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

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund - Amping up: Growth in capital and income ahead

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID) is the largest UK fund investing in utility-scale battery energy storage systems in Great Britain and Ireland. Yesterday’s update on performance for the financial year ending 31 December 2022 and the outlook for 2023 includes news of an NAV increase in Q422, with further increases forecast in Q123 and beyond, a 5% increase in the 2023 dividend and plans to significantly expand GRID’s project pipeline across Great Britain, Ireland, the US, the European Uni

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.

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund - Powering on

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID) invests in utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Great Britain and Ireland. The company seeks to capitalise on the growing intraday imbalances in electricity supply and demand caused by the UK and Ireland’s ever-increasing reliance on renewable energy, by accessing multiple revenue sources available in the power market. GRID targets an NAV total return of 8.0% + per annum and it has significantly overshot this target since its inception i

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund - A great year, and better ones ahead?

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID) invests in a diversified portfolio of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the UK and Ireland. This note provides an update to our February 2022 initiation note, following the release of GRID’s results for the financial year (ended 31 December 2021). FY21 was a good year for the fund. GRID’s revenues and NAV returns saw impressive growth, supported by growing demand for BESS services and upward revaluations to some of its portfolio asset

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund - A rapidly growing fund with scope for NAV uplifts

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund (GRID) invests in a diversified portfolio of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the UK and Ireland. It is the largest UK listed BESS fund and the largest operator in the market, and it is growing rapidly. GRID owns 17 operational projects with capacity totalling 425MW, which have delivered a good performance since inception. It also has eight projects (comprising a further 415MW) under construction and due to begin operating in 2022, and expe

NewRiver REIT+ (NRR, House Stock at 87p) - Credit rating update reinforces balance sheet quality

SP Angel Morning View: China lithium stocks rally on prospects for market rebound

Regional REIT - Dividend rebase pragmatic and sustainable

Regional REIT’s (RGL’s) post-pandemic recovery in new lettings paused in H123, as occupiers adopted a cautious ‘wait and see’ approach, although rents increased and the strong ‘return to the office’ supports RGL’s expectation that leasing will accelerate. With DPS lowered to match reduced income prospects, the shares have fallen sharply, maintaining a sector-high dividend yield. Including asset sales focused on low-income properties, our forecasts show the rebased dividend to be fully covered an

NFT INVESTMENTS PLC (NFT PZ) - NAV Rises to 4.3P per share

Initial Equity Trading Comments - 1 December 2023

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

Henderson Far East Income - Cautious of continued volatility but value on offer

In our last review of Henderson Far East Income (HFEL) in July, Attractive yield despite modest dividend increase, we drew attention to the dividend increase from what is comfortably the highest yielding fund in the AIC Asia Pacific Equity Income sector. It was pleasing to see that in the company’s published full year results to the end of August, the dividends paid by the company were covered and that over £1m was added to the revenue reserves over this period. In this note we examine the drive

Princess Private Equity Holding - Offering an attractive dividend yield

Princess Private Equity Holding (PEY) posted a year-to-date NAV total return (TR) to end-October 2023 of 4.9%, 2.4% of which was from Q323. PEY’s performance continues to be assisted by portfolio earnings, with last-twelve-month (LTM) revenue and EBITDA growth to end-September 2023 of 16% and 15%, respectively, and sustained healthy average EBITDA margin of 24%. PEY’s balance sheet remains firm with c €134m in undrawn credit facility and €3m in cash, further assisted by the Civica sale proceeds

NewRiver REIT+ (NRR, House Stock at 85p) - High quality earnings story – upgrade potential

LIBERUM: PensionBee: Hitting milestones despite headwinds

Early Mover in UK Lab-grown Meat

BSF Enterprise Plc (BSF) is a biotechnology company focused on acquiring, combining, and building businesses in the lab-grown tissue space. It aims to achieve this through an acquisition-led growth strategy and has already acquired the tissue engineering and cellular agriculture company, 3D Bio Tissues.

NextEnergy Solar Fund - H1/24 interim results and asset recycling update

NextEnergy Storage Fund now has 100 operational assets with a combined installed capacity of 933MW and exclusivity over, or ownership of the project rights for, most of its c£500m pipeline of domestic and international solar and energy storage assets. H1/24 performance was robust, with power generation in line with budget and the 36MW Whitecross solar farm energised. The first sale from the asset recycling programme has been completed post-period, with the proceeds being used to reduce short-ter

European Opportunities Trust - Termination of coverage

Edison Investment Research is terminating coverage on European Opportunities Trust (EOT). Please note you should no longer rely on any previous research or estimates for this company. All forecasts should now be considered redundant. Previously published reports can still be accessed via our website.

R&Q Insurance Holdings - FY22 Results

R&Q reported an adjusted group pre-tax operating loss for the year to end December 2022 of US$33.3m (2021 (US$21.4m)). The results were in line with guidance from the April trading statement but represented a significant deterioration YoY as strong results from the Accredited program management business were more than offset by losses in the R&Q Legacy insurance business and higher corporate costs. On an IFRS reported basis, R&Q made a loss of US$297.0m (2021 (US$127.1m)) generating a loss per s

Jarvis Securities (JIM) - Subdued transaction volumes, Skilled Person costs take toll; Model “B”s reduced

This morning's announcement from JIM highlights a combination of factors which lead to the company trading below current market expectations. In the light of current market conditions, it will come as no surprise that trading volumes are under pressure. Beyond this, in the interests of reducing any potential risks associated with certain Model “B” clients, and with voluntary restrictions imposed on some of these, Model “B” client numbers, as disclosed in today's RNS, have seen some reduction.