Share Buyback Programme

RNS Number : 0477V

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Tst

03 April 2023

 

3 April 2023

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust plc
("SEEIT " or the "Company")

Share Buyback Programme

The Board of Directors of SEEIT and the Company's Investment Manager, Sustainable Development Capital LLP, note the discount at which the Company's share price trades as compared to its net asset value ("NAV") per Ordinary Share and believe that the current share price does not accurately reflect the inherent value in the Company's portfolio.

Accordingly, the Board is today announcing the commencement of a Share Buyback Programme. The Share Buyback Programme will be funded from the Company's surplus liquidity and operating cash flows from the portfolio and only undertaken where the Board and the Investment Manager believe it to be in the shareholders' best interests at the prevailing share price and accretive to NAV per Ordinary Share.

The Company has allocated up to £20 million from its available cash reserves to the Share Buyback Programme and will review this allocation on an ongoing basis considering inter alia the Company's ongoing liquidity position, the opportunity cost of investing in its own shares versus investing in its existing portfolio or pipeline of asset opportunities, as well as the discount to NAV that the shares are trading at. There is no certainty that any buybacks will be conducted or that the full Buyback allocation will be utilised.

The Company has engaged Jefferies International Limited as buy-back agent in relation to the Share Buyback Programme. The maximum price payable for a Share on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange plc (the "Exchange") is an amount equal to the higher of:

· 105 per cent. of the average market value of the Company's Shares for the five business days immediately preceding the day on which such Share is contracted to be purchased; or

· the higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current independent bid on the Exchange.

Share buy-backs under the Engagement will be made pursuant to the authority granted to the Company at its general meeting held on 12 September 2022 which limit purchases of Ordinary Shares by the Company in the market to up to 14.99% of the Company's issued capital.

A buy-back of Shares on any trading day may represent a significant proportion of the daily trading volume in the Shares on the Exchange (and could exceed the 25% limit of the average daily trading volume of the preceding 20 business days as referred to in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 2016/1052 on buy-back programmes (as it forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018)).

The Company will announce any market repurchase of Shares on the business day following the calendar day on which the repurchase occurred. The Company intends that the repurchased shares will be held in Treasury.

The Company is satisfied that it is not currently in a closed period, nor is it party to any inside information which has not previously been disclosed via Regulated Information Service.

For further information, please contact:

Sustainable Development Capital LLP Jonathan Maxwell Purvi Sapre Eugene Kinghorn Tom Hovanessian	T: [phone]
Jefferies International Limited Tom Yeadon Gaudi Le Roux	T: [phone]
TB Cardew Ed Orlebar Henry Crane	T: [phone] M: [phone] E:  [e-mail]

About SEEIT

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust plc is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. It was the first UK listed company of its kind to invest exclusively in the energy efficiency sector. Its projects are primarily located in the UK, Europe and North America and include, inter alia, a portfolio of cogeneration assets in Spain, a portfolio of commercial and industrial solar and storage projects in the United States, a regulated gas distribution network in Sweden and a district energy system providing essential and efficient utility services on one of the largest business parks in the United States.

The Company aims to deliver shareholders value through its investment in a diversified portfolio of energy efficiency projects which are driven by the opportunity to deliver lower cost, cleaner and more reliable energy solutions to end users of energy.

The Company is targeting an attractive total return for shareholders of 7-8 per cent. per annum (net of fees and expenses and by reference to the initial issue price of £1.00 per Ordinary Share), with a stable dividend income, capital preservation and the opportunity for capital growth. The Company is targeting an aggregate dividend of 6.00p per share in respect of the financial year to 31 March 2023. SEEIT's last published NAV was 106.1p per share as at 30 September 2022.

Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.

Further information can be found on the Company's website at www.seeitplc.com .

Investment Manager

SEEIT's investment manager is Sustainable Development Capital LLP, an investment firm established in 2007, with a proven track record of investment in energy efficiency and decentralised generation projects in the UK, Continental Europe, North America and Asia.

SDCL is headquartered in London and also operates worldwide from offices in New York, Dublin, Hong Kong and Singapore. SDCL is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Further information can be found on at www.sdclgroup.com .

 

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