Greencoat UK Wind PLC today announces the final results for the year to 31 December 2023.
2023 Highlights
Performance
- Net cash generation was £405.5 million and dividend cover was 2.1x.
- The Group's investments generated 4,743GWh of sustainable electricity.
Dividends and balance sheet
- The target dividend for the year was 8.76 pence per share. With the increased dividend for the final quarter of 3.43 pence per share, declared dividends for 2023 were 10 pence per share.
- The target dividend with respect to 2024 is also 10 pence per share, an increase of 14.2 per cent above the target dividend for 2023, significantly above December's RPI of 5.2 per cent.
- Aggregate Group Debt of £2,375 million as at 31 December 2023, equivalent to 38 per cent of GAV.
High quality NAV accretive investments
- £174.2 million of NAV accretion from investment in Dalquhandy, London Array, South Kyle and Kype Muir Extension wind farms, which increased the portfolio to 49 operating wind farm investments and net generating capacity to 2,007MW as at 31 December 2023.
Key Metrics
|
As at |
As at |
|
|
Market capitalisation |
£3,502.9 million |
£3,523.5 million |
|
Share price |
151.5 pence |
152.0 pence |
|
Dividends with respect to the year |
£231.4 million |
£178.9 million |
|
Dividends with respect to the year per share |
10 pence |
7.72 pence |
|
GAV |
£6,169.0 million |
£5,652.7 million |
|
NAV |
£3,794.0 million |
£3,873.2 million |
|
NAV per share |
164.1 pence |
167.1 pence |
|
TSR |
5.4 per cent |
13.5 per cent |
|
CO2 emissions reduced per annum |
2.5 million tonnes |
2.0 million tonnes |
|
Homes powered per annum |
2.3 million homes |
1.8 million homes |
|
Funds invested in community projects in the year |
£4.4 million |
£4.0 million |
Commenting on today's results, Lucinda Riches, Chairman of Greencoat UK Wind, said:
I'm pleased to present the results of another significant year for the company. With investment of £821 million into Dalquhandy, London Array, South Kyle and Kype Muir Extension wind farms, our portfolio has surpassed 2GW of net generating capacity. We remain one of the largest owners of wind farms in the UK.
We are proud to have generated approximately 1.5% of the UK's electricity demand last year, and the portfolio was generating enough electricity to power 2.3 million homes and avoid approximately 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions through the displacement of thermal generation by the end of 2023.
With the final dividend for the year, our investors will have received over £1 billion of dividends since listing. With our continuing strong cash flow and dividend cover, we can confidently target a dividend of 10p per share with respect to 2024, extending our track record of attractive dividends and returns.
We are now delivering net returns to investors of 10% on NAV, and we remain confident in our ability to continue to meet our objectives of dividend growth in line with RPI and capital preservation in real terms.