Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 3271P

John Laing Environmental Assets Grp

18 August 2014

 



John Laing Environmental Assets Group Limited

Interim Management Statement

18 August 2014

John Laing Environmental Assets Group Limited ("JLEN"or the "Company"), which manages a diversified portfolio of environmental infrastructure projects, announces its Interim Management Statement ("IMS") in accordance with FCA Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.3. This statement relates to the period from admission on 31 March 2014 to 17 August 2014.

Highlights

·     Successfully raised gross proceeds of £160 million in its placing and initial public offering ("IPO") in March 2014;

·     Completed the acquisition of 100% of the Initial Portfolio setout in the IPO prospectus in April 2014;

·     Net Asset Value ("NAV")per ordinary share increased from 98.00 pence to 99.80 pence;

·     Initial Portfolio is performing in line with management expectations;

·     Strong pipeline of further investments.

Portfolio

JLEN completed the acquisition of 100% of the Initial Portfolio (as defined in the Company's IPO prospectus) in April 2014 following its successful capital raising and admission to the London Stock Exchange ("LSE") in March 2014. As a result, the Company is now fully invested in a diversified portfolio of seven operational UK based solar, onshore wind, waste processing and wastewater projects.

The Initial Portfolio is performing in line with expectations and there are no material issues to report other than the fire at the East London Waste Authority ("ELWA") MBT facility at Frog Island,  which was referred to in an announcement by the Company on 7 August 2014. The Company can report that the fire was successfully extinguished and access to the building has now been achieved to carry out a detailed assessment of the damage caused. In the interim the business continuity plan for the facility is being effectively applied and the contract with the client, East London Waste Authority, continues to be operated.

JLEN is targeting aggregate returns to investors from the Initial Portfolio that equate to a net IRR of between 7.5% and 8.5% (net of fees and expenses) on the issue price of 100 pence per ordinary shareⁱ. The Company seeks to provide an annualised dividend of 6.00 pence per ordinary share increasing progressively in line with inflationⁱⁱ. The Company is on course to achieve its target dividend of 3.00 pence per ordinary share for its first half-year ending 30 September 2014.

Pipeline

The Company benefits from a first offer agreement over environmental infrastructure investments developed by John Laing plc.

John Laing plc is a leading international infrastructure investor and asset manager. The Company anticipates that this will provide access to investments with anaggregate value of approximately £185m over the next three years, including a number of opportunities for further acquisitions during the next 12 months

In addition, the Company has identified a number of third-party investment opportunities for the portfolio. These opportunities provide additional attractive growth options for the Company and the Company's Investment Adviser, John Laing Capital Management Limited, is currently undertaking due diligence on them.

Financial Information

As at 30 June 2014, the unaudited NAV per ordinary share was 99.80 pence (compared to 98.00 pence at the time of IPO).

A total of160,000,000 ordinary shares were issued at IPO. Nofurther shares were issued in the period or repurchased for cancellation.

The Company is currently in discussions with a number of lenders and anticipates entering into a Revolving Credit Facility to facilitate the acquisition of further investments in the near future.

The Company has a 31 March year-end and will announce its maiden results for the period from admission to 31 March 2015 in June 2015.

It is envisaged that the interim dividend for theperiod ending 30 September 2014 will be declared in November 2014 and paid by the end of December 2014 ⁱⁱⁱ.

The first AGM of the Company was held in Guernsey on 14 August 2014.

ENDS

For Further Details Contact:

John Laing Environmental Assets Group Limited Richard Morse (Chairman)	01481 737600
John Laing Capital Management Limited David Hardy Chris Tanner	020 7901 3200
Winterflood Securities Joe Winkley Neil Langford	020 3100 0000
Redleaf Polhill Charlie Geller Rebecca Sanders- Hewett	020 7382 4769

About JLEN

JLEN's investment policy is to invest in environmental infrastructure projects that have the benefit of long-term, predictable, wholly or partially inflation-linked cash flows supported bylong-term contracts or stable regulatory frameworks.

Environmental Infrastructure is defined by the Company as infrastructure projects that utilise natural or waste resources or support more environmentally-friendly approaches to economic activity. This could involve the generation of renewable energy (including solar, wind, hydropower and biomass technologies), the supply and treatment of water, the treatment and processing of waste, and projects that promote energy efficiency.

Further details of the Company can be found on its website www.jlen.com

This IMS provides an explanation of material events and transactions that have taken place during the period from 31 March 2014 to 17 August 2014. These indications reflect the Company's current views. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and could change.  Factors which could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, general economic and market conditions and specific factors affecting thefinancial prospects or performance of individual investments owned by the Company.

ⁱ These are targets only and not profit forecasts. There can be no assurance that these targets will be met or that the Company will make any distributions at all.

ⁱⁱ These are targets only and not profit forecasts. There can be no assurance that these targets will be met or that the Company will make any distributions at all.

ⁱⁱⁱ There can be no assurance that the target dividend amount will be met or that the Company will make any distributions at all.

 

END

 

 

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