Slower wind means lower performance for Greencoat
Wind energy infrastructure investor Greencoat UK Wind posted its final results for 2016 on Thursday, reporting that its portfolio of 19 wind farm investments generated 978.1GWh of electricity - 6% below budget - which the board said reflected average wind speed across the UK being 6% below the long term mean.
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The FTSE 250 firm’s net cash generation was £49m.
During the year, Greencoat made two acquisitions for a total of £223.5m, increasing the portfolio to 19 wind farm investments with a net generating capacity to 420MW, and a gross asset value of £900.1m as at 31 December.
Those two acquisitions were a 28.2% interest in Clyde in March, and the acquisition of Screggagh in June.
In April, the Group launched a 300 million new share issuance programme with the first and second tranches raising £100m in May and £147m in November, respectively.
Net asset value growth during 2016 was 4.1 pence per share, after adjusting for dividends, and since listing NAV per share had grown by 9.2%.
The company declared total dividends of 6.34p per share for the year.
In line with its policy of increasing the dividend alongside the December retail price index, the company said it was targeting a dividend of 6.49p per share for 2017.
“We are pleased to report the continued good performance of our portfolio and demonstrate the robustness of the company's business model in a dynamic environment,” said chairman Tim Ingram.
“We have delivered a total shareholder return of 17.4% and NAV growth, adjusted for dividends, of 4.1p 2016 and again increased our target dividend by RPI to 6.49p per share for 2017.”
Ingram noted that during the year, the board analysed many further investment opportunities and made two significant acquisitions increasing its net generating capacity to 420MW.
“We were delighted with the support shown to us during the year in raising £247m.”