HSBC Infrastructure tumbles into the red

28th May 2009 07:45

A slump in the value of the portfolio of HSBC Infrastructure saw the net asset value (NAV) per share of the infrastructure investment company slide by 8.1% in the year to end-March.The company’s NAV per share on an IFRS basis at 31 March 2009 was 111.1p, down from 120.9p a year earlier. After the payment of the final dividend of 3.275p, the NAV per share drops to 107.2p, in line with the guidance given by the company in January of this year.A £42.4m write-down in the value of its investment portfolio tipped the company into the red, with a loss after tax in the year to 31 March 2009 of £22m, compared to positive earnings of £19.6m the previous year.Cash received from the portfolio was £31.5m, producing a net operational cash flow of £23.4m, representing 1.26 times cover for the distributions paid in the year. Net debt at the group level was £57.7m at 31 March 2009, down from £105.6m a year earlier.‘The company's portfolio of PFI/PPP investments has continued to perform operationally in line with our forecasts,’ said Graham Pickens, the group’s chairman.Pickens said the group does not feel under any pressure to deploy surplus cash but did not rule out the possibility of raising more funds through an equity issue to take advantage of opportunities to acquire PFI/PPP/P3 projects.Pickens believes any share issue would be supported by investors ‘who remain attracted to our proposition.’The full-year dividend of 6.4p is a 2.5% improvement on the previous year’s payment of 6.25p.