UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

 

FORM N-Q

QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT

INVESTMENT COMPANY

 

Investment Company Act file number 811-06445 

 

 

The Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

 

119 Washington Avenue, Suite 504, Miami Beach FL 33139

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

 

ERIK M. HERZFELD

119 Washington Avenue, Suite 504, Miami Beach FL 33139

(Name and address of agent for service)

 

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 305-271-1900

 

Date of fiscal year end: 06/30/18

 

Date of reporting period: 03/31/18

 

ITEM 1. SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS AS OF March 31, 2018 (unaudited)

 

	Shares or Principal Amount			Description		Market Value
				Common stocks – 99.51% of net assets
				Airlines – 9.91%
	221,569			Avianca Holdings, SA Spon ADR			1,876,689
	24,273.			Copa Holdings, S.A			3,122,236
	13,474			ERA Group Inc.*			125,982
				Banking and finance – 17.45%
	19,780			Bancolombia, S.A.			831,156
	63,166			Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A.			1,800,231
	23,643			Evertec Inc.			386,563
	378,775			First Bancorp (Puerto Rico)*			2,280,226
	28,416			Home Bancshares Inc.			648,169
	67,400			Popular Inc.			2,805,188
	3,844			W Holding Co. Inc.*			--
	14,000			Western Union			269,220
				Communications – 4.90%
	44,690			America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. ADR			853,132
	71,200			America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. Series A			68,260
	209,144			America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. Series L			197,646
	11,988			ATN International			714,725
	479,175			Fuego Enterprises Inc.*			100,675
	210,994			Grupo Radio Centro, S.A.B. de C.V. Series A*			119,637
	28,400			Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. ADR			453,264
	32,272			Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc.*			19,040
	14,017			Telesites S.A.B Series B-1*			10,889
				Conglomerates and holdings companies – 0.00%
	250,000			Admiralty Holding Company*			--
				Construction and related – 15.81%
	270,645			Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. ADR*			1,791,670
	70,590			Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. Series CPO*			46,445
	20			Ceramica Carabobo Class A ADR*			--
	3,000			Martin Marietta Materials			621,900
	109,297			Mastec, Inc.*			5,142,424
	5,000			Vulcan Materials			570,850
				Consumer products and related manufacturing – 3.71%
	327,290			Grupo Casa Saba, S.A.B. de C.V. ADR*			--
	10,600			Watsco Incorporated			1,918,282

				Food, beverages and tobacco – 9.01%
	740,000			Becle, S.A.B. de C.V.*			1,495,932
	18,900			Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. Series UBD			172,304
	14,610			Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. ADR			1,335,792
	36,500			Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.			1,651,260
				Housing – 5.64%
	49,500			Lennar Corporation			2,917,530
				Investment companies – 0.00%
	70,000			Waterloo Investment Holdings Ltd.*			--
				Leisure – 16.65%
	24,000			Carnival Corp.			1,573,920
	8,745			Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp.			1,164,834
	48,944			Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings*			2,592,564
	27,829			Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.			3,276,586

 

				Mining – 0.77%
	3,872			Grupo Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. Series B			12,867
	81,900			Tahoe Resources, Inc.			384,111
				Pulp and paper - 0.07%
	18,300			Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. Series A			34,187

				Railroad – 0.51%
	1,928			Norfolk Southern Corporation			261,784
				Retail – 1.26%
	1,270			Grupo Elektra, S.A.B. de C.V. Series CPO			35,484
	1,000			Pricesmart, Inc.			83,550
	210,222			Wal-Mart de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. Series V			529,773
				Service - 1.52%
	4,600			Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. ADR			784,622
				Trucking and marine freight – 5.16%
	585			Seaboard Corporation			2,495,025
	9,589			Teekay LNG Partners LP			171,643

				Utilities – 6.48%
	12,000			Caribbean Utilities Ltd. Class A			156,000
	129,538			Consolidated Water, Inc.			1,884,778
	700			Cuban Electric Company*			--
	8,000			Nextera Energy, Inc.			1,306,640
				Other – 0.66%
	25,000			Geltech Solutions Inc.*			5,243
	55,921			Margo Caribe, Inc.*			335,526
	79			Siderurgica Venezolana Sivensa, S.A. Series B*			--
				Total common stocks – 99.51%(cost $40,853,350)			51,436,454
				Bonds – 0.00% of net assets
	165,000			Republic of Cuba - 4.5%, 1977 -
				in default (cost $63,038)			--
				Total investments – 99.51% (cost $40,916,388)			51,436,454
				Other assets less liabilities – 0.49% of net assets		$	253,898
				Net assets - 100% (applicable to 6,133,659 shares; equivalent to $8.43 per share)		$	51,690,352

 

*

Non-income producing

 

Security Valuation

 

The Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund, Inc. (the “Fund”) records its investments in securities at fair value. Under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (i.e., the “exit price”) in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.

 

In determining fair value, the Fund uses various valuation approaches. GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value that maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs by requiring that the most observable inputs be used when available.

 

Observable inputs are those that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Fund. Unobservable inputs reflect the Fund’s assumptions about the inputs market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. The fair value hierarchy is categorized into three levels based on the inputs as follows:

 

Level 1:

unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Fund has the ability to access.

Level 2:

observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability either directly or indirectly. These inputs may include quoted prices for the identical instrument on an active market, prices for similar instruments, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, yield curves, default rates, and similar data.

Level 3:

unobservable inputs for the asset or liability to the extent that relevant observable inputs are not available, representing the Fund’s own assumptions about the assumptions that a market participant would use in valuing the asset or liability, and that would be based on the best information available.

 

The availability of valuation techniques and observable inputs can vary from security to security and is affected by a wide variety of factors including the type of security, whether the security is new and not yet established in the marketplace, and other characteristics particular to the transaction. To the extent that valuation is based on models or inputs that are less observable or unobservable in the market, the determination of fair value requires more judgment. Those estimated values do not necessarily represent the amounts that may be ultimately realized due to the occurrence of future circumstances that cannot be reasonably determined. Because of the inherent uncertainty of valuation, those estimated values may be materially higher or lower than the values that would have been used had a ready market for the securities existed. Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised by the Fund in determining fair value is greatest for securities categorized in Level 3. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, for disclosure purposes, the level in the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value measurement in its entirety falls, is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

 

Fair value is a market-based measure considered from the perspective of a market participant rather than an entity-specific measure. Therefore, even when market assumptions are not readily available, the Fund’s own assumptions are set to reflect those that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability at the measurement date. The Fund uses prices and inputs that are current as of the measurement date, including periods of market dislocation. In periods of market dislocation, the observability of prices and inputs may be reduced for many securities. This condition could cause a security to be reclassified to a lower level within the fair value hierarchy.

 

Investments in securities traded on a national securities exchange (or reported on the NASDAQ National Market or Capital Market) are stated at the last reported sales price on the day of valuation (or at the NASDAQ official closing price); other securities traded in the over-the-counter market and listed securities for which no sale was reported on the date are stated at the last quoted bid price. Restricted securities and other securities for which quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined by the Board of Directors.

 

The following table summarizes the classification of the Fund’s investments by the above fair value hierarchy levels as of March 31, 2018:

 

		Level 1				Level 2				Level 3				Total
Assets (at fair value)
Common Stocks
USA		$	27,882,045			$	100,675			$	0			$	27,982,720
Mexico			7,683,861				119,637				0				7,803,498
Panama			6,799,156				0				0				6,799,156
Puerto Rico			5,471,977				335,526				0				5,807,503
Cayman			2,040,778				0				0				2,040,778
Colombia			831,156				0				0				831,156
Other			171,643				0				0				171,643
Bonds
Cuba			0				0				0				0
Total Investments in securities		$	50,880,616			$	555,838			$	0			$	51,436,454

 

The following is a reconciliation of assets in which significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) were used to determine fair value:

 

		Investments in Securities at Fair Value
Balance June 30, 2017		$	0
Unrealized gain/(loss)			0
Purchases			0
Sales			0
Transfers into Level 3			0
Transfers out of Level 3			0
Balance March 31, 2018		$	0

 

Transfers from Level 2 to Level 1 were $156,000. Transfers from Level 1 to Level 2 were $555,838. Transfers between Levels related to the availability of trade information near the valuation date.

 

For more information with regards to significant accounting policies, see the most recent semi-annual or annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Unrealized Appreciation/(Depreciation)

 

As of March 31, 2018, the cost basis for federal income tax purposes, gross unrealized appreciation, gross unrealized depreciation and net unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) were as follows:

 

Tax Cost of Securities	Tax Unrealized Appreciation	Tax Unrealized (Depreciation)	Net Tax Unrealized Appreciation/(Depreciation)
$41,013,356	$13,436,725	($3,013,627)	$10,423,098

 

ITEM 2. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

(a)

The registrant's principal executive and principal financial Officers, or persons performing similar functions, have concluded that the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") (17 CFR 270.30a-3(c))) are effective, as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of this Form N-Q that includes the disclosure required by this paragraph based on their evaluation of the controls and procedures required by Rule 30a-3(b) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(b))and Rules 13a-15(b) or 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR 240.13a-15(b) or 240.15d-15(b)).

 

(b)

There were no changes in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(d)) that occurred during the registrant's last fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

 

ITEM 3. EXHIBITS

 

The certifications required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are attached as an exhibit to this filing.

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.  

 

The Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund, Inc.
By	/s/ Erik M. Herzfeld
	Erik M. Herzfeld
	President
Date:	May 25, 2018

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

By	/s/ Erik M. Herzfeld
	Erik M. Herzfeld
	Chairman and President
Date:	May 25, 2018
By	/s/ Reanna Lee
	Reanna Lee
	Treasurer
Date:	May 25, 2018