REG - Foresight Envr - Net Asset Value and Dividend Announcement

Foresight Environmental InfrastructureAnnouncement

14/02/2025 07:15

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RNS Number : 0908X  Foresight Environmental Infrastruct  14 February 2025

14 February 2025

FORESIGHT ENVIRONMENTAL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED

 

("FGEN" or the "Company")

 

Net Asset Value and Dividend Announcement

 

FGEN, a leading listed investment company with a diversified portfolio of
environmental infrastructure assets across the UK and mainland Europe,
announces that its unaudited Net Asset Value ("NAV") at 31 December 2024 was
£695.4 million (107.4 pence per share). After paying the quarterly dividend
of 1.95 pence per share, the Company delivered a NAV Total Return of -0.34%
for the quarter.

 

Highlights in the period

 

·    Disposal of solar rooftop asset at a premium to NAV and a 1.3x
multiple on invested capital ("MOIC")

·    Total sales proceeds for the financial year now stand at £88.6
million - representing 9.9% of the portfolio value at the start of the
financial year

·    £12.3 million of £20 million share buyback programme returned to
shareholders by 31 December 2024

·    Another solid quarter of cash generation, with dividend cover for the
year expected to remain in line with guidance issued in the 30 September 2024
report of >1.20x

·    Surplus cash received from investments and asset disposals used to
maintain one of the lowest levels of gearing in the sector

 

Summary of changes in NAV:

                                                                      NAV per share
 NAV at 30 September 2024                                              109.8p
 Dividends paid in the period                                          -1.9p
 Power price forecasts                                                 0.7p
 Portfolio performance                                                 -1.6p
 Wind energy yield adjustment                                          -0.9p
 Gain from disposal of solar rooftop portfolio                         0.2p
 Inflation                                                             0.3p
 Updated operational assumptions                                       -0.7p
 Uplift from share buyback programme                                   0.4p
 Other movements (including discount rate unwind less fund overheads)  1.1p
 NAV at 31 December 2024                                               107.4p

 

 

Valuation factors

 

Power price forecasts

Improvements to near term power forecasts have resulted in a 0.7 pence
increase in NAV per share, through a combination of short term price fixes
secured above the previous valuation assumptions as well as increases to the
blended curve provided by independent market forecasters.

 

Portfolio performance

Portfolio performance was below forecast for the period primarily due to a
period of lower than expected solar irradiance and wind speeds, as well as
downtime due to unrelated technical issues across six of FGEN's wind sites,
which have since largely been resolved and partial recovery is anticipated
through warranty/insurance claims.

 

FGEN's diversification strategy means the fund is resilient against
unpredictable weather patterns, and overall cash generation remains strong -
with full year FY25 dividend cover expected to remain in line with guidance
issued in the 30 September 2024 report of >1.20x.

 

Revision to wind yield assumptions

As part of the regular review of generation performance across the portfolio,
modelled P50 wind yield assumptions have been reduced by an average of 1.8%,
based on independent third-party forecasts and taking into account recent UK
wind performance data at each of FGEN's site locations.

 

Gain from disposal of solar rooftop portfolio

On 10 December 2024, FGEN announced the sale of 100% of its portfolio of
operational rooftop solar assets for a total consideration of £21.2 million.
The disposal refines the portfolio, recognises a premium to NAV, and recycles
capital from a lower returning part of the portfolio into a further reduction
of debt in line with the Company's capital allocation policy.

 

Inflation

Modelled 2025 RPI inflation assumptions have been increased from 3.0% to 3.5%
to reflect the latest OBR economic forecasts. No change has been made to
longer term inflation assumptions, which remain at 3.0% to 2030 and 2.25%
thereafter.

 

Updated operational assumptions

Operational assumptions are continuously monitored across the portfolio, and
models are updated where evidence suggests assumptions are either over or
under stated. This quarter recognised an increase to the cost base of assets
in the Waste and Bioenergy sector, including consumables and ash disposal.

 

Share buyback programme

As part of the ongoing share buyback programme, the Company purchased 8.9
million shares in the quarter, increasing the NAV per share by 0.4p. Since its
inception, the buyback programme had returned a total of £12.3 million to
shareholders by 31 December 2024.

 

Construction and early stage operational asset update

The Company continues to make good progress on its construction and early
stage operational assets, in line with expectations. Key milestones achieved
in the period include a successful test harvest at the Rjukan controlled
environment aquaculture facility, the signing of further offtake agreements at
the Glasshouse facility as operations continue to ramp up, and the
commencement of orders for larger "6x2" heavy goods vehicles running on
biomethane CNG, opening a key new source of potential customers for the
Company's investment in a network of low carbon CNG refuelling stations.

 

In addition, the Company announced the full write off of its investment in its
green hydrogen development platform during the period, this was reflected in
the 30 September 2024 NAV and as such, no further adjustment is required this
quarter.

 

Gearing

In line with the Company's stated approach to capital allocation, FGEN
continues to maintain one of the lowest levels of gearing in the sector. At 31
December 2024 project level gearing was 18.7% and overall fund gearing was
28.8%, with the Company's Revolving Credit Facility £103.9 million drawn from
a total facility size of £200 million.

 

Dividend

The Company also announces a quarterly interim dividend of 1.95 pence per
share for the quarter ended 31 December 2024, in line with the dividend target
of 7.80p per share for the year to 31 March 2025, as set out in the 2024
Annual Report - which represents a yield of 11.1% on the closing share price
on 13 February 2025.

 

Dividend timetable

Ex-dividend date:      06 March 2025

Record date:              07 March 2025

Payment date:            28 March 2025

 

For further information and enquiries, please contact:

 

 Foresight Group                                      +44(0)20 3667 8100
 Chris Tanner                                         institutionalir@foresightgroup.eu (mailto:institutionalir@foresightgroup.eu)

Edward Mountney

Wilna de Villiers
 Winterflood Securities Limited                       +44(0)20 3100 0000
 Neil Langford

 SEC Newgate                                          +44 (0)20 3757 6882
 Elisabeth Cowell                                     fgen@secnewgate.co.uk (mailto:fgen@secnewgate.co.uk)

Alice Cho

Harry Handyside
 Apex Fund and Corporate Services (Guernsey) Limited  +44 (0)20 3530 3600
 Matt Lihou                                           fgen@apexgroup.com (mailto:fgen@apexgroup.com)

Matt Falla

 

 

About FGEN

FGEN's investment policy is to invest in a diversified portfolio of
Environmental Infrastructure. Environmental Infrastructure is defined by the
Company as infrastructure assets, projects and asset-backed businesses that
utilise natural or waste resources or support more environmentally friendly
approaches to economic activity, support the transition to a low carbon
economy or which mitigate the effects of climate change. Such investments will
typically feature one or more of the following characteristics:

 

· long-term, predictable cash flows, which may be wholly or partially
inflation-linked cash flows;

· long-term contracts or stable and well-proven regulatory and legal
frameworks; or

· well-established technologies, and demonstrable operational performance.

 

FGEN's aim is to provide investors with a sustainable, progressive dividend
per share, paid quarterly and to preserve the capital value of the portfolio
over the long term on a real basis. The target dividend for the year to 31
March 2025 is 7.80 pence per share¹.

 

FGEN is an Article 9 fund under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure
Regulation and has a transparent and award winning approach to ESG.

 

Further details can be found on FGEN's website www.fgen.com and LinkedIn page.

 

LEI: 213800JWJN54TFBMBI68

 

(1) These are targets only and not profit forecasts.  There can be no
assurance that these targets will be met or that the Company will make any
distributions at all.

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