Earnings rise dramatically at The Renewables Infrastructure Group

The Renewables Infrastructure Group announced its results for the year to 31 December on Tuesday, with a total shareholder return for the year of 15.7% on a share price basis and 9.3% on a net asset value basis.

Profit before tax was £67.9m at the FTSE 250 firm, up from £17.0m in 2015, which the board said reflected an uplift in portfolio valuation.

Earnings per ordinary share stood at 8.8, rising from 3.0p, while net asset value per ordinary share improved to 100.1p from 99.0p at the same time a year earlier.

The directors' portfolio valuation was £818.7m, up from £712.3m.

Renewables Infrastructure said it achieved its total distribution target of 6.25p per share for the year, compared to 6.19p in 2015, and moved from semi-annual to quarterly dividends.

Its portfolio generation capacity increased by 8% to 710MW, with a total of 53 investments in the UK, Ireland and France, and it launched its second share issuance programme and raised £93mof new equity capital during the period.

The board reported a pipeline of further “attractive investment opportunities” remained under consideration across multiple technologies and markets, with shareholders approving an increase in the investment limit for technologies beyond onshore wind and solar photovoltaic from 10% to 20%.

The company was targeting an aggregate dividend of 6.40p per share for the year to 31 December.

“I'm pleased to report that TRIG's portfolio has continued to perform well despite the wider challenging market and weather conditions,” said chairman Helen Mahy CBE.

“This resilient performance is underpinned by TRIG's scale and diversified portfolio of solar and wind projects across UK, Ireland and France.”

Richard Crawford, director of infrastructure at InfraRed Capital Partners, added 2016 was a “robust” year for the group, and it remained well placed to take advantage of further opportunities in the renewable energy market.

“We maintain our disciplined approach and have a strong pipeline within the region of £100 million of projects at an advanced stage of discussions.”