REG - NextEnergy Solar Fnd - £70m Revolving Credit Facility Extension

NextEnergy Solar FundAnnouncement

10/05/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 8722N  NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited  10 May 2024

LEI: 213800ZPHCBDDSQH5447

10 May 2024

NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited

("NESF" or the "Company")

 

 

£70m Revolving Credit Facility Extension

 

 

NextEnergy Solar Fund, a leading specialist investor in solar energy and
energy storage, is pleased to announce it has extended its existing £70m
short-term Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") with Santander previously due to
expire in June 2024.

 

The £70m RCF extension is now available until June 2025 and benefits from
improved terms with a margin of 150bps over SONIA ("Sterling Overnight Index
Average") compared with 160bps over SONIA under the earlier terms.  As at 7
May 2024, the Company's total interest cost for any amount drawn under this
RCF was 6.7% due to SONIA being at 5.2%.

 

This follows the recent announcement of the extension of the Company's other
RCF facility of £135m to June 2026 with two additional 12-month extension
options available at the Company's sole discretion.

 

NextEnergy Solar Fund's two recent RCF extensions demonstrate the appetite of
its banking partners to provide debt to the Company at attractive terms and
underline the Company's belief that debt remains readily available to it as a
leading specialist in the solar energy and energy storage sector.

 

RCFs remain an important component of the Company's disciplined capital
structure and continue to provide the Company with the flexibility to pursue
value-accretive investments or to make repayments to the RCFs from operating
and other cash flows.  The Company continues to prioritise its Capital
Recycling Programme and expects to use the proceeds from the Programme to pay
down existing borrowings under the Company's RCFs.

 

As at 31 December 2023, the Company had drawn £163m from its £205m
short-term Revolving Credit Facilities and had an unaudited Gross Asset Value
("GAV") of £1,173m.  Gearing levels remain well within the Company's
investment policy limit of up to 50% of GAV and as of 31 December 2023 the
Company's financial debt gearing was 28.8% and total gearing, which includes
the fixed coupon preference shares, was 45.7%.

 

 

Ross Grier, COO and Head of UK Investments, NextEnergy Capital, commented:

"The extension of this revolving credit facility on improved terms is a
testament to NextEnergy Solar Fund's large portfolio of high-quality assets
and the availability of debt financing for leading market participants.  We
are happy to continue our strong relationship with Santander as the sole
counterparty to this facility.  NextEnergy Solar Fund prides itself on its
disciplined capital structure and continues to prioritise the capital
recycling programme where the proceeds will be used to pay down existing RCF
borrowings."

 

 

 For further information:

 NextEnergy Capital                          020 3746 0700

 Michael Bonte-Friedheim                     ir@nextenergysolarfund.com
 Ross Grier
 Stephen Rosser
 Peter Hamid (Investor Relations)

                                             020 7653 4000

 RBC Capital Markets
 Matthew Coakes
 Elizabeth Evans

 Kathryn Deegan

 Cavendish                                   020 7397 1909
 James King
 William Talkington

                                             020 7379 5151

 H/Advisors Maitland
 Neil Bennett
 Finlay Donaldson

                                             01481 742642

 Ocorian Administration (Guernsey) Limited
 Kevin Smith

 

 

Notes to Editors(1):

About NextEnergy Solar Fund

NextEnergy Solar Fund is a specialist solar energy and energy storage
investment company that is listed on the premium segment of the London Stock
Exchange and is a FTSE 250 constituent.

 

NextEnergy Solar Fund's investment objective is to provide ordinary
shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns, principally in the form of
regular dividends, by investing in a diversified portfolio of utility-scale
solar energy and energy storage infrastructure assets.  The majority of
NESF's long-term cash flows are inflation-linked via UK government subsidies.

 

As at 31 December 2023, the Company had an unaudited gross asset value of
£1,173m.  For further information please visit www.nextenergysolarfund.com
(http://nextenergysolarfund.com/)

Article 9 Fund

NextEnergy Solar Fund is classified under Article 9 of the EU Sustainable
Finance Disclosure Regulation and EU Taxonomy Regulation.  NextEnergy Solar
Fund's sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector are
in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 and can be accessed on the ESG
section of both the NextEnergy Solar Fund and NextEnergy Capital website.

 

About NextEnergy Group

NextEnergy Solar Fund is managed by NextEnergy Capital, part of the NextEnergy
Group.  NextEnergy Group was founded in 2007 to become a leading market
participant in the international solar sector.  Since its inception, it has
been active in the development, construction, and ownership of solar assets
across multiple jurisdictions.  NextEnergy Group operates via its three
business units: NextEnergy Capital (Investment Management), WiseEnergy
(Operating Asset Management), and Starlight (Asset Development).

 

·    NextEnergy Capital: Over 17 years of specialist solar expertise
having invested in over 400 individual solar plants across the world.
NextEnergy Capital currently manages four institutional funds with a total
capacity in excess of 3GW+ and has assets under management of $4.3bn.
www.nextenergycapital.com (http://www.nextenergycapital.com/)

·    WiseEnergy®:  is a leading specialist operating asset manager in
the solar sector.  Since its founding, WiseEnergy has provided solar asset
management, monitoring and technical due diligence services to over 1,500
utility-scale solar power plants with an installed capacity in excess of
2.5GW.  www.wise-energy.com (http://www.wise-energy.com)

·     Starlight: Developed over 100 utility-scale projects
internationally and continues to progress a large pipeline of c.10GW of both
green and brownfield project developments across global geographies.

 

 

Notes:

(1:) All financial data is unaudited at 31 December 2023, being the latest
date in respect of which NextEnergy Solar Fund has published financial
information

 

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