Greencoat UK Wind pleased with 'resilient' first half

24th Jul 2024 08:30

(Sharecast News) - Wind farm-focussed infrastructure fund Greencoat UK Wind said in its half-year results on Wednesday that its investments generated 2,654 GWh of renewable electricity in the first half of the year.

The FTSE 250 company said net cash generation for the group and its wind farm special purpose vehicles (SPVs) totalled £165.4m.

In line with its commitment to return value to shareholders, the company declared total dividends of 5p per share for the period, and paid an additional £29m in dividends with respect to 2023.

The firm also engaged in a share buyback programme, repurchasing 32 million of its own shares at an average cost of 140p per share.

As of 30 June, the company's aggregate group debt stood at £2.33bn million, representing 39% of gross asset value (GAV).

Greencoat UK Wind announced that its unaudited net asset value as at 30 June was £3.63bn, or 159.3p per share.

It also announced a quarterly dividend of 2.5p per share for the period from 1 April to 30 June.

"We are pleased to have delivered a resilient performance, extending our sustained track record of growing our dividend at least in line with RPI since our listing," said the company's chair Lucinda Riches.

"Dividend cover was robust at 1.5x despite lower than usual wind and portfolio availability during the period and net cash generation remained strong at £165.4m.

"We are also pleased to have returned an extra £82m of capital to investors through share buybacks and additional dividends since October 2023."

Riches said the group's outlook remained encouraging.

"Portfolio returns have been adjusted over the past two years to reflect the macro environment, and are now set to deliver net returns to investors of 10% on NAV.

"We operate in a mature and growing asset class and, as the market for UK wind assets is expected to grow to threefold over the next decade, we are well placed to capitalise on our leading position, continuing to deliver superior returns and supporting the UK government's net zero targets."

At 1009 BST, shares in Greencoat UK Wind were down 0.32% at 141.65p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.