Greencoat UK Wind PLC today announces the final results for the year to 31 December 2024.
2024 Highlights
Performance
- Net cash generation (Group and wind farm SPVs) was £278.7 million.
- The Group’s investments generated 5,484GWh of renewable electricity.
Capital allocation
- The Company declared total dividends of 10 pence per share with respect to the year and is targeting a dividend of 10.35 pence per share for 2025 (increased in line with December 2024 RPI).
- The Company bought back 59.2 million of its own shares at an average cost of 137 pence per share.
- Accretive acquisition of a further 15.6 per cent interest in Kype Muir Extension wind farm for £14.25 million from available cash and divestment of 40 per cent interests in Douglas West and Dalquhandy wind farms for £41 million.
- Further share buyback programme announced of £100 million over the next 12 months, taking the total amount committed by the Company to share buybacks to £200 million.
Balance sheet
- Oversubscribed debt refinancing with existing lenders, which reduced the Company’s RCF to £400 million, and refinanced £325 million of near maturing term debt with £425 million of term debt on 5-7 year tenors.
- Aggregate Group Debt of £2,244 million as at 31 December 2024, equivalent to 39.7 per cent of GAV.
Key Metrics
|
As at |
As at |
|
|
Market capitalisation |
£2,878.5 million |
£3,502.9 million |
|
Share price |
127.7 pence |
151.5 pence |
|
Dividends with respect to the year |
£226.8 million |
£231.4 million |
|
Dividends with respect to the year per share |
10 pence |
10 pence |
|
GAV |
£5,652.7 million |
£6,169.0 million |
|
NAV |
£3,409.1 million |
£3,794.0 million |
|
NAV per share |
151.2 pence |
164.1 pence |
|
TSR |
(8.6) per cent |
5.4 per cent |
|
Discount to NAV |
15.6 per cent |
7.7 per cent |
|
CO2 emissions avoided in the year |
2.2 million tonnes |
1.9 million tonnes |
|
Homes powered in the year |
2.0 million homes |
1.8 million homes |
|
Funds invested in community projects in the year |
£5.7 million |
£4.4 million |
Commenting on today's results, Lucinda Riches, Chairman of Greencoat UK Wind, said:
The Board and the Investment Manager recognise that this has been a challenging year for investors, but have been working hard to drive shareholder value through proactive actions and continued active asset management. Despite lower portfolio generation for the year, cash generation has remained strong at £279m. Over the next five years we expect to generate over £1 billion in excess cashflow, and additional capital should be available through further opportunistic disposals, providing optionality for capital allocation and shareholder returns.
Notwithstanding the current market conditions, our simple, low risk and proven model remains highly attractive. We have a sizeable and diverse portfolio of high quality assets and are well positioned to help deliver the UK government’s net zero ambitions. We are continuing to deliver 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 over the longer term.