Greencoat plans fundraise after transformational year - Greencoat Renewables has published its first set of results since listing. Highlights are:
<ul>
 	<li>Acquisition of ten wind generation assets during 2018, increasing the portfolio to twelve wind farms in total, and increasing net generating capacity from 137MW to 384MW</li>
 	<li>€883.5 million of gross asset value as at 31 December 2018</li>
 	<li>NAV at year-end of €392.8 million. NAV per share increased from 96.6 cent to 103.4 cent</li>
 	<li>Assets generated 440.5GWh of electricity in 2018; 9% below budget primarily due to low wind speeds; Asset availability was on budget</li>
 	<li>Net cash generation of €23.1 million</li>
 	<li>Dividend cover for 2018 of 1.3x</li>
 	<li>2018 total dividend per share of 6 cent</li>
 	<li>Dividend per share of 6.03 cent targeted for 2019</li>
 	<li>Issued 110 million shares during 2018 in an oversubscribed placing at €1.01 per share</li>
 	<li>Increased revolving credit facility to €380 million with a syndicate of five domestic and international banks</li>
 	<li>€490.7 million outstanding borrowings as at 31 December 2018, equivalent to 56% of gross asset value (2018 average gearing of 30%)</li>
</ul>
Ronan Murphy, non-executive chairman of Greencoat Renewables, said: "<em>We are delighted to present our first set of results for a full year following Greencoat Renewable's listing in July of 2017. The past 12 months have been transformational for the Company, delivering on all of our strategic goals and diversifying the portfolio, whilst continuing to achieve operational excellence. The secondary market for wind assets in Ireland has been very active with a number of value accretive opportunities sought and executed, growing our asset base from 2 to 12 wind farms and our capacity from 137MW to 384MW. We continue to see a significant aggregation opportunity for the business. We have also increased our target 2019 dividend to 6.03 cent consistent with our commitment to a progressive dividend policy</em>."

In line with the investment policy, the company will have the ability to consider investment opportunities in other EU jurisdictions from July 2019. Such prospective investment opportunities would be limited to countries with robust renewable energy policy frameworks such as Belgium, France, Germany, Finland, and the Netherlands. Greencoat Renewables has announced that it plans to issue another €100m worth of shares. They also say that they are looking at "<em>a high-quality operating asset</em>" which they are in exclusive negotiations on. This has a headline enterprise value of €76m and is expected to close at the end of March 2019.

The NAV uplift comes on the back of an increase in the assumed life of Greencoat Renewables assets - from 25 years to 30 years.

GRP : Greencoat plans fundraise after transformational year