Successful Refinancing of French Project Finance

RNS Number : 9840M

Octopus Renewables Infra Trust PLC

27 January 2021

 

27 January 2021

LEI: 213800B81BFJKWM2JV13

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc

("ORIT" or the "Company")

Successful Refinancing of French Project Finance

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc is pleased to announce that it has successfully refinanced the Company's portfolio of operational solar PV assets in France which was acquired in July 2020.

The new €125.7m fully amortising debt facility, provided by Allied Irish Banks p.l.c., Société Générale and La Banque Postale, extends the maturity date of the financing by over 5 years to December 2038 and significantly reduces ongoing interest costs. The facility has a margin of 1.25% above EURIBOR, which has been fixed at minus 0.12% for 85% of the facility value, leading to an all-in rate of 1.13%.

This new facility, which supports the Company's long term debt strategy, replaces the existing €99m of project finance which was acquired with the portfolio and of which €3.8m of principal had been repaid since the acquisition. The Company expects the FY2020 dividend to be fully covered by the operational cash flows generated by the Company's underlying assets, prior to debt amortisation, however, due to a short delay in completing the refinancing it is expected that dividend cover on a cash flow basis at the Company level will be slightly impacted, in FY2020 only. The Company's portfolio continues to perform well with   the Company's construction projects on schedule. There is no change to the Company's dividend guidance for FY2020 or FY2021.

Phil Austin, Chairman of Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc, commented:

"We are pleased to have locked in long term finance at an extremely attractive margin, which marks further positive progress for the Company, driven by the Investment Manager's active approach to asset and portfolio management."

Chris Gaydon, Investment Director at Octopus Renewables, commented:

"We are delighted to have completed this refinancing with a group of high quality lenders in the European market. The refinancing is in line with our strategy of securing borrowing against assets for which bank appetite and lending costs are most favourable, and which materially reduces debt service costs for the French portfolio."

For further information please contact:

Octopus Investments Limited (Investment Manager)   Matt Setchell, Chris Gaydon, David Bird	Via Buchanan
Peel Hunt (Broker)   Liz Yong, Luke Simpson, Tom Pocock (Investment Banking)   Alex Howe, Chris Bunstead, Ed Welsby, Richard Harris (Sales)	020 7418 8900
Buchanan (Financial PR)   Charles Ryland, Kelsey Traynor, Hannah Ratcliff	020 7466 5000
PraxisIFM ( Company Secretary )	020 4513 9260

*The dividend targets referred to in this announcement 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 and they should not be taken as an indication of the Company's expected future results. The Company's actual returns will depend upon a number of factors, including but not limited to the Company's net income and level of ongoing charges. Accordingly, potential investors should not place any reliance on these targets and should decide for themselves whether or not the target dividend and target net total shareholder return are reasonable or achievable. Investors should note that references in this announcement to "dividends" and "distributions" are intended to cover both dividend income and income which is designated as an interest distribution for UK tax purposes and therefore subject to the interest streaming regime applicable to investment trusts.

Notes to editors

About Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc is a closed end investment company incorporated in England and Wales focused on providing investors with an attractive and sustainable level of income returns, with an element of capital growth, by investing in a diversified portfolio of renewable energy assets in Europe and Australia. Octopus Investments Limited acts as the Investment Manager to the Company.

Further details can be found at www.octopusrenewablesinfrastructure.com

About Octopus Renewables

Octopus Renewables, part of Octopus Investments and the wider Octopus Group, is a specialist clean energy investment manager with a mission to accelerate the transition to a future powered by renewable energy. Since 2010, Octopus Renewables has, on behalf of its clients, invested in a diverse portfolio of assets with a capacity of over 2.5GW and is now the largest commercial solar investor in Europe and a leading UK investor in onshore wind. Octopus Renewables is co-led by Matt Setchell and Alex Brierley and has over 70 employees in the UK and Australia.

Further details can be found at www.octopusrenewables.com

Neither the content of any website referred to in this announcement nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

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