John Laing Group plc (LON:JLG) announced today its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2018.
Highlights
· Net asset value (NAV) per share at 30 June 2018 of 307p (31 December 2017 – 281p1)
– 9.3% increase since 31 December 2017
– 11.7% increase including dividend paid in May 2018
· NAV of £1,505.4 million at 30 June 2018 (31 December 2017 – £1,123.9 million)
· £39.2 million in investment commitments (six months ended 30 June 2017 – £111.3 million)2
· Strong pipeline of £2.3 billion of investment opportunities, including 12 shortlisted PPP positions representing c.£325 million of potential investment
· Realisations of £241.5 million from the sale of investments in project companies (six months ended 30 June 2017 – £151.3 million)
· Profit before tax of £174.3 million (six months ended 30 June 2017 – £36.6 million) and earnings per share (EPS) of 38.8p (six months ended 30 June 2017 – 9.4p)3
· Portfolio value at 30 June 2018 of £1,259.7 million representing 18.2% increase on rebased portfolio value4 at 31 December 2017
· Interim dividend of 1.80p per share payable in October 2018 (six months ended 30 June 2017 – 1.75p per share5)
· 1 for 3 rights issue in March 2018 raising £210.5 million, net of costs (the Rights Issue)
· 2018 guidance for investment commitments and realisations maintained
Olivier Brousse,John Laing Group plc Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are pleased with our performance in the first half of 2018. John Laing is growing as an international expert investor in greenfield infrastructure, in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and beyond. Our pipeline of opportunities continues to grow, whilst our exposure to the UK market continues to reduce. The recent Rights Issue has given us the financial credibility to team up with the best international infrastructure players. At the same time we will retain our risk analysis and investment discipline to continue to grow safely and in a scalable way. Our pipeline should continue to drive our investment growth, whilst the quality of our secondary portfolio and the dynamism of the market for operational assets should continue to fund that growth. The recent reorganisation around our three regions will ensure scalability of our growth and cost base while reinforcing local presence. We are confident about our business model and our future performance.”
Notes:
(1) NAV per share at 31 December 2017 of 281p is the previously reported NAV per share of 306p multiplied by the Rights Issue bonus factor6
(2) Based on new investment commitments secured in the six months ended 30 June 2018; for further details see the Primary Investment section of the Business Review
(3) Basic EPS (adjusted for the Rights Issue); see note 7 to the Condensed Group Financial Statements
(4) Rebased portfolio value is described in the Portfolio Valuation section
(5) Interim dividend per share for the six months ended 30 June 2017 of 1.75p is the 1.91p paid in October 2017 multiplied by the Rights Issue bonus factor6
(6) For details of the Rights Issue bonus factor see note 7 to the Condensed Group Financial Statements
