NAV and Investment Update

RNS Number : 7351P
Sequoia Economic Infra Inc Fd Ld
12 June 2020
 

12 June 2020

Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited

("SEQI" or the "Company")

NAV update

The NAV for SEQI, the specialist investor in economic infrastructure debt, increased to 98.21 pence per share from the prior month's NAV of 96.80 pence per share, representing an increase of 1.41 pence per share.

The gain in asset valuations can be attributed primarily to spread tightening of comparable investments across the portfolio and continued positive credit developments in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A full attribution of the changes in the NAV per share is as follows:

 

pence per share

April NAV

96.80

Interest income, net of expenses

0.65

FX movements, net of hedges

0.16

Increase in asset valuations

0.60

May NAV

98.21

 

Update on the effects of COVID-19 on the Portfolio

The Investment Adviser, the Investment Manager, and PWC as independent valuation agent have continued analysing the effect of COVID-19 on the Company's portfolio which also includes a market benchmarking exercise to conclude on spread and yield adjustments for each of the investments in the portfolio. In doing so, the team also considered asset-specific characteristics that would mitigate or exacerbate the issues caused by the global pandemic and sustained low oil prices.

In summary, the spread widening across the portfolio during the second half of March 2020 continued its reversal throughout May, with a number of the Company's investments performing better than expectations throughout the lockdown. The spread tightening seen in the markets and the broader credit outperformance both contributed to the market movements gain of 0.60 pence per share.

In terms of the previous investments that have been significantly marked down as a result of the ongoing pandemic and continued weakness in oil prices, there has been some recovery in valuations since March. The only notable update on these assets is the restructuring process of the US midstream business which is still ongoing.

Further Portfolio update

As of 29 May 2020, the Company's invested portfolio comprised of 60 private debt investments and 12 infrastructure bonds across 8 sectors and 28 sub-sectors. It had an annualised yield-to-maturity (or yield-to-worst in the case of callable bonds) of 11.4% and a weighted average life of approximately 5.6 years. Private debt investments represented 94% of the total portfolio and 66% of the portfolio comprised floating rate assets. The weighted average purchase price of the Company's investments was 96.2% of par. Investments which are pre-operational represented 11.7% of total assets.

The Company's invested portfolio remains geographically diverse with 52% located across the US, 15% in the UK, 27% in Europe, and 6% 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 98.5% of the Company's NAV consisted of either Sterling assets or was hedged into Sterling. The Company has adequate resources to cover margin calls on its hedging book.

The Company's settled investment activities during May include:

· An additional $10.0m secondary acquisition of American Tanker Inc's 9.25% 2022 bonds, which are backed by a ship finance company focused on the intercoastal U.S. Jones Act shipping market;

· An additional £9.9m secondary acquisition of Voyage Care 5.875% 2023 bonds; a leading care provider for patients with complex health needs in the UK;

· An additional $1.0m disbursement to Bourzou Equity, a company created for the construction of a data centre in Virginia;

· An additional €0.7m disbursement to Project Swordfish, a company that operates waterbus passenger transport systems in Antwerp, Belgium; and

· An additional €0.3m secondary acquisition of Ziton, an offshore wind turbine maintenance company located in Denmark.

The following Company's investments were sold in May:

· €25m of Swissport's 2024 senior secured bonds, an independent ground and cargo handling service provider to the aviation industry.

 

Ordinary Portfolio Summary (15 largest settled investments)

Investment name

Currency

Type

Ranking

Value £m (1)

Sector

Sub-sector

Yield to maturity / worst (%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AP Wireless Junior

EUR

Private

Mezz

61.6

TMT

Telecom towers

6.3

Hawaiki Mezzanine Loan

USD

Private

Mezz

54.7

TMT

Undersea cable

15.0

Expedient Data Centers Senior Secured 2026

USD

Private

Senior

51.4

TMT

Data centers

7.0

Terra-Gen Power TL B

USD

Private

Senior

45.7

Renewables

Solar & wind

9.4

Hawkeye Solar HoldCo 2030 1, 2, and 3

USD

Private

HoldCo

43.8

Renewables

Solar & wind

8.2

Jetpeaks HoldCo 2027

USD

Private

HoldCo

43.8

Power

Elec. generation

7.6

Tracy Hills TL 2025

USD

Private

Senior

43.5

Other

Residential infra

9.3

Euroports 2nd Lien 2026

EUR

Private

Mezz

41.2

Transport

Port

9.6

Bannister Senior Secured

GBP

Private

Senior

40.7

Accomm.

Health care

8.8

Bizkaia TL 2021

EUR

Private

HoldCo

39.6

Power

Elec. generation

8.8

Adani Abbot HoldCo 2021

AUD

Private

HoldCo

39.6

Transport

Port

12.7

Scandlines Mezzanine 2032

EUR

Private

HoldCo

39.2

Transport

Ferries

8.9

Corral HoldCo 2024

USD

Private

HoldCo

37.5

Other

Refinery

12.1

Whittle Schools B

USD

Private

Senior

37.3

Other

Private schools

15.5

Salt Creek Midstream

USD

Private

Senior

36.8

Utility

Midstream

29.2

Note (1) - excluding accrued interest

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

Anurag Gupta

 

Jefferies International Limited  +44 (0)20 7029 8000

Gaudi le Roux

Neil Winward

 

Tulchan Communications (Financial PR)  +44 (0)20 7353 4200

Martin Pengelley

Elizabeth Snow

Deborah Roney

 

Praxis Fund Services Limited (Company Secretary)                  +44 (0) 1481 755530

Matt Falla

Katrina Rowe 

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.


This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
 
END
 
 
NAVSFAFMFESSELM
UK 100

Latest directors dealings