Greencoat UK Wind PLC today announces the final results for the year to 31 December 2019 as below. These results were approved by the Board of Directors on 26 February 2020.

Greencoat UK Wind PLC is the leading listed renewable infrastructure fund, invested in UK wind farms. The Company's aim is to provide investors with an annual dividend increases in line with RPI inflation while preserving the capital value of its investment portfolio in the long term on a real basis through reinvestment of excess cashflow and the prudent use of gearing.

The Company provides investors with the opportunity to participate directly in the ownership of UK wind farms, so increasing the resources and capital dedicated to the deployment of renewable energy and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

2019 Highlights

Generation

• The Group's investments generated 2,385GWh of electricity.
• Net cash generation (Group and wind farm SPVs) was £127.7 million 

High quality acquisitions and oversubscribed equity raises

• Investments in Stronelairg, Dunmaglass and Tom nan Clach increased the portfolio to 35 operating wind farm investments, net generating capacity to 979MW and GAV to £2,442.8 million as at 31 December 2019.

• Acquisition of Douglas West and ag

  reement to acquire Glen Kyllachy, Windy Rig and Twentyshilling, all subsidy free wind farm projects which are expected to become operational in 2021.

• Issuance of further shares raising £505.7 million in the year.

Dividends and balance sheet

• The Company has declared total dividends of 6.94 pence per share with respect to the year and is targeting a dividend of 7.1 pence per share for 2020 (increased in line with December 2019 RPI).

• £600 million outstanding borrowings at 31 December 2019, equivalent to 25 per cent of GAV.

Key Metrics

Subsequent events

On 20 February 2020, the Group announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire the 18.8MW ROC accredited Slieve Divena II wind farm from SSE for a headline consideration of £51 million. The transaction is expected to complete on 30 March 2020.

Commenting on today's results, Tim Ingram, Chairman of Greencoat UK Wind, said:

2019 represented another significant year of growth for Greencoat UK Wind. During the year, we made nearly £600 million of investments and raised over £500 million of new equity.

Net cash generation remained strong, leading to a robust dividend cover of 1.4x despite portfolio generation and power prices being below budget for the period. For 2020, the Company is targeting a dividend of 7.1 pence per share, increased for the seventh consecutive year in line with RPI.

Our portfolio is now providing sufficient electricity to power nearly 1 million homes and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 1.2 million tonnes per annum through displacing thermal generation. 

We were pleased to announce the acquisition of Slieve Divena II last week and our pipeline of acquisition opportunities remains very healthy.