6th Sep 2018 08:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - International Public Partnerships Ltd on Thursday reported that net asset value increased in the first half of its financial year, driving profit and leading to a hike in its interim dividend.
In the six months ended June, the FTSE 250-listed public infrastructure investment company's NAV increased 5% to GBP2.1 billion from GBP2.0 billion at the end of 2017.
The company's net asset value per share increased to 146.3 pence from 145.0p at the end of the previous half.
International Public Partnerships' pretax profit increased 15% to GBP65.9 million from GBP57.1 million the year before.
The NAV increase was driven by "active" asset management and "highly selective", accretive investments and commitments totalling about GBP50.5 million.
The company said its active asset management and portfolio risk management approach was demonstrated in its "prompt" resolution of the Carillion fallout.
International Public Partnerships exposure to construction and outsourcing firm Carillion was migrated to other service providers "at no material financial impact to the company or its public-sector clients".
INPP increased its investment in the Cadent gas distribution network by about GBP35 million to GBP40 million in the period under improved commercial terms. The improved terms comes as a result of the consortium, of which International Public Partnerships is a part, having an existing majority position.
The company also said it is increasing its investment in digital infrastructure. A GBP17 million commitment was made to invest in two separate UK alternative network providers - as part of the UK government's National Digital Infrastructure Fund.
International Public Partnerships declared an increased interim dividend of 3.50 pence from 3.41p the year before. The company said it is on target for its full year target dividend of 7.00p in 2018 and 7.18p in 2019.
Looking ahead, INPP said it believes the market in which it operates remains "buoyant" and government regulations continue to be "supportive".
International Public Partnerships stressed that despite Carillion's collapse and the UK Labour party's policy of removing private finance investment in public infrastructure has "negatively impacted sentiment", the company's exposure to such projects is "relatively modest".
Chairman Rupert Dorey said: "As a result of the ongoing robust portfolio performance in a period in which we continued to maintain full asset availability for our end-users, I am pleased to report sustained delivery of long-term inflation-linked returns to our shareholders.
"The market for the type of assets in which the company invests remains buoyant and we remain confident in our ability to realise a long-term pipeline of harder-to-access opportunities that meet our established risk-return profile."
Shares in International Public Partnerships were down 0.1% Thursday at 156.00 pence each.
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