14 October 2019
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited
("SEQI" or the "Company")
Net Asset Value as at 30 September 2019 and Investment Update
The NAV for SEQI, the specialist investor in economic infrastructure debt, increased to 105.30p from the prior month's NAV of 104.62p per share. The changes in NAV arose primarily through:
· Interest income net of expenses of 0.59p;
· A decrease of 0.07p in asset valuations;
· Unhedged FX losses of 0.29p; and
· Gain of 0.45p from issuing shares at a premium to NAV.
On 20 September 2019, the Company announced that its placing of shares was significantly oversubscribed, raising gross proceeds of £138.75m. On 30 September 2019, the Company deployed substantially all the placing proceeds to repay c. £136.6m of outstanding debt, resulting in a month-end cash balance of £70.5m and outstanding debt balance of £63.4m. The Company also had undrawn commitments and three additional investments in settlement collectively valued at £137.3m.
The Company's invested portfolio comprised 62 private debt investments and 16 infrastructure bonds across 8 sectors and 30 sub-sectors and had an annualised yield-to-maturity (or yield-to-worst in the case of callable bonds) of 8.2% and a weighted average life of approximately 4.2 years. Private debt investments represented 88.4% of the total portfolio and 72.0% of the portfolio comprised floating rate assets. The weighted average purchase price of the Company's investments was 95.3% of par. Investments which are pre-operational represented 15.7% of total assets.
The Company's invested portfolio remains geographically diverse with 49% located across the US, 16% in the UK, 28% in Europe, and 8% in Australia/New Zealand. Currently the Company is not investing in Portugal or Italy but has selectively invested in opportunities in Spain. The Company's pipeline of economic infrastructure debt investments remains strong and is diversified by sector, sub-sector, and jurisdiction.
At month end, approximately 93.1% of the Company's NAV consisted of either Sterling assets or was hedged into Sterling. The Company has adequate resources to cover the cash costs associated with its hedging activities.
The Company's settled investment activities during September include:
· A $49m primary loan to Nasco Helium, a company that specialises in the extraction and processing of helium from productive oilfields;
· An additional $5.0m secondary loan acquisition of Heritage Power, a holding company that owns a portfolio of 16 power plants located across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey, USA;
· An additional $3.0m secondary loan acquisition of Midcoast Energy, a highly contracted NGL pipeline system in Texas, USA;
· An additional $1.8m disbursement to Bourzou Equity LLC, a company created for the construction of a data center in Virgina, USA; and
· A final €272k disbursement to Hatch Student Housing in Cork, Ireland.
The following investments were repaid in September in line with expectations:
· €35.5m and 2.3m Polish złoty senior loans to Project Warsaw, a portfolio of solar-powered generation assets in Poland.
Ordinary Portfolio Summary (15 largest settled investments)
Investment name |
Currency |
Type |
Ranking |
Value £m(1) |
Sector |
Sub-sector |
Yield to maturity / worst (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hawaiki Mezzanine Loan |
USD |
Private |
Mezz |
60.4 |
TMT |
Undersea cable |
11.6 |
Salt Creek Midstream |
USD |
Private |
Senior |
55.9 |
Utility |
Midstream |
8.1 |
Tracy Hills TL 2025 |
USD |
Private |
Senior |
48.8 |
Other |
Residential infra |
10.0 |
Scandlines Mezzanine 2032 |
EUR |
Private |
HoldCo |
46.4 |
Transport |
Ferries |
5.8 |
Euroports 2nd Lien 2026 |
EUR |
Private |
Mezz |
44.2 |
Transport |
Port |
7.8 |
Nasco Senior Secured 2020 |
USD |
Private |
Senior |
41.4 |
Other |
Industrial infra |
2.6 |
Bannister Senior Secured |
GBP |
Private |
Senior |
41.2 |
Accomm. |
Health care |
8.4 |
Adani Abbot HoldCo 2021 |
AUD |
Private |
HoldCo |
41.2 |
Transport |
Port |
9.0 |
Kaveh Senior Secured TL 2021 |
USD |
Private |
Senior |
40.7 |
TMT |
Data centers |
7.8 |
Whittle Schools B |
USD |
Private |
Senior |
40.5 |
Other |
Private schools |
10.9 |
Bizkaia TL 2021 |
EUR |
Private |
HoldCo |
37.9 |
Power |
Elec. generation |
7.7 |
Aquaventure |
USD |
Private |
Senior |
36.6 |
Utility |
Water |
8.0 |
Heritage Power |
USD |
Private |
Senior |
35.7 |
Power |
Elec. generation |
8.6 |
Bulb Senior TL 2021 |
GBP |
Private |
Senior |
35.0 |
Utility |
Electricity supply |
7.2 |
Sunrun Hera 2017-B |
USD |
Private |
Mezz |
32.1 |
Renewables |
Solar & wind |
7.8 |
Note (1) - excluding accrued interest
Market Summary
A total of 85 project finance transactions closed in September throughout the Company's eligible jurisdictions, worth $31.4bn in aggregate. Notable transactions outside of the Company's investment activities during the month include:
· A CAD $900m bond issue to finance the operations of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority in Toronto, Canada;
· A $508m financing of the construction of a 200MW wind farm in South Dakota, USA; and
· A $565m refinancing of the 644MW Bayonne Energy Center in New Jersey, USA.
In September, the US economy added 136,000 new jobs, bringing the unemployment rate down to 3.5%. The jobs report was below expectations, but past months' estimates were revised higher, leading to the decline in the unemployment rate. There remain concerns about the strength of the economy so the Fed is expected to cut interest rates by another quarter point.
The ECB announced a new stimulus plan during the month, cutting interest rates and resuming bond buying. The Eurozone economy as a whole is expected to grow 0.1% during Q3 2019.
The UK economy remains weak, with job decreases across the services, construction, and manufacturing industries. This has continued fears of a recession, with concerns that the economy has contracted in Q3.
The Company's monthly investor report and additional portfolio disclosure will be made available at http://www.seqifund.com/.
LEI: 2138006OW12FQHJ6PX91
For further information please contact:
Sequoia Investment Management Company +44 (0)20 7079 0480
Steve Cook
Dolf Kohnhorst
Randall Sandstrom
Greg Taylor
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited +44 (0)20 7710 7600
Neil Winward
Mark Bloomfield
Gaudi Le Roux
Tulchan Communications (Financial PR) +44 (0)20 7353 4200
James Macey White
Martin Pengelley
Elizabeth Snow
Praxis Fund Services Limited (Company Secretary) +44 (0) 1481 755530
Matt Falla
About Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited
The Company seeks to provide investors with regular, sustained, long-term distributions and capital appreciation from a diversified portfolio of senior and subordinated economic infrastructure debt investments. The Company is advised by Sequoia Investment Management Company Limited.