Quarterly NAV and Factsheet publication

RNS Number : 1978K

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund

04 May 2022

 

4 May 2022

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc

(the "GRID" or the "Fund")

Quarterly NAV and Factsheet publication

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund Plc (LSE: GRID) (the "Fund") announces its NAV as at 31 March 2022 was £577m and NAV per share rose to 131.89p per ordinary share (December 2021: 116.86p).

Financial highlights

-  NAV has increased to £577m, or 131.89p per share, up 15.03p per share or 12.9% in the quarter

-  From the IPO in November 2018 to the end of March 2022, the Fund has delivered a share price total return of 64.1% compared with 22.0% for the FTSE All Share and an NAV total return of 58.8%

-  The increase in NAV primarily reflects uplifts in revenue assumptions, inflation, the revaluation of projects under construction and recent Capacity Market ("CM") contract awards

-  Dividends remain fully covered in the quarter

-  The Manager expects its 30 June 2022 NAV to be at the upper end of the 140-145p per share guidance range announced on 6 April 2022

-  The portfolio's projects continue to generate revenue and EBITDA above the Manager's budget as the electricity market remains volatile, which creates a positive backdrop for BESS

-  As at 31 March 2022, the blended WADR across the portfolio reduced to 10.7% due to new CM contracts being included in forecasts

-  There has been no change to underlying discount rates used, with 5.0% for CM contract revenues and 10.85% for all other revenues¹. A 50bp premium is applied to each of these rates for projects while under construction

-  Since Q3 2021, 250MW of the projects which are fully-funded and owned by GRID have been revalued above cost, namely Enderby, West Didsbury, Penwortham and now, Melksham.  This leaves 165MW of projects (Arbroath, Coupar Angus, Stairfoot and Grendon) currently under construction to be revalued as well as the change to the 50bp lower discount rate once operational. The Fund is also expected to benefit from upward revaluation of the Existing Pipeline (which is defined and laid out in the recently published Circular available here ) which is not yet funded, in due course.

Commentary on changes to the NAV

During the quarter, the most significant changes to NAV per share included:

· +5.32p from recent CM contract awards that can be included this quarter

· +4.19p due to revaluation of 100MW of projects under construction (Melksham)

· +3.88p from higher inflation assumptions²

· +1.64p from the net effect of negative roll-forward effects, cash retained net of dividend payments, higher revenue assumptions from the Fund's consultant (+1.82p)² and other effects, including debt costs (-0.20p) and other minor modelling adjustments

Q1 2022 dividend

The Board is pleased to announce a dividend of 1.75p per ordinary share for the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022. For further details, please refer to dividend RNS released this morning.

Portfolio activity & market outlook

-  The first quarter has been an active one for the Manager:

o  Progressing projects through construction with Enderby, Arbroath, Coupar Angus and Stairfoot expected to commission during Q2 and West Didsbury and Penwortham expected to commission in Q3, as indicated at the full-year results stage

o  De-risking timelines of projects for delivery in 2023 and beyond as much as possible

o  Transitioning Glassenbury and Cleator, previously contracted in EFR until 4 January 2022, to frequency response and trading operations, arranging upgrades of their batteries to longer duration, and preparing the next EFR projects for the same (Nevendon, Tynemouth and Port of Tyne)

o  Publishing a Circular which proposes changes to the Investment Policy including the gradual expansion of the geographic mandate of the Fund

o  Working on additional pipeline including the commitment to a new 40MW project called Shilton Lane not far from Glasgow in Scotland

o  Completing a route to market tender with over ten Asset Optimisers taking part, focusing on the ability to maximise revenues as well as the ability to reduce costs

-  The market environment has remained supportive for battery energy storage as renewable deployment continues to accelerate.

The factsheet for the period ended 31 March 2022 is available here .

The Manager is hosting an inaugural Capital Markets Day today at 10.00am (BST) - register here .

Join us to hear Ben Guest, Fund Manager, GRID, discuss the Fund's journey since IPO, the competitive landscape and the revenue model for batteries, with guest speakers:

§ Dan Monzani, Managing Director for UK and Ireland, Aurora Energy Research

§ Quentin Scrimshire, CEO and Co-Founder, Modo Energy

Footnotes:

1.  The discount rate applied to all merchant cashflows includes short term Enhanced Frequency Response (EFR), Firm Frequency Response (FFR) and Dynamic Containment (DC) revenues, while the discount rate applied to contracted income is applied only to Capacity Market contracts at this time

2.  NAV impact not included in prior guidance for 31 March 2022 as announced on 6 April 2022

For further information, please contact:

Gresham House New Energy Ben Guest	[phone]
Jefferies International Limited Stuart Klein Gaudi Le Roux	[phone]
KL Communications Charles Gorman	[phone]
JTC (UK) Limited as Company Secretary Christopher Gibbons	[phone]

About the Company and the Manager:

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc seeks to provide investors with an attractive and sustainable dividend over the long term by investing in a diversified portfolio of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (known as BESS) located in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. In addition, the Company seeks to provide investors with the prospect of capital growth through the re-investment of net cash generated in excess of the target dividend in accordance with the Company's investment policy.

Gresham House Asset Management is the FCA authorised operating business of Gresham House plc, a London Stock Exchange quoted specialist alternative asset manager. Gresham House is committed to operating responsibly and sustainably, taking the long view in delivering sustainable investment solutions.

www.greshamhouse.com

Definition of Utility-scale battery Storage Systems

Utility-scale battery storage systems are the enabling infrastructure that will support the continued growth of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, essential to the UK's stated target to reduce carbon emissions. They store excess energy generated by renewable energy sources and then release that stored energy back into the grid during peak hours when there is increased demand for it

 

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