24th Feb 2022 11:46
(Alliance News) - Greencoat UK Wind PLC said on Thursday it saw strong growth in 2021 on the back of high electricity prices, despite lower output for its portfolio than budgeted.
The London-based renewable energy infrastructure investor said its net asset value grew by 39% to GBP3.09 billion at the end of 2021 from GBP2.23 billion a year before. NAV per share on December 31 was up 9.2% to 133.5 pence, from 122.2p at the end of 2020. Its market capitalisation was GBP3.26 billion at year-end, up 33% from GBP2.45 billion in 2020.
Total NAV return was 15%, up from 6.5% in 2020. Total income was GBP423.5 million, nearly tripled from GBP155.4 million in the prior year.
Profit before tax was GBP363.2 million, double that of GBP104.4 million in 2020.
Greencoat UK Wind said portfolio generation during 2021 was 20% below budget, at 2,933 gigawatt hours. However, power prices were well above budget, reflecting high gas prices as global demand recovers and shortages due to the Covid-pandemic.
A final dividend of 1.80p per share will be paid on Friday, bringing the total for the year to 7.18p, a 1.1% increase year-on-year from 7.10p. Greencoat is targeting a total dividend per share of 7.72p in 2022.
Greencoat UK Wind's share price was up 0.7% to 141.39 pence each in London late Thursday morning.
The company said the outlook for 2022, was "encouraging" with a strong pipeline of further investment opportunities, and forward power prices to remain high until 2025.
Chair Shonaid Jemmett-Page commented: "The year represented another significant period of growth, with GBP570 million invested in high-quality assets and GBP648 million of new equity raised. In the year we grew our portfolio to surpass 1.4 gigawatt of installed capacity, which underlines the size and scale the group has attained since listing. We commissioned our first three subsidy-free wind farms, complementing our two contracts for difference investments, and these sit alongside our 38 renewables obligation investments as part of a balanced portfolio.
"We continue to see an attractive pipeline of projects, both onshore and offshore, and remain strongly positioned to deliver more value-accretive acquisitions to further enhance returns for our shareholders."
By Elizabeth Winter; [email protected]
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