TIDMUSF TIDMUSFP
RNS Number : 9146Y
US Solar Fund PLC
18 May 2021
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INVESTMENTS IN ANY JURISDICTION.
18 May 2021
US SOLAR FUND PLC ("USF" or the "Company")
NAV UPDATE AND FACTSHEET
US Solar Fund plc (LON: USF (USD)/USFP (GBP)) is pleased to
announce that its unaudited NAV at 31 March 2021 was $194.4 million
or $0.971 per ordinary share (31 December 2020 NAV of $194.2
million or $0.970 per ordinary share).
After quarter-end, USF announced the results of its equity issue
raising gross proceeds of $132 million, exceeding its $105 million
target, with strong support from both existing and new investors.
The proceeds will be used for balance sheet management and growth
opportunities as outlined in previous announcements.
Highlights for the quarter to 31 March 2021:
-- USF announced completion of the $23 million acquisition of a
25% interest in a 200 MW(DC) operating solar plant located in the
Imperial Valley of Southern California, Mount Signal 2 ( MS2 ),
increasing USF's total portfolio to 493 MW(DC) of fully operational
assets. USF has the option to acquire a further 25% interest in MS2
in the following 12 months.
-- USF's portfolio performed to within 0.5% of the performance
expected, taking into account actual weather conditions,
(weather-adjusted expectations) but 1.8% below budget expectations.
USF's largest project, the 128 MW(DC) Milford project in Utah
continues to perform well above expectations, while further heavy
snowfall in Oregon, and the progressive rectification of inverter
issues during the quarter in North Carolina resulted in the slight
underperformance.
-- Consistent with the Company's policy, USF's assets were
internally valued this quarter . No changes were made to the
electricity price forecasts or discount rates used by the external
valuer in the 31 December 2020 valuation. Positive working capital
movements offset dividends paid and normal operating expenses. For
the quarter to 30 June 2021, all 42 assets (including MS2) will be
externally valued using updated electricity price forecasts and
discount rates.
-- The Company announced its fourth dividend for the year ended
31 December 2020, of 0.50 cents per ordinary share which was paid
on 12 April 2021. This brings the total dividend for FY20 to 2.0
cents per ordinary share. USF confirms its 2021 annual dividend
target of 5.5 cents per ordinary share which will continue to be
paid quarterly and which is expected to be covered with operating
cash flows.
-- Dividend cover was 2.38x for the dividend totaling 1.0 cent
per ordinary share for the six months ended 31 March 2021. This
reflects the first six-month period in which all projects acquired
with the IPO proceeds were, or became, operational.
-- All assets in the portfolio have power purchase agreements (
PPA s) with contracted prices for 100% of electricity generated.
The portfolio weighted average PPA term is 15.1 years as at 31
March 2021, and all PPA counterparties are investment-grade
(S&P rated A to BBB).
-- As of 31 March 2021, the Investment Manager's pipeline
included 2,975MW(DC) of high-quality assets, with an aggregate
value of approximately $2.9 billion in cash equity value and a
weighted-average PPA term of 15 years.
-- COVID-19 continues to have no material impact on USF's operating activities.
The NAV update and the Company's factsheet for Q1 2021 are
available on the Company's website at:
www.ussolarfund.co.uk/investor-centre .
For further information, please contact:
US Solar Fund
Whitney Voute +1 718 230 4329
Cenkos Securities plc
James King
Tunga Chigovanyika
Will Talkington +44 20 7397 8900
Jefferies International Limited
Stuart Klein
Gaudi le Roux
Neil Winward +44 20 7029 8000
KL Communications +44 20 3995 6673
Charles Gorman
Charlotte Stickings
About US Solar Fund plc
US Solar Fund plc listed on the premium segment of the London
Stock Exchange in April 2019, following its successful US$200m IPO,
and raised a further $132m in May 2021 taking cumulative proceeds
to $332 million. The Company's investment objective is to provide
investors with attractive and sustainable dividends with an element
of capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of solar
power assets in North America and other OECD countries in the
Americas.
US Solar Fund acquires or constructs, owns and operates solar
power assets that are expected to have an asset life of at least 30
years and generate stable and uncorrelated cashflows by selling
electricity to creditworthy offtakers under long-term power
purchase agreements (or PPAs).
Further information on the Company can be found on its website
at http://www.ussolarfund.co.uk .
About the Investment Manager
USF is managed by New Energy Solar Manager (NESM). NESM also
manages New Energy Solar, an Australian Securities Exchange
ASX-listed fund (ASX:NEW) which has committed over US$900m to US
and Australian solar plants since late 2015.
NESM is owned by E&P Funds, the funds management division of
E&P Financial Group, an ASX-listed company (ASX: EP1) with over
A$20 billion of funds under advice.
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