The Directors of JLEN Environmental Assets Group Limited (LON:JLEN) have announced the Company’s results for the year ended 31 March 2022.
Financial highlights
· Portfolio valuation as at 31 March 2022 of £795.4 million (31 March 2021: £571.4 million)
· NAV per ordinary share of 115.3 pence as at 31 March 2022 (31 March 2021: 92.2 pence), primarily due to an upward revision to electricity and gas price forecasts, including for assets acquired during the period previously held at cost
· Total dividends declared of 6.80 pence per ordinary share for the year to 31 March 2022 (2021: 6.76 pence per ordinary share), in line with the target set out in the 2021 Annual Report
· Dividend cover of 1.10 times, on a paid basis for the financial year
· Target dividend for the year to 31 March 2023 of 7.14 pence per ordinary share1, a 5% increase from the dividend declared in respect of the year to 31 March 2022
· Total shareholder return for the period since IPO of 77.4% (7.4% annualised)
Portfolio highlights
· Three acquisitions completed this year creating a portfolio consisting of 37 assets
· First acquisitions in the biomass CHP and energy-from-waste sectors, increasing portfolio diversification. Acquisitions include Cramlington biomass, acquired out of administration at an attractive price
· Company made its first divestment with the disposal of two French wind farms at a 25% uplift to the value prior to commencing the sales process
· Diversified portfolio now 29% wind, 28% waste and bioenergy, 22% AD, 17% solar, 3% low carbon & energy efficiency and 1% hydro by value
· Overall, renewable energy generation portfolio 6% below generation target, mainly due to low wind speeds in the period. Continued good performance from the Agri AD assets, and solar assets also above budget
Other highlights
· Strong pipeline of diversified assets for further growth
· The Company raised £118 million in two oversubscribed fundraisings
· JLEN entered into a new ESG-linked £170 million revolving credit facility expiring in May 2024
· Appointment of Alan Bates and Jo Harrison to the Board of Directors, effective 10 June 2021
· Set up of a dedicated ESG Committee at the Board level to sit alongside and complement the work already done in this area by the Risk and Audit Committees
Richard Morse, Chairman of JLEN Environmental Assets, said:
“JLEN has had an outstanding year, with NAV appreciation per share of 25%, £118 million raised through two oversubscribed equity issues, investments into new sectors including biomass CHP and energy-from‑waste, as well as a value-accretive divestment of our French wind assets. The Company has also announced an increase in the target dividend for the upcoming financial year of 5% to 7.14 pence per share1 for the financial year to 31 March 2023.
“This year, JLEN has continued to support the decarbonisation agenda through its investments in a diversified portfolio of 37 operational solar, onshore wind, waste and wastewater, hydro, battery, anaerobic digestion, bioenergy and low carbon transport projects based in the UK and Europe, representing a total of 359.5MW. The green energy producing part of the portfolio generated over one million MWh of energy, enough to power more than 255,000 UK homes with electricity . The waste assets have avoided more than 695,000 tonnes of waste going to landfill and the JLEN portfolio, particularly through its investment in CNG, has also contributed to the decarbonisation of the UK road network.”
Annual report
A copy of the annual report has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. The annual report will also be available on the Company’s website at www.jlen.com where further information on JLEN can be found.
(1) 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.
