Unaudited 31 March 2016 NAV

03 May 2016

 

BLUEFIELD SOLAR INCOME FUND LIMITED
(the "Company")

 

Unaudited 31 March 2016 NAV Announcement

 

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (LON: BSIF) (the "Company") is pleased to publish its net asset value ("NAV") as at 31 March 2016.  Unless otherwise noted herein, the information provided in this announcement, and the asset valuations underlying such information, is unaudited.

Highlights

•      The Company's NAV at 31 March 2016 was £310.0 million, or 100.13 pence per Ordinary Share, compared to the NAV at 31 December 2015 of £315.2 million, or 101.79 pence per Ordinary Share.

·     During the quarter to 31 March 2016, the Company added 9 plants through 6 acquisitions, bringing the total installed capacity for the Company's portfolio to 397.16 MegaWatts Peak ("MWp").

·     In the period since 31 March 2016, the Company acquired Bluefield Harrier Limited, a 4.12 MWp plant, making the current total installed capacity for the Company's portfolio 401.28 MWp.

·     The change in NAV is largely due to the adoption of the most recent power curve from the Company's independent power forecaster provided in April 2016. All other core assumptions have remained consistent with the NAV issued in the Company's interim financial statements for the period ending 31 December 2015.

·     Since April 2014, the Company's independent power forecaster has issued six downward revisions of its long term power price forecast.  Power price forecasts have reduced by a year on year average of 31.8% since the April 2014 forecast.

·     The Company can confirm that it intends to meet or exceed its target dividend of 7.07 pence per Ordinary Share in respect of the current financial year with the intention of this rising annually with RPI thereafter.

Comment

John Rennocks, the Chairman of the Company, said, "The Board is pleased that sound acquisitions and effective operations of our plants have enabled us to sustain the Company's dividend targets in the face of some market headwinds due to declining power prices."

Current Portfolio

The Company's operating portfolio as at 31 March 2016 is shown below: 

Project	Region	Contractor	ROC Banding/FiT1	MWp
Ashlawn	Somerset	Parabel UK	1.4 ROCs	6.7
Betingau	Glamorgan	Prosolia	1.6 ROCs	9.9
Bunns Hill	Norfolk	Solar Century	1.3 ROCs	5.0
Capelands	Devon	Juwi	1.4 ROCs	8.4
Durrants	Isle of Wight	REC Systems	FiT	5.0
Elms	Oxfordshire	Wirsol Energy	1.4 ROCs	29.0
Folly Lane	Lincolnshire	Solar Century	1.3 ROCs	4.8
Frogs Loke	Norfolk	Solar Century	1.3 ROCs	5.0
Goosewillow	Oxfordshire	Ikaros Solar	1.6 ROCs	16.9
Goshawk (10X Thames Water and 1X Adnams)	Surrey / Oxfordshire / Suffolk	British Gas	FiT	1.2
Hall Farm	Norfolk	Ikaros Solar	1.6 ROCs	11.5
Hardingham	Norfolk	Solar Century	1.6 ROCs	14.8
Hardingham X	Norfolk	Solar Century	1.4 ROCs	5.2
Hill Farm	Oxfordshire	Solar Century	1.6 ROCs	15.2
Hoback	Hertfordshire	Solar Century	1.4 ROCs	17.5
Rhydy Pandy - Butteriss Downs (20 sites)	Oxfordshire	British Gas	FiT	0.8
Littlebourne	Kent	Vogt Solar	1.4 ROCs	17.0
Molehill	Kent	Vogt Solar	1.4 ROCs	18.0
North Beer	Cornwall	Parabel UK	2 ROCs	6.9
Oulton	Norfolk	Solar Century	1.3 ROCs	5.0
Pashley	Sussex	Vogt Solar	1.4 ROCs	11.6
Pentylands	Wiltshire	Conergy	1.6 ROCs	19.2
Rhydy Pandy - Promothames (9 sites)	Berkshire / Hampshire	British Gas	FiT	0.4
Redlands	Somerset	Juwi	1.4 ROCs	6.2
Romsey	Hampshire	Solar Century	1.3 ROCs	5.0
Rookery	Norfolk	Solar Century	1.3 ROCs	5.0
Roves	Wiltshire	Wirsol Energy	1.4 ROCs	12.7
Salhouse	Norfolk	Wirsol Energy	1.3 ROCs	5.0
Saxley	Hampshire	Solar Century	1.6 ROCs	5.9
Sheppey	Kent	Solar Century	1.4 ROCs	10.6
Southwick	Hampshire	Solar Century	1.4 ROCs	47.9
The Grange	Gloucestershire	Solar Century	1.3 ROCs	5.0
Tollgate Farm	Warwickshire	Solar Century	1.3 ROCs	4.3
Trethosa	Cornwall	Wirsol Energy	FiT	4.8
West Raynham	Norfolk	MAETEL / ACS	1.4 ROCs	49.9
Total				397.2

  ¹ FiT means Feed-in-tariff; ROC means Renewal Obligation Certificate.

Net Asset Value

As at 31 March 2016, the Company's NAV was 100.13 pence per Ordinary Share.  This NAV is based upon the directors' valuation as at 31 December 2015 as adjusted for the impact of lower power prices and movements in the period, including investments made, an increase in the amounts drawn under the amended and restated facility agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland plc ("RBS") and Investec Bank plc ("Investec"), dated 22 January 2016, (the "Credit Facility") and earnings from investments and operational costs of the Company.  The amount drawn under the Credit Facility as at 31 March 2016 was £163.0 million out of £200 million available.  There is an additional £14.2 million in project finance debt in the Durrants investment.

The NAV per share and share price of the Company for 31 December 2015 and 31 March 2016 were as follows:

	31 December 2015		31 March 2016
NAV per Ordinary Share (pence)	101.79		100.13
Share Price (pence)*	101.75		101.00
Premium/Discount	-0.04%		0.86%
Market Capitalisation (million £)	314,832,025		312,728,083

* The last trade price on the relevant date, without and ex-dividend adjustment.

 

Credit Facility Refinancing

As announced in the Prospectus and following the completion of the Credit Facility, RBS and Investec are advising the Company on the potential refinancing of the Credit Facility through the introduction of long term structural debt.  The use of long term structural debt requires the amendment of the Company's existing Investment Policy, which is subject to the approval of the Financial Conduct Authority, as well as the Shareholders by ordinary resolution.

Outlook

The Company has demonstrated robust NAV performance in the context of declining power prices (with a year on year average reduction of 31.8% since April 2014). The March NAV benefits from operating performance exceeding budget in the quarter, which enabled the Company to announce total dividends to date in relation to the financial year ending 30 June 2016 of 4.25 pence per Ordinary Share. The Company's investment performance has remained strong with a total installed capacity of 401.28 MWp across 73 plants, 31 of which are standalone and 42 are industrial solar PV projects, principally on Thames Water properties. 

 

Enquiries:

James Armstrong / Mike Rand / Giovanni Terranova

Bluefield Partners LLP - Company Investment Adviser

Tel: +44 (0)20 7078 0020

 

Tod Davis / David Benda

Numis Securities Limited - Company Broker

Tel: +44 (0)20 7260 1000

 

Kevin Smith

Heritage International Fund Managers Limited - Company Secretary & Administrator

Tel: +44 (0)1481 716000

 

Tom Karim

CNC

Tel: +44(0)20 3219 8820 / +44(0)7923 293 399

 

Note to editors

 

About Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited

The Company is a Guernsey-registered investment company focusing on large scale agricultural and industrial solar assets. It had an initial public offering of shares on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2013 and currently has over 309 million shares in issue.

BSIF seeks to provide shareholders with an attractive return, principally in the form of income distributions, by investing in a diversified portfolio of solar energy assets, each located within the UK, with a focus on utility scale assets and portfolios on greenfield, industrial and/or commercial sites.  The Company intends to pay quarterly distributions.

 

About Bluefield Partners LLP (Bluefield)

Bluefield was established in 2009 and is an investment adviser to companies and funds investing in solar energy infrastructure. It has a proven record in the selection, acquisition and supervision of large scale energy and infrastructure assets in the UK and Europe. The team has been involved in over £1.25 billion of solar PV funds and/or transactions in both the UK and Europe since 2008, including over £500m in the UK since December 2011.

Bluefield has led the acquisitions, and currently advises on over 70 UK based solar PV assets that are agriculturally, commercially or industrially situated. Based in its London office, Bluefield's partners are supported by a dedicated and highly experienced team of investment, legal and portfolio executives. 

Bluefield was appointed Investment Adviser to the Company in June 2013.