Hardman & Co Insight: 2023 was an annus horribilis for Quoted UK Infrastructure and Renewable Energy

The focus of Hardman & Co Research is on the nine quoted Infrastructure Investment Companies (IICs) and on the 22 Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs): the stocks analysed are all members of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). We are updating our publication of January 2023, assessing both the lacklustre share price performances during 2023 and the key issues, including interest rates, inflation and power prices. As a 31-strong group, its combined market capitalisation is no

BBGI Global Infrastructure

BBGI’s conservative and defensive portfolio offers returns directly linked to inflation…

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

BBGI Global Infrastructure

BBGI’s increased target dividends is underpinned by its inflation linkage…

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.

BBGI Global Infrastructure

BBGI has clear differentiating features within the infrastructure peer group...

The Hardman & Co Monthly: August 2022

Feature article: Utility regulation – Changes afoot - Patching up a tainted model While the gas supply crisis – and its price implications – have dominated the UK price regulated sectors in recent months, other issues have arisen that have seriously tainted the price regulation system itself. Indeed, it is fair to ask whether it is ‘’fit for purpose’’. Back in 1984, price regulation, via an unsophisticated RPI-x formula, was introduced to prevent the privatised British Telecom (BT) from abusin

Hardman & Co Monthly: July 2022

Feature article: Punching above their weight? The contribution of small- and mid-cap quoted companies to markets, employment and tax revenues Back in May 2019, Hardman & Co and the Quoted Companies Alliance jointly published a paper looking at the importance of small and mid-size quoted companies (SMQCs) to the markets, and their contribution to tax revenues and employment in the UK. This is a poorly researched area, and that paper helped frame the debate; it has been quoted from by bodies such

Hardman & Co Monthly: June 2021

In terms of environmental policy, the quest to cut carbon emissions dramatically and to achieve net zero remains high on the political agenda, although the war in Ukraine – and specifically the issue of gas supplies – may weaken these commitments. In any event, the environmental performance of China and the US – responsible, between them, for around one half of global emissions – will be key. In Asia, where ca.85% of energy consumption is currently being met by fossil fuels – there are ca.4.6b

The Hardman & Co Monthly: May 2022

Feature article: Latest ONS survey: steady as she goes…and ignore retail investors at your peril The ONS (Office for National Statistics) has been charting the beneficial ownership of UK-quoted companies periodically since the early 1960s. The latest paper was published in March 2022, and considers the data for December 2020. At December 2020, “Rest of the World” investors owned 56.3% of the market, a further growth since the last survey, while UK institutions’ ownership edged up to 31.6%.

Morning Note – 22 April 2024

Benefits of scale set to materialise

Frenkel Topping - Resilient with strong growth potential

FY 2023 was a challenging year for Frenkel with higher interest rates encouraging clients to place money into lower margin money market funds. Despite this, sales grew +32% (supported by recurring revenue +9% and +51% in non-recurring), EBIT margins remained strong at 22% and adj. EPS grew +17% (taking into account the higher number of shares). FY 2024 has seen a solid start to transactional business and there is a strong pipeline of new FUM opportunities both of which support further growth. Wi

S&U - PBT ahead, encouraging volume trends

S&U reported FY24 PBT of £33.6m, down from £41.4m in FY23 on higher funding and regulatory costs and higher impairments in Advantage in H2. PBT was 2% ahead of our forecast as stronger revenues – up 12% to £115.4m – and better costs offset higher-than-expected impairments. Net receivables grew to a record at both Advantage and Aspen and management noted particular strength in Q4 and a good trading environment in the current year. Having absorbed a significant rise in funding cost as well as addi

Foresight Solar Fund - Termination of coverage

Edison Investment Research is terminating coverage on ABC Arbitrage (ABCA), paragon (PGN), Foresight Solar Fund (FSFL), Kendrion (KENDR), Lithium Power International (LPI), Triple Point Energy Transition (TENT), 4iG (4IG), e-therapeutics (ETX), Pharnext (ALPHA) and Shield Therapeutics (STX). 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 web

International Public Partnerships - Consistently and responsibly delivering

International Public Partnerships’ (INPP’s) FY23 results show that it continues to deliver consistent and predictable returns for investors, while delivering environmental and social benefits for the individuals and communities that are served by its assets. Despite this strong performance and a substantial need for private infrastructure funding, the macroeconomic environment has weighed on INPP’s share price, in common with the wider sector. Regardless, attractive returns are available from th

Regional REIT - Performing as expected ahead of refinancing

In a challenging market, Regional REIT’s (RGL’s) FY23 operational and financial performance was robust, in line with expectations and previous guidance. Investor focus remains on the company’s loan to value (LTV) reduction and bond refinancing plans, explored in detail in our previous note and RGL will provide an update on this in due course.

LIBERUM: PayPoint: On track for £100m of EBITDA in FY 26

LIBERUM: Speedy Hire: Weakness in FY 24 but recovery in FY 25

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 22 April 2024

22nd April 2024 * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: Reverse Takeovers: 16 April 2024: Electric Guitar (ELEG.L) Concurrent with its Admission to trading on AIM, Electric Guitar is proposing to acquire the entire issued share capital of 3radi

Witan

Business as usual for WTAN’s executive team, while the board reviews investment management arrangements…

Foxtons Group (FOXT LN) - 1Q24 IMS shows real momentum

Foxtons Group plc first quarter revenue rose 9% to £35.7m (1Q23: £32.9m) with growth delivered across all business segments. Trading is in line with management's expectations.

The Hardman & Co Monthly: April 2024

Feature article: Steady as she goes, but could be better: A review of investment company liquidity since 2016 Liquidity is the lifeblood of equity markets. The measurement of liquid asset availability to a market or company is a way of gauging a market’s health. This article builds on our previous work, which analysed the liquidity data for non-financial trading companies, by applying the same analytical techniques to the investment companies (IC) space. We analyse liquidity for ICs as a whol

H&T Group (HAT): Core franchise build, short-term retail noise

In our 15 March 2023 initiation, 'Pawnbroking royalty, with strong, profitable growth', and subsequent notes, we have highlighted the strong market for pawnbroking and why H&T, as the market leader, is uniquely placed to take advantage of these opportunities. These results reconfirmed both, with the pledge book up 28% and net pawnbroking revenue up 36%. Like many in the retail space, H&T faced the challenge of customers focusing on lower-value, lower-margin items in the key run-up to Christmas 2

Zeus Top Picks for 2024 - 2023 review and outlook for 2024

On 9 January last year, we set out our ten top stock picks for 2023, for what turned out to be another relatively poor twelve months for UK equities due to two wars, stubbornly high inflation and further tightening of monetary policy. This was even as other major markets, such as the US, largely recovered in the year. In the 2023 calendar year, the AIM All-Share index fell 8.2% and is still 42% off its 2021 high. From the release of our 2023 top picks note, the average total return (assuming div