Capital Markets Seminar – Strategy Update

HICL Infrastructure PLC

02 July 2026

 

2 July 2026

HICL Infrastructure PLC

"HICL" or "the Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, "the Group", the London-listed infrastructure investment company managed by InfraRed Capital Partners Limited ("InfraRed" or the "Investment Manager").

Capital Markets Seminar - Strategy Update

·    HICL to target a 10%+ total return over the medium term, compared with an 8.5% NAV total return since IPO, reflecting the evolution of the infrastructure market and wider macroeconomic backdrop

·    Dividend distributions remain central to HICL's total return proposition, with existing dividend guidance for the financial years ending 31 March 2027 and 31 March 2028 unchanged and the progressive dividend policy maintained

·   Higher total returns expected to be driven by a greater contribution from NAV growth, alongside continued income generation

·   Selective introduction of higher returning "enhancer" investments alongside yield and growth assets expected to broaden return drivers and increase exposure to long-term infrastructure megatrends, with allocation expected to build over the medium-term up to 20% of the portfolio

·    InfraRed is well positioned to deliver this strategy, drawing on its track record in constructing, expanding, operating and divesting assets for HICL over the past 20 years and its wider private funds for over 25 years

·    Self-funded c.£1.6bn five-year capital allocation framework, supported by operating cashflows and capital recycling, to fund dividends, new investments and buybacks

·  Continued asset rotation and investment discipline, with deployment into attractive opportunities benchmarked against share buybacks to enhance HICL's return and growth profile

Mike Bane, HICL Chair, said:

"As HICL marks 20 years since IPO, the Board has set a clear strategic direction for the next phase of the Company's development. Informed by extensive engagement with shareholders and careful consideration of the significant infrastructure market opportunity, the Board believes this is the right strategy to deliver both compelling NAV growth and attractive long-term total returns for shareholders whilst remaining anchored to HICL's core infrastructure positioning."

Edward Hunt, Head of Core Infrastructure Funds at InfraRed said:

"Today's update represents a natural progression for HICL. Having successfully repositioned the portfolio over a number of years, we are now seeking to build on that foundation to best capture the continued substantial growth in the infrastructure market and deliver enhanced total returns for HICL shareholders. This approach is underpinned by InfraRed's track record of delivering outperformance for HICL over the last 20 years through active management, and will enable the Company to deliver a compelling mix of capital growth and income from a portfolio positioned to benefit from long-term infrastructure megatrends."

The Board and InfraRed Capital Partners, HICL's Investment Manager, will today set out HICL's continued strategic evolution at the Company's 2026 Capital Markets Seminar ("CMS"). Full details of the event are available at the end of this announcement.

Strategy Evolution

The strategy to be set out this afternoon marks the next phase in HICL's long-term evolution, building on a proven track record of delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns for shareholders. Over two decades, the Company has demonstrated its ability to adapt to changing market conditions, evolving its portfolio construction and broadening its sources of return.

HICL's predominantly UK PPP portfolio at IPO has transformed into a diversified international core infrastructure portfolio, with increasing exposure to assets providing capital growth alongside income. This evolution has been driven by structural changes in the infrastructure market, including the expansion of the investable universe, the increasing role of private capital and the emergence of new sectors aligned with long-term megatrends.

The Capital Markets Seminar will build on this established direction, with a clearer emphasis on delivering attractive income alongside increased long-term capital growth. This represents a considered progression in strategy, with the Company seeking to capture a broader range of return drivers while maintaining its focus on core infrastructure characteristics and disciplined portfolio construction.

Portfolio and Returns

Since their introduction to the portfolio in 2016, HICL's growth assets now represent nearly 50% of the portfolio and play an important role in supporting long-term cashflows, earnings growth and portfolio outperformance. These assets provide active value creation opportunities through expansion capital, operational improvements and exposure to structural growth drivers.

As a result, the composition of returns has continued to evolve, with capital growth now contributing a material proportion of total return alongside income from the Company's yield assets and significantly extending long-term earnings. This dynamic reflects both the changing opportunity set within infrastructure and the Company's deliberate positioning to capture these trends.

The introduction of "enhancer" assets alongside the current portfolio of yield and growth assets represents a measured extension of this approach, targeting higher-return opportunities within a disciplined framework. These investments are expected to complement the existing portfolio by introducing additional avenues for value creation, supporting HICL's target of a 10%+ total return over the medium term while remaining aligned with the Company's risk parameters and overall core infrastructure focus.

Capital Allocation

The Company will set out self-funded capital allocation, designed to support both income generation and long-term value creation. This framework reflects a disciplined approach to balancing reinvestment and distributions, ensuring that capital is deployed in a way that enhances shareholder returns over time.

The Company expects to deploy c.£1.6bn of capital over the next five years into a combination of dividends, new investments and share buybacks, funded through operating cashflows and capital recycling. The recycling of capital through disposals is expected to remain an important feature of the strategy, with proceeds from disposals redeployed into opportunities that improve the Company's return profile and portfolio construction.

No assumption is made for new equity issuance or additional leverage, underlining the self-funded nature of the strategy. This provides flexibility while maintaining balance sheet discipline. Capital will be allocated across yield, growth and enhancer assets to support income resilience, improve portfolio composition and drive long-term NAV growth. All investment decisions will be benchmarked to the returns available on share buybacks, with the proportion of investment dedicated to share buybacks expected to fluctuate depending on the share price discount.

Outlook

The Board and Investment Manager believe HICL is well positioned to deliver the next phase of its strategic evolution. The portfolio has evolved materially over time and is expected to continue benefiting from the expanding infrastructure opportunity set, while remaining focused on core infrastructure assets with resilient cashflows and strong long-term fundamentals.

The strategy is expected to support higher total returns over time, with a greater contribution from capital growth alongside continued income generation. HICL's progressive dividend policy will be maintained and is expected to remain covered, notwithstanding a modest reduction in near-term cash dividend cover as capital is redeployed into higher-returning opportunities.

By combining income generation, disciplined capital allocation and selective exposure to higher-returning opportunities, the Company aims to enhance the growth, resilience and long-term value of the portfolio for shareholders in a higher-rate and evolving market environment

Event details

The event will be held in hybrid format at the London Stock Exchange, 10 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7LS, with the option to watch via livestream. Formal proceedings are expected to start from 13:00 and to conclude by 15:30, followed by refreshments.

Institutional investors and sell-side analysts wishing to attend in-person should email [e-mail]. Those wishing to watch via livestream can join at the following link: https://stream.brrmedia.co.uk/broadcast/6a3542f490cd59001384f163

Presentations and video recordings will be made available after the event on the Company's website.

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Enquiries

InfraRed Capital Partners Limited                            [phone] / [e-mail]

Edward Hunt

Mark Tiner

Mohammed Zaheer

Brunswick                                                                     [phone] / [e-mail]

David Litterick

Investec Bank plc                                                        [phone]

David Yovichic

Denis Flanagan

RBC Capital Markets                                                  [phone]

Matthew Coakes

Elizabeth Evans

Aztec Financial Services (UK) Limited                    [phone]

Chris Copperwaite

James Lucas

HICL Infrastructure PLC

HICL Infrastructure PLC ("HICL") is a leading long-term investor in infrastructure assets, with a diversified portfolio of predominantly operational investments generating stable, inflation-linked cashflows. Since becoming the first infrastructure investment company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, HICL has established a strong track record of investing in essential assets that support the delivery of public services and long‑term value creation.

The Company's investment strategy is focused on delivering a total return for shareholders consisting of sustainable dividend growth and long‑term NAV accretion, enabled by highly visible cashflows, long asset lives and active portfolio management. HICL's portfolio is positioned towards the lower end of the infrastructure risk spectrum and is underpinned by disciplined capital allocation, strong cash generation and a self‑funding model.

Further details can be found on the HICL website www.hicl.com.

Investment Manager (InfraRed Capital Partners)

The Investment Manager to HICL is InfraRed Capital Partners Limited ("InfraRed") which has successfully invested in infrastructure projects since 1997. InfraRed is a leading international investment manager, operating worldwide from offices in London, New York, Miami, Seoul, Madrid, Frankfurt and Sydney and managing equity capital in multiple private and listed funds, primarily for institutional investors across the globe. InfraRed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The infrastructure investment team at InfraRed consists of over 100 investment professionals, all with an infrastructure investment background and a broad range of relevant skills, including private equity, structured finance, construction, renewable energy and facilities management.

InfraRed implements best-in-class practices to underpin asset management and investment decisions, promotes ethical behaviour and has established community engagement initiatives to support good causes in the wider community. InfraRed is a signatory of the Principles of Responsible Investment.

Further details can be found on InfraRed's website www.ircp.com.

 

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