BlackRock Latin American (BRLA) shares fell 13% after Brazilian financial markets and its currency, the real, sold off following President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s remarkable comeback victory in Brazil’s election, defeating the right-wing and more market-friendly candidate, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The £100m investment trust slid 59p to 394.6p, losing this year’s gains. CNBC says the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ) plunged nearly 20% in overnight trading.

Lindsell Train (LTI) says a 7.7% slide in net asset value (NAV) in September wiped out gains from the previous two months and pushed the portfolio 0.5% down in the third quarter, although the announcement of a 20% tender offer supported the share price, which gained 3.6% last month and 5% over the quarter. By comparison, the benchmark MSCI World index rose 0.8% in September and by 1.8% in the third quarter. Five-year performance of the now £94m investment trust run by Nick Train remains poor, however, with annualised NAV losses of 7.4% translating to 12.4% annual declines for shareholders while the benchmark grew by an average of 12.2% a year.

QuotedData analyst Richard Williams said: “September was another difficult month for LTI, with the fall in NAV wiping out the improvement seen over the summer. Particularly notable was the sharp fall in FICO, which effectively halved in September amid regulatory pressure on its dominant position in US credit scoring. While the managers argue that its strong earnings growth demonstrates the resilience of the business, the potential introduction of greater competition presents a genuine risk to its long-term profitability. The further decline in the valuation of Lindsell Train Limited itself also remains a concern. There have been brighter spots, notably Thermo Fisher. With the tender offer now concluded, attention can return to the portfolio where the managers remain convinced that the underlying businesses are undervalued.”

GCP Infrastructure (GCP) says net asset value (NAV) per share rose 0.79p to 99.39p at 30 September from 98.6p at 30 June. The third quarter gain reflected updates to forecast electricity prices which added 0.97p per share but were more than offset by a 1.49p per share decline from unwinding discount rates and specific project updates across the whole portfolio. “Project-specific updates included a negative valuation adjustment to the gas peaking portfolio, reflecting feedback from a recent market sounding exercise, and an update to the long-term forecast for the 500kW anaerobic digestion plant,” the company said. However, buybacks of shares currently trading nearly 19% below NAV restored 1.19p per share to leave the portfolio up over three months.

Richard Williams said: “GCP’s latest NAV update provides further evidence of the benefits of its capital recycling programme. The increase in NAV was entirely attributable to buybacks, which added 1.19p during the quarter, more than offsetting a net decline from other movements. Higher electricity price forecasts provided some support, but these were outweighed by negative adjustments elsewhere, including a reduction in the valuation of the gas peaking portfolio following feedback from potential buyers. Nevertheless, the scale of buybacks demonstrates the attractive returns available from repurchasing shares at a substantial discount, while the fully undrawn credit facility leaves GCP in a much stronger financial position. Further planned disposals should provide additional capital for buybacks, although the prices achieved will be important in validating carrying values. With the 7p annual dividend target maintained, the focus remains on narrowing the discount without compromising the portfolio’s income-generating capacity.”