Hardman & Co Insight: UK interest rates and “risk-free” gilts at their peak? Infrastructure stocks struggle

The share price performances of the nine Infrastructure Investment Companies (IICs) and of the 22 Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs) have been dire over the past year. Undoubtedly, the sharp rise in interest rates has presented the sector with serious challenges, especially since the yield on “risk-free” 10-year gilts has risen appreciably. Furthermore, the ongoing war in Ukraine and high inflation rates, from which many IICs and REIFs are partially ‒ if not wholly ‒ protected, contin

The Hardman & Co Monthly: August 2023

Feature article: UK interest rates and “risk-free” gilts at their peak? Infrastructure stocks struggle Executive summary Infrastructure/Renewable Energy Funds ► The share price performances of the nine Infrastructure Investment Companies (IICs) and of the 22 Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs) have been dire over the past year. Undoubtedly, the sharp rise in interest rates has presented the sector with serious challenges, especially since the yield on “risk-free” 10-year gilts has r

Hardman & Co Insight: Higher interest rates overshadow IIC/REIF prospects

Hardman & Co Research’s focus is on the nine quoted infrastructure investment companies (IICs) and on the 22 renewable energy infrastructure funds (REIFs), most of which saw their share prices fall during 2022, while the FTSE 100 rose by just 0.9%. In our Quoted UK Infrastructure and Renewable Energy – Prospects for 2023 publication, we have addressed the three key issues of recent months: higher inflation, extremely volatile power prices and rising interest rates.

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 24/06/22

Dish of the day Joiners: No Joiners Today. Leavers: DCD Media has left AIM. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? Immediate acquisitions (IME.L) is to re-join AIM via a Reverse Takeover of Fiinu Holdings Limited. Once complete the Company is proposing to change its name to Fiinu Group plc. Fiinu intends to be a provider of a consumer banking product, the Plugin Overdraft ®, which is designed to provide customers with an overdraft facility without having to change their current account or request an

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 17/06/2022

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP Dish of the day Joiners: No Joiners Today. Leavers: No Leavers Today. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? Visum Technologies seeking admission to The AQSE Growth Market. The Company's business is to own and operate an "on-ride" video and photographic camera system that it sells and/or licenses to customers (being theme parks, ride manufacturers, souvenir imaging providers, and other leisure operators). Due 30 June. LifeSafe Holdings, a fire safety

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 21/03/22

Joiners: Spinnaker Acquisitions (ONDO.L), has rejoined Main Market (Standard). The Company has acquired the entire issued share capital of HomeServe Labs Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of FTSE250 quoted public company HomeServe Plc, by way of a reverse takeover. It is proposed to change the name of the Company to Ondo InsurTech Plc and the name of Labs, which will become a subsidiary of the Company, to LeakBot Ltd. The Company has a patented water security system (The LeakBot system) that preven

REIFs revisited – a compendium

In this publication, Hardman & Co’s focus is on the 17 quoted Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs), as we update our publication of February 2020 – the stocks analysed are members of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). As a group, their combined market capitalisation is now ca.£10.6bn. The most valuable quoted funds are Greencoat UK Wind (£2.5bn) and TRIG (£2.4bn). Comparisons with the seven Infrastructure Investment Companies – a sector worth ca.£12.8bn – are also undertaken

Small Cap Feast

tinyBuild— a leading video games publisher and developer with global operations. tinyBuild's strategic focus is in creating longlasting IP by partnering with video games developers, establishing a stable platform on which to build multi-game and multimedia franchises is to join AIM. Offer details TBC. Due mid-March. AMTE Power, a developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion battery cells for specialist markets, announced its intention to seek admission to trading on AIM. Admission is expected to ta

Small Cap Feast

The Pebble Group, a provider of products, services and technology to the global promotional products industry, announces its intention to seek admission of its shares to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, which is expected to take place in early December 2019.The Group delivered revenue of £99.8m in the year ended 31 December 2018.No mention of bottom line and a suggestion that funds raised would provide an exit to private equity shareholders and the repayment of debt. Offer

Small Cap Feast

The Pebble Group, a provider of products, services and technology to the global promotional products industry, announces its intention to seek admission of its shares to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, which is expected to take place in early December 2019.The Group delivered revenue of £99.8m in the year ended 31 December 2018.No mention of bottom line and a suggestion that funds raised would provide an exit to private equity shareholders and the repayment of debt. Offer

UK Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds – For all the fans

Over the past two decades, onshore wind power has prospered and now exceeds 12 GW in the UK. The termination of subsidies for new plants from 2017 onwards has cut investment. Instead, offshore wind power is the new ‘goto’ investment sector, as there has been a sea-change in costs. The key event was the 2017 auction for the development of the Hornsea Project Two and the Moray East fields, when 15-year contract for differences (CfDs) were awarded, at just £57.50p per MWh; this compares with the 20

Monthly Corporate Activity

Fundraising showed signs of picking up this month, and the focus was very much on the renewables sector. First of all there was Renewables Infrastructure Group, which launched a placing programme and an initial fundraising early in the month, targeting up to £170m. It ended up raising just over £300m, having received applications for nearly three times as many shares as were originally available, in an upsized and scaled back issuance. Greencoat Renewables also announced and completed a placing

Fidante Daily Digest

Greencoat Renewables – Results of fundraising | Empiric Student Property – Finals to 31 December 2018 | GCP Student Living – Interims to 31 December 2018 |

Fidante Daily Digest

Greencoat Renewables – Finals to 31 December 2018 and proposed placing | Syncona – Acquisition of Nightstar |

Fidante Daily Digest

Greencoat UK Wind – Acquisition and fundraising | Greencoat Renewables – Q4 2018 NAV and dividend | AEW UK Long Lease – Q4 2018 NAV and dividend

LIBERUM: PayPoint: Growth is not priced in

DSW Capital+ (DSW, House Stock at 51p) - H1 results –promising outlook

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure

ORIT: renewables diversified across stage, technology, and geography…

Lifesafe (LIFS) - Strong growth but downgrades nonetheless as we await industrial fluid

LIFS' announcement this morning discloses strong revenue growth, with sales in the first eleven months up 62%, highlighting the attractiveness of their innovative fire products. These have made them leaders on Amazon both in the UK and in the substantial US market, where they were successfully launched early last year. However, disappointing sales from one partner, combined with enhanced competition, have caused a pull-back in sales forecasts combined with increased losses in the current year; a

A tough year, but clear fundamental value

AUM closed FY23 (30 Sep 23) on £37.4bn, 5% up y-o-y. Net flows were slightly negative (-£92m or -0.3% of opening AUM), with investment performance adding £1.8bn. It’s been a tough year for asset managers, but in a London-listed peer group, Impax recorded the second-strongest net flow rate (median -7%, see note). Some experienced heavy (double-digit) net outflows. A profit fall was due to adjusted operating costs increasing faster than revenue, by 11% from £108.0m to £120.3m. Part of this increas

H1'24 results: strength of the model evident

Vanquis Banking Group+ (VANQ, House Stock at 112p) - Adding flesh to the bones

LIBERUM: DF Capital: Taking a prudent view on the refinancing of the major dealer

Delivering growth in uncertain markets

Positive interims from Vp this morning highlight another period of growth despite the mixed market backdrop. The results again illustrate the benefit of Vp’s diverse mix of specialist activities, with the quality of earnings confirmed by further growth in operating margin (now 13.9%) and ROCE (14.7%). Strategic priorities include continued progress with ESG initiatives and a greater emphasis on Digital, with more on this likely to follow later in the year. We maintain our Fair Value estimate o

Duke Royalty - In Royal Health

Duke has released its H1/24A interim results for the period ending 30th September 2023 that are in-line with expectations. Recurring cash revenues increased 17% to £12.2m, whilst total cash revenues increased 35% to £14.1m. The portfolio continues to be resilient despite macroeconomic headwinds, and c£18m of capital was deployed across new and existing investments. We iterate a 1-year price target of 45p based on a target FCF yield of 8%.

Critical Metals plc releases its Final Results

Key Points CRTM reported a loss of £2.7M for the 12 months ending 30 June 2023. Increased indirect ownership of the Molulu project from 40% to 70%, streamlining the corporate structure. Commenced copper ore production at Molulu in January 2023. In October 2023, the Company announced that it had entered into an off-take agreement with O.M Metal & Resources S.A.R.L, for a minimum of 20,000 tonnes of copper oxide ore. Raised £600,000 at a price of 25p per share and raised a further £1.3M at 25p per

Agronomics - A unique offering in a rapidly developing sector

Agronomics (ANIC) invests in cellular agriculture companies. Since mid-2022 it has placed increasing emphasis on companies using precision fermentation technology or providing contract precision fermentation services, as these appear to have greater near-term commercial potential than cultivated meat and seafood. Agronomics’ NAV has risen almost 100% since the inception of the current strategy in April 2019, and looks set to increase further as the company’s portfolio holdings receive regulatory

The Joy of Techs - Cavendish Technology quarterly sector note

£23.3bn in enterprise value has been returned to AIM technology shareholders over the past six years in the form of 51 public to private takeouts, including 10 in 2023 alone with the takeovers of Smoove* and Tribal announced in early October. With UK valuations appearing cheap and looking more attractive to potential acquirers, we take a moment to reflect on the trends of corporate and private equity bidders targeting AIM-listed technology companies going back to 2017, through the uncertainties

Around the World in Eight Ideas - Investment Trust Opportunities Beyond the UK

Although the UK now represents a paltry 3.5-4.0% of global equity indices, home bias in the domestic stock market is estimated at c 25% across institutional and retail investors. This persists across asset classes: in the Investment Association universe of open-ended funds, 28.1% of total AUM at the end of September 2023 was invested in UK sectors. This leaves a significant amount of investors' assets exposed to overseas markets that may be unfamiliar and harder to access. In such a situation, t

LIBERUM: CPP Group: Disposal of Globiva