Net Asset Value, Dividend and Issue Price
NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, TO U.S. PERSONS OR INTO OR IN THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND OR SOUTH AFRICA.
12 May 2016
JOHN LAING ENVIRONMENTAL ASSETS GROUP LIMITED
Net Asset Value, Dividend and Issue Price
John Laing Environmental Assets Group Limited ("JLEN" or the "Company"), the listed environmental infrastructure fund, is pleased to announce its estimated unaudited Net Asset Value ("NAV") as at 31 March 2016, its dividend for the quarter to 31 March 2016 and details of the issue of new shares under its existing placing programme.
Highlights
§ Estimated, unaudited NAV as at 31 March 2016 was £216.9 million (31 December 2015: £215.1m) or 96.7 pence per share (31 December 2015: 95.9 pence)
§ Generation from the renewables portfolio in line with budget and waste management and wastewater treatment facilities at or ahead of budgeted volumes.
§ Quarterly interim dividend of 1.5135 pence per share for the period from 1 January 2016 to 31 March 2016
§ JLEN will have paid total dividends of 6.054 pence per share in respect of the year ended 31 March 2016
§ The target dividend for the year to 31 March 2017 is 6.14 pence per share¹
§ The Company intends to conduct a placing of new shares at an issue price of 97.75 pence per share
§ The Placing is expected to close at 2.00 p.m. (London time) on 26 May 2016
Net Asset Value
The Company's estimated unaudited NAV as at 31 March 2016 was £216.9 million or 96.7 pence per share, compared to £215.1 million or 95.9 pence per share as at 31 December 2015, representing an increase of 0.8 pence per share. Portfolio value at 31 March 2016 was £264.5 million.
The change in NAV per share was due principally to the beneficial impact of a refinancing and reduction in discount rates of the wind portfolio, offset by a further downward revision of the Company's electricity price forecasts.
In March 2016, JLEN successfully refinanced the bank debt in the wind asset portfolio on beneficial terms. No additional debt was raised apart from that required to cover transaction costs and the break costs of existing hedging arrangements. The wind portfolio valuation reflects updated energy yield assessments, the revised debt terms and an adjustment to reflect current secondary market discount rates for such assets.
During the quarter, whilst short term electricity price forecasts have improved slightly, longer term forecasts have experienced further reductions. In line with its conservative approach to valuation, JLEN has reflected the latest long-term projections from market consultants together with market forward prices over the next two years at an average of £37/MWh for winter and £ 32/MWh for summer seasons.
Apart from the adjustment to the wind asset portfolio discount rate, no other changes to discount rates have been made in the portfolio valuation during the quarter. Taking this, together with the impact of the £6.1 million solar acquisition during the period, the weighted average discount rate at 31 March 2016 is 8.2% (8.5% as at 31 December 2015).
Availability across both environmental processing and the renewables portfolio during the last quarter has been good. For the quarter, and the financial year ended 31 March 2016 as a whole, generation from the renewables portfolio was in line with budget and the waste management and wastewater treatment facilities were at or ahead of budgeted volumes.
The Company intends to announce its audited results for the year ended 31 March 2016 on 17 June 2016.
Dividend
The Company also announces a quarterly interim dividend of 1.5135 pence per share for the period from 1 January 2016 to 31 March 2016. No scrip or other alternative will be offered in respect of this dividend.
Together with the interim dividend paid of 3.027 pence per share on 18 December 2015, in respect of the six-month period to 30 September 2015, and of 1.5135 pence per share on 24 March 2016 in respect of the quarter to 31 December 2015, the Company will have paid total dividends of 6.054 pence per share in respect of the year ended 31 March 2016, in line with the dividend target set out in the 2015 Annual Report.
During the year, cash distributions of £18.6 million were received from the Company's environmental infrastructure investments, after repaying £13.1million of project-level debt. For the year ended 31 March 2016 cash flow from operations covers cash dividends paid and declared by 1.05 times.
The target dividend for the year to 31 March 2017 is 6.14 pence per share, being the amount declared in respect of the period to 31 March 2016 of 6.054 pence per share, adjusted for inflation¹. This is in line with the Company's dividend policy as set out in the Prospectus dated 4 June 2015.
Dividend Timetable
Ex-dividend date 19 May 2016
Record date 20 May 2016
Payment date 24 June 2016
Issue Price
Further to the announcement on 21 April 2016 regarding a proposed cash placing of new ordinary shares (the "New Shares") to institutional investors pursuant to the Company's existing placing programme (the "Placing"), JLEN announces that the issue price per New Share will be 97.75 pence, which compares to the estimated 31 March 2016 NAV per share of 95.2p (after adjusting for the 1.5135 pence dividend for the quarter to 31 March 2016 to which the New Shares will not be entitled).
The Placing is expected to close at 2.00 p.m. (London time) on 26 May 2016 with the results of the issue expected to be announced on 27 May 2016.
The Placing will be made to Qualified Investors (as defined in section 86(7) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended)) through Winterflood Securities Limited ("Winterflood"). The decision to allot New Shares to any Qualified Investor shall be at the absolute discretion of the Board of JLEN (following consultation with Winterflood and the Company's investment adviser, John Laing Capital Management Limited).
Application will be made for the New Shares to be admitted to the premium segment of the Official List and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. It is expected that dealings in the New Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 1 June 2016.
The New Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares in the capital of the Company, including the right to receive all future dividends and distributions declared, made or paid save for the dividend payable on 24 June 2016 to shareholders on the register on 20 May 2016. The New Shares will be entitled to the dividend for the quarter to 30 June 2016, which is expected to be paid in September 2016.
The prospectus in connection with the placing programme was published on 4 June 2015 and can be found on JLEN's website at www.jlen.com.
[1] This is a target only and not a profit forecast. There can be no assurance that this target will be met or that the Company will make any distributions at all.
For further details, contact:
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John Laing Capital Management Limited David Hardy Chris Tanner
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020 7901 3559
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Winterflood Investment Trusts Joe Winkley Neil Langford
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020 3100 0000
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Redleaf Communications Charlie Geller Harriet Lynch
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020 7382 4769 |
About JLEN
JLEN's investment policy is to invest in environmental infrastructure projects that have the benefit of long-term, predictable, wholly or partially inflation-linked cash flows supported by long-term contracts or stable regulatory frameworks.
Environmental Infrastructure is defined by the Company as infrastructure projects that utilise natural or waste resources or support more environmentally-friendly approaches to economic activity. This could involve the generation of renewable energy (including solar, wind, hydropower and biomass technologies), the supply and treatment of water, the treatment and processing of waste, and projects that promote energy efficiency.
Further details of the Company can be found on its website www.jlen.com
Important information
The contents of this announcement, which has been prepared by and is the sole responsibility of the Company, have been approved by John Laing Capital Management Limited (the "Investment Adviser") solely for the purposes of section 21(2)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended).
This announcement is an advertisement. It does not constitute a prospectus relating to the Company and does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, any shares in the Company in any jurisdiction nor shall it, or any part of it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with or act as any inducement to enter into, any contract therefor.
Recipients of this announcement who are considering acquiring shares in the Company are reminded that any such acquisition must be made only on the basis of the information contained in the prospectus published by the Company dated 4 June 2015 and any supplement or supplements thereto which may be different from the information contained in this announcement. This announcement does not contain sufficient information to support an investment decision and investors should ensure that they obtain all available relevant information before making any investment.
Winterflood Securities Limited ("Winterflood"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting only for the Company in connection with the matters described in this announcement and is not acting for or advising any other person, or treating any other person as its client, in relation thereto and will not be responsible for providing the regulatory protection afforded to clients of Winterflood or advice to any other person in relation to the matters contained herein.
The shares of the Company have not been, nor will they be, registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States or under the applicable securities laws of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa. Further, the Company has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Subject to certain exceptions, the shares of the Company may not be offered or sold in any member state of the EU other than the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or to or for the account or benefit of any national, resident or citizen of any member state of the EU other than the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or any person located in the United States. The Placing and the distribution of this announcement in other jurisdictions may be restricted by law and the persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves about, and observe, any such restrictions.
This announcement may include "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company's financial position, strategy, plans, proposed acquisitions and objectives are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and accordingly the Company's actual future financial results and operational performance may differ materially from the results and performance expressed in, or implied by, the statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Company, the Investment Adviser and Winterflood expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect actual results or any change in the assumptions, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based unless required to do so by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Prospectus Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority or other applicable laws, regulations or rules.
Acquiring shares to which this announcement relates may expose an investor to a significant risk of losing all of the amount invested. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the Placing and no information in this announcement should be construed as providing financial, investment or other professional advice. The value of the shares in the Company can decrease as well as increase. Past performance or information in this announcement or any of the documents relating to the Placing cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance. The returns set out in this announcement are targets only. There is no guarantee that any returns set out in this announcement can be achieved or can be continued if achieved, nor that the Company will make any distributions whatsoever.
This information is provided by RNS
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