John Laing Group plc (LON:JLG) announced its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2018.
Highlights
· Strong value creation: net asset value (NAV) per share at 31 December 2018 of 323p (31 December 2017 – 281p1)
– 15.0% increase since 31 December 2017
– 18.2% increase including dividends paid in 2018
· NAV of £1,586.5 million at 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017 – £1,123.9 million)
· £302.0 million in investment commitments (2017 – £382.9 million)2
· Strong pipeline of £2.4 billion of investment opportunities
· Realisations of £296.1 million from the sale of investments in project companies (2017 – £289.0 million)
· Profit before tax of £296.6 million (2017 – £126.0 million) and earnings per share (EPS) of 63.1p (2017 – 31.9p)3
· Portfolio value at 31 December 2018 of £1,560.2 million representing 29.4% increase on rebased portfolio value4 at 31 December 2017
· Final dividend of 7.7p per share in line with policy (including a special dividend of 4.1p per share), giving a total 2018 dividend of 9.5p (2017 – total dividend of 8.92p5), an increase of 6.5% from 2017
· 1 for 3 rights issue in March 2018 raising £210.5 million, net of costs (the Rights Issue)
Olivier Brousse, John Laing’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We are pleased with the net asset value we generated in 2018. Our diversified portfolio of projects has once again proved resilient and our teams have actively managed our projects both under construction and operation. Since the rights issue in March 2018, we have continued to grow our pipeline of investment opportunities whilst looking to reduce our exposure to local political and macroeconomic uncertainties through a more diversified portfolio. We are carefully expanding our model into new sectors and new countries, on the back of strong relationships with international partners and with the benefit of our expanded capital base. Looking forward, we are confident in our ability to continue to generate value from our existing portfolio and to take advantage of both an active secondary market to recycle our capital and a strong pipeline of opportunities in order to invest in existing and new markets. The successful completion of our projects makes a positive impact on the communities we serve, proving time and again the benefits of private investment in new infrastructure.”
