Foresight Group Holdings Limited (LON:FSG), a leading investment manager in real assets and capital for growth, has announced its results for the six months ended 30 September 2024.
Financial and Operational Highlights1
| 30 September 2024 | 31 March 2024 | Change | |
| Period-end AUM (£m) | 12,434 | 12,144 | +2% |
| Period-end FUM (£m) | 8,665 | 8,397 | +3% |
| 30 September 2024 | 30 September 2023 | Change | |
| Total Revenue (£m) | 73.2 | 67.8 | +8% |
| Recurring Revenue (% of Total) | 86.7% | 87.3% | -0.6 pts |
| Core EBITDA pre-SBP (£m) | 29.0 | 27.6 | +5% |
| Core EBITDA pre-SBP margin | 39.6% | 40.7% | -1.1 pts |
| Dividend per Share (pence) | 7.4 | 6.7 | +10% |
| · | Core EBITDA pre-Share Based Payments (“SBP”) increased by 5% to £29 million (H1 FY24: £27.6 million), driven by successful prior year and year-to-date fundraising into higher margin and longer tenure vehicles. The Group is on track to deliver on management’s medium-term organic growth guidance to double core EBITDA pre-SBP over five years2. |
| · | Assets under Management (“AUM”) and Funds under Management (“FUM”) increased to £12.4 billion3,4 and £8.7 billion4 respectively (FY24: £12.1 billion and £8.4 billion). AUM movements in the period included: |
| o | A €300 million first close for the Group’s flagship energy transition strategy, Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners II SCSp (“FEIP II”) |
| o | £241 million raised into higher margin retail vehicles |
| o | Foresight Capital Management delivered positive investment performance of £56 million and decelerating net outflows of £111 million |
| · | High quality recurring revenue of 87% was maintained in the period, within our target range of 85-90%. |
| · | The Private Equity division continues to add and realise value, generating £4.3 million in performance fees across our regional and VCT vehicles. Building on this performance, the division raised further capital post period end, completing a £50 million first close of the Foresight South West Fund. |
| · | The Board is pleased to extend the Group’s strong dividend track record with an interim dividend of 7.4 pence per share (H1 FY24: 6.7 pence), to be paid on 31 January 2025, with an ex-dividend date of 16 January 2025 and a record date of 17 January 2025. This is in line with the Group’s dividend policy which targets a total dividend payout ratio of 60% of profit after tax before non‑underlying items. |
Bernard Fairman, Executive Chairman of Foresight Group Holdings Limited, commented:
“During H1 FY25 the Group delivered another period of organic profit growth, driven by positive momentum across our diversified business.
Our highly scalable strategies bring investors closer to some of the world’s most exciting investment opportunities, and recent interest rate reductions should improve investor sentiment further. Against this backdrop, our flagship institutional energy transition fund, FEIP II, is making good progress towards a further close as we target a total fund size of €1.25 billion. Our second dedicated natural capital strategy has now entered pre-marketing, while our listed equities products delivered positive performance and decelerating net outflows in H1.
The well-established retail sales team is on track for a record year of fundraising for our tax efficient retail strategies. Post period end, our Private Equity division launched its 14th active regional fund in the South West of England, with further fundraising anticipated in the near-term.
Fundraising progress across the Group’s diversified strategies is in line with expectations and keeps us on track to deliver our guidance to double profit over five years.”
Half-year Report
A copy of the H1 FY25 Half-year Report has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.
The Half-year Report will also be available on the Company’s website at https://www.foresightgroup.eu/shareholders where further information on Foresight can be found.
Analyst Presentation
A pre-recorded presentation will be available to view on Foresight Group’s website on (https://www.foresightgroup.eu/shareholders) on 28 November 2024.
This presentation will be played at the start of a webcast from 09:00 GMT on Thursday 28 November 2024 and be followed by live Q&A for analysts hosted by Bernard Fairman (Executive Chairman) and Gary Fraser (CFO). Those wishing to join the webcast should register via the following link: Register here.
Notes:
1. All figures contained in this announcement are unaudited
2. Growth guidance 5-year time horizon of FY25 to FY29
3. Divisional AUM movement:
| (£ billion) | H1 FY25 | FY24 | Change % |
| Infrastructure | 10.1 | 9.8 | +3% |
| Private Equity | 1.6 | 1.6 | +0% |
| FCM | 0.7 | 0.7 | +0% |
4. Group AUM and FUM movement summary on a constant currency basis:
| Actuals(Last 6 months) | Constant currency basis (Last 6 months) | ||||
| (£ billion) | 30 Sept 2024 | 31 Mar 2024 | Change % | 30 Sept 2024 | Change % |
| (a) | (b) | (a/b) | (c) | (c/b) | |
| AUM | 12.4 | 12.1 | +2% | 12.5 | +3% |
| FUM | 8.7 | 8.4 | +3% | 8.7 | +4% |
