foreign exchange 26 67
Sales of investments held at fair value 279,878 133,284
through profit or loss
Purchases of investments held at fair (243,940) (113,741)
value through profit or loss
Taxation paid (358) (402)
————— —————
Net cash inflow from operating activities 36,643 21,998
========= =========
Financing activities
Interest paid (1) (6)
Payments for ordinary shares repurchased (9,495) (15,776)
into treasury
Payments for shares repurchased into (20,953) –
treasury – tender offer
Tender offer costs (350) –
BlackRock contribution to costs of the 118 –
proposals
Dividends paid (6,300) (6,166)
————— —————
Net cash outflow from financing (36,981) (21,948)
activities
========= =========
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash (338) 50
equivalents
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes (26) (67)
————— —————
Change in cash and cash equivalents (364) (17)
Cash and cash equivalents at start of 1,075 1,092
year
————— —————
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 711 1,075
========= =========
Comprised of:
Cash at bank 711 274
Cash fund[2] – 801
————— —————
711 1,075
========= =========

[1]     Dividends and interest received in cash during the year amounted to
£2,329,000 and £37,000 (2024: £3,363,000 and £43,000).

[2]     Cash fund represents funds held on deposit with the BlackRock
Institutional Cash Series plc – US Dollar Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund.

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 October 2025

1. Principal activity
The principal activity of the Company is that of an investment trust company
within the meaning of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010. The Company
was incorporated in England and Wales on 30 August 2012 under the Companies Act
2006 and this is the twelfth Annual Report.

2. Accounting policies
The principal accounting policies adopted by the Company have been applied
consistently, other than where new policies have been adopted and are set out
below.

(a) Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared under the historic cost convention
modified by the revaluation of certain financial assets and financial
liabilities held at fair value through profit or loss and in accordance with UK
-adopted International Accounting Standards (IASs) and in accordance with the
requirements of the Companies Act 2006. All of the Company’s operations are of a
continuing nature.

Insofar as the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for investment trust
companies and venture capital trusts, issued by the Association of Investment
Companies (AIC) in October 2019 and updated in July 2022, is compatible with UK
-adopted IASs, the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with
the guidance set out in the SORP.

Substantially, all of the assets of the Company consist of securities that are
readily realisable and, accordingly, the Directors are satisfied that the
Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the
foreseeable future for the period to 3 February 2027, being a period of at least
twelve months from the date of approval of the financial statements and
therefore consider the going concern assumption to be appropriate. (See the
Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2025 for further details
on going concern.) The Directors have reviewed the income and expense
projections, the continuation vote coming up at the forthcoming AGM and the
nature, liquidity and stock volatility of the investment portfolio in making
their assessment.

The Directors have considered the impact of climate change on the value of the
investments included in the Financial Statements and have concluded there was no
further impact of climate change to be considered as the investments are valued
based on market pricing as required by IFRS 13.

None of the Company’s other assets and liabilities were considered to be
potentially impacted by climate change.

The Company’s financial statements are presented in Sterling, which is the
functional currency of the Company and the currency of the primary economic
environment in which the Company operates. All values are rounded to the nearest
thousand pounds (£’000) except where otherwise indicated.

Adoption of new and amended International Accounting Standards and
interpretations:
IAS 1 – Classification of liabilities as current or non current and non current
liabilities with covenants (effective 1 January 2024). The IASB has amended IAS
1 Presentation of Financial Statements to clarify its requirement for the
presentation of liabilities depending on the rights that exist at the end of the
reporting period. The amendment requires liabilities to be classified as non
current if the entity has a substantive right to defer settlement for at least
12 months at the end of the reporting period. The amendment no longer refers to
unconditional rights. The IASB has also introduced additional disclosures for
liabilities with covenants within 12 months of the reporting period. The
additional disclosures include the nature of covenants, when the entity is
required to comply with covenants, the carrying amount of related liabilities
and circumstances that may indicate that the entity will have difficulty
complying with the covenants.

The amendment of this standard did not have any significant impact on the
Company.

IAS 21 – Lack of exchangeability (effective 1 January 2025 – early adopted from
1 November 2024). The IASB issued amendments to IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in
Foreign Exchange Rates to specify how an entity should assess whether a currency
is exchangeable and how it should determine a spot exchange rate when
exchangeability is lacking. The amendments also require disclosure of
information that enables users of its financial statements to understand how the
currency not being exchangeable into the other currency affects, or is expected
to affect, the entity’s financial performance, financial position and cash
flows.

The amendment of this standard did not have any significant impact on the
Company’s operations as IAS 21 better reflects the practical considerations of
establishing fair values for the Company’s foreign currency assets.

Relevant International Accounting Standards that have yet to be adopted:
IFRS 18 – Presentation and disclosure in financial statements (effective 1
January 2027). The IASB issued IFRS 18, which replaces IAS 1 Presentation of
Financial Statements. IFRS 18 introduces new requirements for presentation
within the statement of profit or loss, including specified totals and
subtotals. Furthermore, entities are required to classify all income and
expenses within the statement of profit or loss into one of five categories:
operating, investing, financing, income taxes and discontinued operations,
whereof the first three are new. It also requires disclosure of newly defined
management defined performance measures, subtotals of income and expenses, and
includes new requirements for aggregation and disaggregation of financial
information based on the identified `roles’ of the primary financial statements
and the notes.

The amendment of this standard is expected to have an impact on the disclosure
and presentation of the Statement of Comprehensive Income but will not have any
impact on the accounting or financial results.

(b) Presentation of the Statement of Comprehensive Income
In order to better reflect the activities of an investment trust company and in
accordance with guidance issued by the AIC, supplementary information which
analyses the Statement of Comprehensive Income between items of a revenue and a
capital nature has been presented alongside the Statement of Comprehensive
Income.

(c) Segmental reporting
The Directors are of the opinion that the Company is engaged in a single segment
of business being investment business.

(d) Income
Dividends receivable on equity shares are recognised as revenue for the year on
an ex-dividend basis. Where no ex-dividend date is available, dividends
receivable on or before the year end are treated as revenue for the year.
Provision for bad debts is made for any doubtful dividends not expected to be
received. Special dividends, if any, are treated as a capital or a revenue
receipt depending on the facts or circumstances of each particular case. The
return on a debt security is recognised on a time apportionment basis so as to
reflect the effective yield on the debt security.

Deposit interest receivable is accounted for on an accruals basis. Interest
income from the Cash Fund is accounted for on an accruals basis.

Where the Company has elected to receive its dividends in the form of additional
shares rather than in cash, the cash equivalent of the dividend is recognised as
income. Any excess in the value of the shares received over the amount of the
cash dividend is recognised in capital.

(e) Expenses
All expenses, including finance costs, are accounted for on an accruals basis.
Expenses have been charged wholly to the revenue account of the Statement of
Comprehensive Income, except as follows:

–        expenses which are incidental to the acquisition or sale of an
investment are charged to the capital account of the Statement of Comprehensive
Income. Details of transaction costs on the purchases and sales of investments
are disclosed within note 10 to the financial statements in the Company’s Annual
Report for the year ended 31 October 2025;

–        expenses are treated as capital where a connection with the maintenance
or enhancement of the value of the investments can be demonstrated; and

–        the investment management fee and finance costs have been allocated 25%
to the revenue account and 75% to the capital account of the Statement of
Comprehensive Income in line with the Board’s expected long-term split of
returns, in the form of capital gains and income, respectively, from the
investment portfolio.

(f) Taxation
The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred
tax. The tax currently payable is based on the taxable profit for the year.
Taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in the Statement of
Comprehensive Income because it excludes items of income or expenses that are
taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are
never taxable or deductible. The Company’s liability for current tax is
calculated using tax rates that were applicable at the balance sheet date.

Where expenses are allocated between capital and revenue accounts, any tax
relief in respect of expenses is allocated between capital and revenue returns
on the marginal basis using the Company’s effective rate of corporation tax for
the accounting period.

Deferred taxation is recognised in respect of all temporary differences that
have originated but not reversed at the financial reporting date, where
transactions or events that result in an obligation to pay more taxation in the
future or right to pay less taxation in the future have occurred at the
financial reporting date. This is subject to deferred taxation assets only being
recognised if it is considered more likely than not that there will be suitable
profits from which the future reversal of the temporary differences can be
deducted. Deferred taxation assets and liabilities are measured at the rates
applicable to the legal jurisdictions in which they arise.

(g) Investments held at fair value through profit or loss
In accordance with IFRS 9, the Company classifies its investments at initial
recognition as held at fair value through profit or loss and are managed and
evaluated on a fair value basis in accordance with its investment strategy and
business model.

All investments are measured initially and subsequently at fair value through
profit or loss. Purchases of investments are recognised on a trade date basis.
Sales of investments are recognised at the trade date of the disposal.

The fair value of the financial investments is based on their quoted bid price
at the financial reporting date, without deduction for the estimated selling
costs. This policy applies to all current and non-current asset investments held
by the Company.

Changes in the value of investments held at fair value through profit or loss
and gains and losses on disposal are recognised in the Statement of
Comprehensive Income as «Net profit/(loss) on investments and options held at
fair value through profit or loss». Also included within the heading are
transaction costs in relation to the purchase or sale of investments.

For all financial instruments not traded in an active market, the fair value is
determined by using various valuation techniques. Valuation techniques include
market approach (i.e., using recent arm’s length market transactions adjusted as
necessary and reference to the current market value of another instrument that
is substantially the same) and the income approach (i.e., discounted cash flow
analysis and option pricing models making as much use of available and
supportable market data where possible).

(h) Other receivables and other payables
Other receivables and other payables do not carry any interest and are short
term in nature and are accordingly stated on an amortised cost basis.

(i) Dividends payable
Under IASs, final dividends should not be accrued in the financial statements
unless they have been approved by shareholders before the financial reporting
date. Interim dividends should not be recognised in the financial statements
unless they have been paid.

Dividends payable to equity shareholders are recognised in the Statement of
Changes in Equity.

(j) Foreign currency translation
Transactions involving foreign currencies are converted at the rate ruling at
the date of the transaction. Foreign currency monetary assets and liabilities
and non-monetary assets held at fair value are translated into Sterling at the
rate ruling on the financial reporting date. Foreign exchange differences
arising on translation are recognised in the Statement of Comprehensive Income
as a revenue or capital item depending on the income or expense to which they
relate. For investment transactions and investments held at the year end,
denominated in a foreign currency, the resulting gains or losses are included in
the profit/(loss) on investments and options held at fair value through profit
or loss in the Statement of Comprehensive Income.

(k) Cash and cash equivalents
Cash comprises cash in hand, bank overdrafts and on demand deposits. Cash
equivalents are short term, highly liquid investments that are readily
convertible to known amounts of cash and that are subject to an insignificant
risk of changes in value.

The investment in the Cash Fund is managed as part of the Company’s cash and
cash equivalents as defined under IAS 7 and is presented as a cash equivalent in
the Financial Statements.

(l) Bank borrowings
Bank overdrafts and loans are recorded as the proceeds received. Finance
charges, including any premium payable on settlement or redemption and direct
issue costs, are accounted for on an accruals basis in the Statement of
Comprehensive Income using the effective interest rate method and are added to
the carrying amount of the instrument to the extent that they are not settled in
the period in which they arise.

(m) Share repurchases
Shares repurchased and subsequently cancelled – share capital is reduced by the
nominal value of the shares repurchased and the capital redemption reserve is
correspondingly increased in accordance with Section 733 of the Companies Act
2006. The full cost of the repurchase is charged to the special reserve.

Shares repurchased and held in treasury – the full cost of the repurchase is
charged to the special reserve.

(n) Critical accounting estimates and judgements
The Company makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting
accounting estimates and assumptions will, by definition, seldom equal the
related actual results. Estimates and judgements are regularly evaluated and are
based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of
future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The
Directors do not believe that any accounting judgements or estimates have a
significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amount of
assets and liabilities within the next financial year.

3. Income

[]
2025 2024
£’000 £’000
Investment income:
UK dividends 104 518
Overseas dividends 2,407 3,107
Overseas special dividends – 12
Overseas REIT[1] dividends 182 176
————— —————
Total investment income 2,693 3,813
========= =========
Other income:
Deposit interest 23 13
Interest from cash fund 13 29
Interest on cash collateral 1 –
————— —————
Total other income 37 42
========= =========
Total 2,730 3,855
========= =========

[1]     Real Estate Investment Trust.

Dividends and interest received in cash during the year amounted to £2,329,000
and £37,000 (2024: £3,363,000 and £43,000).

No special dividends have been recognised in capital during the year (2024:
£nil).

4. Investment management fee

2025 2024
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Investment 120 361 481 286 860 1,146
management
fee
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ———
—— —— —— —— —— ——
Total 120 361 481 286 860 1,146
========= ========= ========= ========= ========= =========

Up to 16 April 2025, the investment management fee was payable quarterly in
arrears, calculated at the rate of 0.70% per annum of the Company’s net assets.

From 17 April 2025, the investment management fee is payable quarterly in
arrears, calculated on a tiered basis: 0.35% of the net asset value per annum up
to and including £350 million and 0.30% of the net asset value in excess of £350
million. From 1 May 2025 to 31 October 2025, the Company benefited from a six
-month management fee holiday which was agreed to by the Manager.

The investment management fee is allocated 25% to the revenue account and 75% to
the capital account.

There is no additional fee for company secretarial and administration services.

5. Other operating expenses

[][][][]
2025 2024
£’000 £’000
Allocated to revenue:
Custody fee 2 2
Auditors’ remuneration – audit services[1] 43 47
Registrar’s fee 36 30
Directors’ emoluments[2] 144 145
Broker fees 40 40
Depositary fees 13 16
Printing fees 41 43
Legal and professional fees 15 16
Marketing fees 78 87
AIC fees 13 12
FCA fees 12 12
Write back of prior year expenses[3] (17) (43)
Other administrative costs 75 127
————— —————
Total revenue expenses 495 534
========= =========
Allocated to capital:
Custody transaction charges[4] 11 10
————— —————
Total capital expenses 11 10
========= =========
Total 506 544
========= =========
[]
2025 2024
% %
Ongoing charges[5] 0.73 1.06
========= =========

[1]     No non-audit services were provided by the Company’s auditor (2024:
none).

[2]     Further information on Directors’ emoluments can be found in the
Directors’ Remuneration Report in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended
31 October 2025. The Company has no employees.

[3]     Relates to Directors’ expenses and miscellaneous fees written back
during the year (2024: Directors’ expenses and legal fees).

[4]     For the year ended 31 October 2025, expenses of £11,000 (2024: £10,000)
were charged to the capital account of the Statement of Comprehensive Income.
These relate to transaction costs charged by the custodian on sale and purchase
trades.

[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 finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction
charges, VAT recovered, taxation, prior year expenses written back and certain
non-recurring items. Alternative Performance Measure, see Glossary in the
Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2025.

6. Dividends

Dividends paid on Record Payment 2025 2024
equity shares: date date £’000 £’000
Fourth interim 22 2 January 1,412 1,597
dividend of 2.00p per November 2025
share 2024
for the year ended 31
October 2024 (2023:
2.00p)
First interim dividend 11 April 2 May 1,351 1,560
of 2.00p per share for 2025 2025
the year ended 31
October 2025 (2024:
2.00p)
Second interim 6 June 4 July 1,715 1,521
dividend of 3.03p per 2025 2025
share
for the year ended 31
October 2025 (2024:
2.00p)
Third interim dividend 15 12 1,822 1,488
of 3.23p per share for August September
the year ended 31 2025 2025
October 2025 (2024:
2.00p)
——— ———
—— ——
Accounted for in the 6,300 6,166
financial statements
========= =========

The total dividends payable in respect of the year ended 31 October 2025 which
form the basis of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 and Section 833
of the Companies Act 2006, and the amounts declared, meet the relevant
requirements as set out in this legislation.

[][]
Dividends paid or declared on equity shares: 2025 2024
£’000 £’000
First interim dividend of 2.00p per share for 1,351 1,560
the year ended 31 October 2025 (2024: 2.00p)
Second interim dividend of 3.03p per share for 1,715 1,521
the year ended 31 October 2025 (2024: 2.00p)
Third interim dividend of 3.23p per share for 1,822 1,488
the year ended 31 October 2025 (2024: 2.00p)
Fourth interim dividend of 3.44p per share for 1,941[2] 1,410
the year ended 31 October 2025[1] (2024: 2.00p)
——— —————
——
Total for the year 6,829 5,979
========= =========

[1]     Based on 56,412,138 ordinary shares in issue on 13 November 2025 (the ex
-dividend date).

[2]     £312,000 paid from the revenue reserve and £1,692,000 paid from capital
realised reserves.

On 3 November 2025, the Company announced the fourth quarterly dividend of 3.44
pence (2024: 2.00 pence) for the year ended 31 October 2025. The dividend was
paid on 12 December 2025 to shareholders on the register as of 14 November 2025.

7. Earnings and net asset value per ordinary share
Revenue earnings, capital earnings and net asset value per ordinary share are
shown below and have been calculated using the following:

2025 2024
Net revenue profit attributable to ordinary 1,781 2,604
shareholders (£’000)
Net capital profit attributable to ordinary 9,173 19,968
shareholders (£’000)
————— —————
Total profit attributable to ordinary 10,954 22,572
shareholders (£’000)
========= =========
Total shareholders’ funds (£’000) 129,499 155,067
========= =========
The weighted average number of ordinary 62,809,902 76,877,643
shares in issue during the year on which the
earnings per ordinary share was calculated
was:
The actual number of ordinary shares in 56,412,138 71,708,970
issue at the year end on which the net asset
value per ordinary share was calculated was:
Earnings per ordinary share
Revenue earnings per share (pence) – basic 2.83 3.39
and diluted
Capital earnings per share (pence) – basic 14.61 25.97
and diluted
————— —————
Total earnings per share (pence) – basic and 17.44 29.36
diluted
========= =========

As at As at
31 October 31 October
2025 2024
Net asset value per ordinary share (pence) 229.56 216.24
Ordinary share price (pence) 218.00 190.00
========= =========

There were no dilutive securities at the year end.

8. Share capital

Ordinary Treasury Total Nominal
shares shares shares value
in issue number number £’000
number
Allotted, called up and fully
paid share capital comprised:
Ordinary shares of 1 pence
each:
At 31 October 2023 79,989,044 20,372,261 100,361,305 1,004
Ordinary shares repurchased (8,280,074) 8,280,074 – –
into treasury
———— ———– ———– ———
— —- —- ——
At 31 October 2024 71,708,970 28,652,335 100,361,305 1,004
Ordinary shares repurchased (4,386,580) 4,386,580 – –
into treasury
Ordinary shares repurchased (10,910,252) 10,910,252 – –
into treasury – tender offer
Treasury shares cancelled – (5,000,000) (5,000,000) (50)
———— ———– ———– ———
— —- —- ——
At 31 October 2025 56,412,138 38,949,167 95,361,305 954
========= ========= ========= =========

During the year ended 31 October 2025, the Company repurchased and transferred
4,386,580 (2024: 8,280,074) shares into treasury for a total consideration
including costs of £9,037,000 (2024: £16,128,000).

During the year ended 31 October 2025, the Company also repurchased 10,910,252
(2024: nil) shares into treasury for a total consideration of £20,953,000 (2024:
£nil) following the implementation of the tender offer. Tender offer costs
incurred were £350,000 (2024: £nil) and BlackRock contributions to the costs of
the proposals were £118,000 (2024: £nil).

During the year ended 31 October 2025, the Company cancelled 5,000,000 treasury
shares (2024: none).

Since 31 October 2025 and up to the date of this report, no additional shares
have been repurchased into treasury.

9. Reserves

[][]
Distributable
reserves
Capital Special Capital Capital Revenue
redemption reserve reserve reserve reserve
reserve £’000 arising on arising on £’000
£’000 investments revaluation
sold of
£’000 investments
held
£’000
At 31 October 1,460 82,540 75,840 (6,639) 584
2023
Movement
during the
year:
Total
comprehensive
income:
Net profit for – – 10,333 9,635 2,604
the year
Transactions
with owners,
recorded
directly to
equity:
Ordinary – (16,067) – – –
shares
repurchased
into treasury
Share – (61) – – –
repurchase
costs
Dividends paid – – (3,477) – (2,689)
———- ————- ———– ———– ———
—– — —- —- ——
At 31 October 1,460 66,412 82,696 2,996 499
2024
========= ========= ========= ========= =========
Movement
during the
year:
Total
comprehensive
income:
Net – – (3,185) 12,358 1,781
(loss)/profit
for the
year
Transactions
with owners,
recorded
directly to
equity:
Ordinary – (8,879) – – –
shares
repurchased
into treasury
Treasury 50 – – – –
shares
cancelled
Share – (158) – – –
repurchase
costs
Ordinary – (20,953) – – –
shares
repurchased
into treasury
– tender offer
Tender offer – (350) – – –
and other
costs
relating to
the
proposals[1]
BlackRock – 118 – – –
contribution
to
costs the
proposals[1]
Dividends paid – – (4,336) – (1,964)
———- ————- ———– ———– ———
—– — —- —- ——
At 31 October 1,510 36,190 75,175 15,354 316
2025
========= ========= ========= ========= =========

[1]     Costs relating to the implementation of the proposals set out in the
Circular dated 27 February 2025 and the tender offer and other costs relating to
the portfolio transition amounted to £350,000. The Manager agreed to make a
contribution to the costs of the proposals that do not relate to the tender
offer of £118,000 such that the proposals are cost-neutral to the continuing
shareholders. The tender price was at a 2% discount to the NAV at 17 April 2025
adjusted for the estimated portfolio realisation costs. The 2% discount resulted
in a NAV uplift of around 14 basis points for existing shareholders. The costs
relating to the proposals and the contribution from the Manager are adjusted
against capital reserves. The Manager also agreed a six-month management fee
holiday for the period 1 May 2025 to 31 October 2025.

The capital redemption reserve is not a distributable reserve of £1,510,000
(2024: £1,460,000) under the Companies Act 2006. In accordance with ICAEW
Technical Release 02/17BL on Guidance on Realised and Distributable profits
under the Companies Act 2006, the special reserve and capital reserves may be
used as distributable reserves for all purposes and, in particular, the
repurchase by the Company of its ordinary shares and for payments such as
dividends. In accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association, the special
reserve of £36,190,000 (2024: £66,412,000), capital reserves of £90,529,000
(2024: £85,692,000) and the revenue reserve of £316,000 (2024: £499,000) may be
distributed by way of dividend. The gain on the capital reserve arising on the
revaluation of investments of £15,354,000 (2024: £2,996,000) is subject to fair
value movements and may not be readily realisable at short notice, as such it
may not be entirely distributable. The investments are subject to financial
risks, as such the capital reserves (arising on investments sold) and the
revenue reserve may not be entirely distributable if a loss occurred during the
realisation of these investments.

As at 31 October 2025, the Company’s distributable reserves excluding capital
reserves on the revaluation of investments amounted to £111,681,000 (2024:
£149,607,000).

The Company’s share premium account was cancelled pursuant to shareholders’
approval of a special resolution at the Company’s Annual General Meeting on 22
March 2022 and Court approval on 19 July 2022. The share premium account which
totalled £44,873,000 was transferred to a special reserve. This action was
taken, in part, to ensure that the Company had sufficient distributable
reserves.

10. Valuation of financial instruments
Financial assets and financial liabilities are either carried in the Statement
of Financial Position at their fair value (investments) or at an amount which is
a reasonable approximation of fair value (due from brokers, dividends and
interest receivable, due to brokers, accruals, cash at bank and bank
overdrafts). IFRS 13 requires the Company to classify fair value measurements
using a fair value hierarchy that reflects the significance of inputs used in
making the measurements. The valuation techniques used by the Company are
explained in the accounting policies note 2(g) above.

Categorisation within the hierarchy has been determined on the basis of the
lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the
relevant asset.

The fair value hierarchy has the following levels:

Level 1 – Quoted market price for identical instruments in active markets
A financial instrument is regarded as quoted in an active market if quoted
prices are readily available from an exchange, dealer, broker, industry group,
pricing service or regulatory agency and those prices represent actual and
regularly occurring market transactions on an arm’s length basis. The Company
does not adjust the quoted price for these instruments.

Level 2 – Valuation techniques using observable inputs
This category includes instruments valued using quoted prices for similar
instruments in markets that are considered less than active, or other valuation
techniques where all significant inputs are directly or indirectly observable
from market data.

Level 3 – Valuation techniques using significant unobservable inputs
This category includes all instruments where the valuation technique includes
inputs not based on market data and these inputs could have a significant impact
on the instrument’s valuation.

This category includes instruments that are valued based on quoted prices for
similar instruments where significant entity determined adjustments or
assumptions are required to reflect differences between the instruments and
instruments for which there is no active market.

The Investment Manager considers observable data to be that market data that is
readily available, regularly distributed or updated, reliable and verifiable,
not proprietary and provided by independent sources that are actively involved
in the relevant market.

The level in the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value measurement is
categorised in its entirety is determined on the basis of the lowest level input
that is significant to the fair value measurement. If a fair value measurement
uses observable inputs that require significant adjustment based on unobservable
inputs, that measurement is a Level 3 measurement.

Assessing the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement
in its entirety requires judgement, considering factors specific to the asset or
liability, including an assessment of the relevant risks including but not
limited to credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, business risk and climate
change risk. The determination of what constitutes `observable’ inputs requires
significant judgement by the Investment Manager and these risks are adequately
captured in the assumptions and inputs used in measurement of Level 3 assets or
liabilities.

Fair values of financial assets and financial liabilities
The table below sets out fair value measurements using the IFRS 13 fair value
hierarchy.

Financial assets at fair Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
value through profit or loss £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
as at
31 October 2025
Equity investments 129,205 – – 129,205
Derivative instruments – 7 – – 7
index futures
——— ——— ——— ———
—— —— —— ——
Total 129,212 – – 129,212
========= ========= ========= =========

Financial assets at fair Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
value through profit or loss £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
as at
31 October 2024
Equity investments 155,578 – – 155,578
——— ——— ——— ———
—— —— —— ——
Total 155,578 – – 155,578
========= ========= ========= =========

There were no transfers between levels of financial assets and financial
liabilities during the year recorded at fair value as at 31 October 2025 and 31
October 2024. The Company did not hold any Level 3 securities throughout the
financial year or as at 31 October 2025 (2024: nil).

For exchange listed equity investments, the quoted price is the bid price.
Substantially, all investments are valued based on unadjusted quoted market
prices. Where such quoted prices are readily available in an active market, such
prices are not required to be assessed or adjusted for any price related risks,
including climate risk, in accordance with the fair value related requirements
of the Company’s financial reporting framework.

11. Related party disclosure
Directors’ Emoluments
At the date of this report, the Board consists of four non-executive Directors,
all of whom are considered to be independent of the Manager by the Board.

Disclosures of the Directors’ interests in the ordinary shares of the Company
and fees and expenses payable to the Directors are set out in the Directors’
Remuneration Report in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 October
2025. At 31 October 2025, £12,000 (2024: £12,000) was outstanding in respect of
Directors’ fees.

Significant Holdings
The following investors are:

a.      funds managed by the BlackRock Group or are affiliates of BlackRock,
Inc. (Related BlackRock Funds); or

b.      investors (other than those listed in (a) above) who held more than 20%
of the voting shares in issue in the Company and are, as a result, considered to
be related parties to the Company (Significant Investors).

Total % of Total % of Number of
shares held shares held by Significant
by Significant Investors
Related Investors who who are not
BlackRock are affiliates of
Funds not affiliates BlackRock
of BlackRock Group or
Group BlackRock, Inc.
or BlackRock,
Inc.
As at 31 1.0 n/a n/a
October
2025
As at 31 0.9 n/a n/a
October
2024
========= ========= =========

12. Transactions with the Investment Manager and AIFM
BlackRock Fund Managers Limited (BFM) provides management and administration
services to the Company under a contract which is terminable on six months’
notice. BFM has (with the Company’s consent) delegated certain portfolio and
risk management services, and other ancillary services, to BlackRock Investment
Management (UK) Limited (BIM (UK)). Further details of the investment management
contract are disclosed in the Directors’ Report in the Company’s Annual Report
for the year ended 31 October 2025.

The investment management fee due for the year ended 31 October 2025 amounted to
£481,000 (2024: £1,146,000). At the year end, £170,000 was outstanding in
respect of the management fee (2024: £1,128,000).

In addition to the above services, BIM (UK) has provided the Company with
marketing services. The total fees paid or payable for these services for the
year ended 31 October 2025 amounted to £42,000 excluding VAT (2024: £87,000).
Marketing fees of £77,000 excluding VAT (2024: £35,000) were outstanding as at
the year end.

The Company has an investment in the BlackRock Institutional Cash Series plc –
US Dollar Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund of £nil (2024: £801,000) at the year
end, which is a fund managed by a company within the BlackRock Group. The
Company’s investment in the Cash Fund is held in a share class on which no
management fees are paid to BlackRock to avoid double dipping. The Cash Fund is
managed by BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited and is subject to an
expense cap of 0.03% of its NAV.

The ultimate holding company of the Manager and the Investment Manager is
BlackRock, Inc., a company incorporated in Delaware, USA.

13. Contingent liabilities
There were no contingent liabilities at 31 October 2025 (2024: none).

14. Subsequent events
On 2 February 2026, the Company announced the first quarterly dividend of 3.55
pence for the year ending 31 October 2026. The dividend will be paid on 6 March
2026 to shareholders on the register as of 13 February 2026. There are no other
subsequent events to be disclosed (2024: none).

15. Annual Report

Copies of the Annual Report and Financial Statements will be published shortly
and will be available from the registered office, c/o The Company Secretary,
BlackRock American Income Trust plc, 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2DL.

16. Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at the offices of
BlackRock, 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2DL on Monday, 23 March 2026 at
12.00 noon.

ENDS

The Annual Report will also be available on the BlackRock website at
blackrock.com/uk/brai. 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.

For further information please contact:

Charles Kilner, Director, Investment Trusts, BlackRock Investment Management
(UK) Limited
Tel: 020 7743 3000

Press enquiries:

Ed Hooper, Lansons Communications
Tel: 020 7294 3620
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

12 Throgmorton Avenue
London
EC2N 2DL

3 February 2026

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