9 November 2026
UTILICO EMERGING MARKETS TRUST PLC
(LEI Number: 2138005TJMCWR2394O39)
Publication of monthly factsheet
The latest monthly factsheet for Utilico Emerging Markets Trust plc (“UEM” or the “Company") will shortly be available through the Company’s website at:
https://www.uemtrust.co.uk/investor-relations/factsheet-archive
Monthly commentary
PERFORMANCE
UEM’s NAV total return declined by 4.8% in October, although this outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Net Total Return GBP Index which fell by 8.8%.
Globally October was characterised by further rises in energy prices, elevated bond yields and expectations of further rate increases, although the Federal Reserve held rates in the month. There was a correction in the price of many semiconductor and AI related technology stocks.
Oil once again posted strong price gains, with Brent Crude up 13.6% in the month to USD 117.64/bbl which added to global inflationary pressures. President Trump announced a relaxation in sanctions on Russian diesel, seemingly in an attempt to reduce the price of fuel ahead of the US mid-term elections.
In the emerging markets, Brazil re-elected Lula da Silva as President for a fourth non-consecutive term. The Brazilian market rallied earlier in the month as right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro received the most votes in the first round and right-wing parties made gains in senate and state elections. Markets however were wrong-footed by Lula’s win in the presidential run-off resulting in the Ibovespa Index ending the month down by 9.9%.
MSCI proposed moving Indonesia from emerging market to standalone status on market governance concerns. A consultation is underway with a final decision expected by 30 June 2027. The Jakarta JCI Index fell by 16.7% largely as a result.
The sell-off in semiconductor stocks during the month particularly impacted the Korean market, with the KOSPI Index falling 16.2% in October. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index declined by 6.3%, with technology related shares falling the most. The technology weighted Shenzhen ChiNext Index declined by 23.0% whilst the Hang Seng Index declined by 5.4%.
In India, the IPO of the largest mobile phone operator (by subscribers), Jio Platforms, was well received, achieving a market capitalisation of USD 140bn at the end of October. India’s Nifty 50 Index was up 1.9% for the month.
Other markets that posted positive performance in the month included Mexico’s Bolsa IPC Index which gained 8.7%, Romania’s BET Index was up by 13.0% and the SOFIX Index in Bulgaria gained 43.6%. Poland’s WIG Index was up 0.2% and the PSEi Index in the Philippines was flat for the month.
Sterling was generally stronger against most currencies during the month, gaining 0.8% against the US Dollar and 2.6% against the Euro. The Brazilian Real was weak, declining by 5.5% against Sterling. The Mexican Peso fell by 5.1%.
PORTFOLIO
There was one change to the constituents of UEM’s top thirty holdings during the month, Magyar Telekom replacing Hong Kong based data centre, SUNeVision. Magyar Telekom, which is controlled by Deutsche Telekom is the largest telecoms operator in Hungary with operating subsidiaries in North Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria.
UEM’s top performers in October were KINX, GAP, Magyar Telekom and Anhui Expressway.
KINX’s share price was up 38.5% after a Macquarie fund agreed to buy its shares from key shareholders for KRW 190,000 per share, subject to governmental approval. If approved, there would be a concurrent tender offer for minorities at this price.
GAP’s share price rose 16.9% after positive outlook commentary accompanying solid Q3 results. Magyar Telekom gained 9.8% ahead of Q3 results and Anhui Expressway’s share price was up 9.4% as Chinese investors favoured dividend paying stocks.
The largest declines were seen in technology related stocks. GDS’ share price declined by 30.3% reflecting weak sentiment towards Chinese technology names and FPT declined 16.3% for similar reasons despite reporting solid Q3 results. Piraeus Port reversed most of September’s gains, falling by 11.0% in October.
In the last week of October, following the Presdiential election result, holdings in Brazil largely gave back the strong gains seen since mid-August. The largest movement in the month was recorded in Axia Energia, which declined by 14.2%. Copel, Sabesp and Orizon were down by 10.4%, 10.0% and 8.4% respectively.
Portfolio purchases for the month totalled £11.5m and total realisations amounted to £28.5m.
DEBT
There were no changes to the debt facility in the month. The loan exposure decreased by £0.3m in the month due to foreign exchange movements to £21.3m with the facility drawn as USD 13.5m, EUR 7.5m and GBP 5.0m.
OTHER
UEM’s share price ended the month at 270.00p, down by 4.3% with the discount to NAV narrowing slightly to 9.0%.
UEM bought back 1.1m shares at an average price of 286.79p in October, taking the total number of shares bought back in the seven months to 31 October 2026 to 4.9m shares, equivalent to 2.8% of its share capital as at 31 March 2026.
Name of contact and telephone number for enquiries:
ICM Investment Management Limited +44(0)1372 271486
Charles Jillings, Jacqueline Broers, Alastair Moreton
Montfort Communications
Gay Collins, Alex Everett +44 (0) 7798 626282
utilico@montfort.london
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