24th May 2023 11:58
(Alliance News) - HICL Infrastructure PLC on Wednesday said income and profit both declined in its latest financial year, but it reported an increased net asset value with its chair hailing the "resilient" results in the face of a "volatile" macroeconomic climate.
The London-based investment company, whose investment manager is InfraRed Capital Partners Ltd, has an international portfolio of over 100 core infrastructure investments.
It said income for the year ended that ended March 31 was GBP254.2 million, down 37% from GBP405.8 million in financial 2022. Pretax profit almost halved, decreasing 46% to GBP198.5 million from GBP368.4 million.
However, HICL Infrastructure said NAV on March 31 was 164.9 pence per share, up 1.1% from 163.1p on the same date a year prior.
Shares in the company continued to trade at a discount to NAV, slipping 1.4% to 146.00 pence on Wednesday morning in London.
The company declared a dividend of 2.07p per share for the fourth quarter, unchanged from the previous year. This brought its total dividend for the 2023 financial year to 8.25p per share, again unchanged.
HICL Infrastructure said its diverse portfolio of core infrastructure assets had demonstrated its resilience. It said it maintained a solid balance sheet throughout the year by proactively managing its debt facilities and accretive share issuance.
The company said it is optimistic about the future of core infrastructure investment, saying that digitalisation and decarbonisation efforts in particular would drive growth. It said it was "well placed" to achieve its goals thanks to its diversified sources of funding, a "healthy" balance sheet and the "global capability" of investment manager InfraRed Capital Partners.
HICL Infrastructure's Chair, Mike Bane, said: "The company has delivered on the investment pipeline identified last year and continued its strategy of active asset rotation with accretive disposals.
"New high-quality investments spanning modern core infrastructure sectors add valuable attributes to the portfolio and, importantly, support long-term cash and earnings...This reflects the board's commitment to position the company to deliver a sustainable dividend and compelling total return over the long term."
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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