A new infrastructure investment fund focused on the UK wind sector reported a maiden profit just three months after a £260 million stock market flotation.
Greencoat UK Wind said it had generated profits of £7.6m, a figure derived from a £10.5m gain in the value of its investment portfolio which includes a number of key onshore windfarm arrays in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The fund was capitalised in March following an over-subscribed initial public offering which raised £260m. Greencoat immediately moved to snap up a portfolio of Perth-based utility company SSE’s wind assets in a deal worth £140m.
The move saw Greencoat take a 50% stake in the Braes of Doune windfarm from the Perth-based power company and assume full ownership of the Carcant and Bin Mountain arrays.
SSE in turn was one of the cornerstone investors, alongside the UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills, when Greencoat floated and holds a £10m stake.
Greencoat also owns a 24.95% stake in RWE’s Rhyl Flats offshore array, an investment that was matched by the UK Green Investment Bank, taking total generation capacity in its portfolio to 126.5MW.
The fund yesterday posted its first set of results, for the half year to June 30.
It said it had achieved “good operating performance” in the period since the flotation on March 27 and power generation, income and cash flows were all in line with management expectations.
Greencoat which announced an initial interim dividend of 1.5p per share, the equivalent of an annualised 6p payout also said it had made substantial progress on future asset acquisitions, with a strong pipeline of opportunities coming through.
“We remain confident that the outlook for investment in UK windfarms is very encouraging,” Greencoat told investors.
“There is continuing strong investment in the construction of new windfarms, and there should be a plentiful supply of operating windfarms to purchase at an attractive yield. We are currently actively evaluating and performing due diligence on a number of good opportunities.”
Tim Ingram, chairman of Greencoat UK Wind, said he was confident the fund would continue to make progress in the months ahead.
He said: “We have now put in place a solid platform to deliver further growth whilst ensuring sustainable returns to our investors.
“We anticipate substantial growth in the UK windfarm market, providing further investment opportunities.
“We believe our approach of maintaining no leverage at the asset level and ability to act independently positions us competitively in the market to acquire operational assets and makes us an attractive partner for utility vendors.”
Shares in Greencoat closed up 1p on Monday at 107.38p.