AEIT Asian Energy Impact Trust Plc

LEI: 254900V23329JCBR9G82

14 May 2024

Asian Energy Impact Trust plc

(the "Company" or "AEIT")

31 MARCH 2024 unaudited Net Asset Value

Asian Energy Impact Trust plc, the renewable energy investment trust providing direct access to sustainable energy infrastructure in fast-growing and emerging economies in Asia, announces its unaudited net asset value ("NAV") at 31 March 2024.

HIGHLIGHTS

·        NAV as at 31 March 2024 (relative to the audited 31 December 2023 NAV) reduced by US$1.3 million.  This reflects a US$0.2 million decrease in the underlying portfolio valuations and costs of US$1.6 million incurred in the quarter, slightly offset by US$0.5 million of other movements including bank deposit interest receivable and foreign exchange gains.

·        Construction of the 200MW solar project that forms part of the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park (the "RUMS project") within the SolarArise India Projects Private Limited ("SolarArise") portfolio commenced in November 2023. As previously announced, the expected commissioning date is now late June 2024 and additional funding of US$4.5 million is required for project completion. The additional contingency of US$3.5 million provisioned in the audited 31 December 2023 NAV has been reversed and replaced with updated assumptions and rolling forward the valuation date. In aggregate, this had an overall positive impact on the RUMS project valuation of US$0.9 million.

·         At 31 March 2024, the Company had cash balances of US$37.5 million and held US$1.8 million cash in its UK subsidiary, AEIT Holdings Limited, which is included within the fair value of the Company's investment portfolio. Since 31 March 2024, the Company has received a cash return from its investment in NISPI of US$5.6 million and will shortly be investing US$4.5m into SolarArise to fund the RUMS project (as announced on 13 March 2024).

·         As at 31 March 2024, gearing in AEIT's investment portfolio represented 64.3% of the Group's adjusted gross asset value[2] ("GAV"). Gearing is not used at the Company level.

NET ASSETS

Net assets as at 31 March 2024 were US$80.2 million, with a NAV total return per share since IPO of -52.4%. The NAV per share decreased to 45.6 cents as at 31 March 2024. The following table reconciles the movements from the audited NAV as at 31 December 2023.

Fair Value of Investment Portfolio

The most significant movements in the fair value from 31 December 2023 to 31 March 2024 are summarised in the table below.

RUMS project: Changes in the underlying project economics amounted to a US$0.9 million increase in value. This includes the reversal of the US$3.5 million contingency included in the audited 31 December 2023 valuation, as the incremental delays and costs based on commissioning now occurring in June 2024 have since been reflected in the underlying assumptions. This commissioning date is dependent on the landowner of the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park ("RUMSL[3]") constructing the transmission line and other infrastructure required for commissioning. The previous "haircut" provision to generation assumptions was removed in the quarter based on ratification of the assumptions through an additional third-party P50 yield assessment coupled with build quality risks being mitigated through employment of an Owner's Engineer and ongoing monitoring of design and build quality, which is currently reported to be of good quality. Operating cost assumptions increased based on an updated budget. Delays to commissioning as well as capital expenditure overruns were also incorporated. Other minor changes include the roll forward of the valuation date including updating for macroeconomic assumptions and other updates.

Inflation, FX and roll forward: For inflation, the approach is to blend two inflation forecasts from reputable third-party sources and apply this consistently to assumptions. For FX, valuations are converted from local currency at the relevant spot rate at the balance sheet date. The discount rate unwind includes the net present value of future cashflows being brought forward from the last valuation date to 31 March 2024.

Generation: A technical advisor was appointed in September 2023 to provide updated P50[4] yield assessments. Reports were received in March for NISPI[5] and VSS[6] and have been updated in the model. For NISPI, the resulting generation from incorporating these yield assessments is slightly below the estimated reduction applied to the P50 yield assessments at the time of acquisition utilised in the 31 December 2023 valuation. For VSS, the resulting generation from incorporating these yield assessments is slightly above the estimated reduction applied to the P50 yield assessments at the time of acquisition utilised in the 31 December 2023 valuation. These have largely offset each other.

Other adjustments: The most material element, which decreased the fair value at 31 March 2024 by US$1.3 million, was revising assumptions for operational and holding company costs based on updated budgets received from the asset managers of NISPI and SolarArise. The balance of the other adjustments largely related to the underperformance of assets. No changes were made to the discount rates applied which are in the range of 10.0% - 12.5%. Further, the Company's policy is to blend at least two wholesale electricity spot market price curves based on semi-annual reports prepared by market advisors that are reputable in the relevant markets. Accordingly, no updated reports were received in the quarter, and power price forecasts have only been updated to reflect revised inflation and foreign exchange assumptions in the quarter.

Dividends

No dividend has been declared in respect of either the quarter ended 31 December 2023, or the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

Expenses

In the three-month period ended 31 March 2024, investment management fees totalled US$0.7 million, exceptional costs in respect of the temporary share suspension and strategic review totalled US$0.5 million and other PLC costs for the quarter totalled $0.5 million. There is also an amount of US$0.4 million relating to interest received on cash deposits.

GEARING

Gearing is not used at the Company level.  As at 31 March 2024, US$41.2 million had been drawn under the US$54.9 million project finance facility for construction of the RUMS project. As at 31 March 2024, SolarArise's SPVs had aggregate external borrowings of US$142.0 million (31 December 2023: US$108.6 million) and the Vietnamese assets had external borrowings of US$1.1 million (31 December 2023: US$1.3 million), whilst the Philippine assets were ungeared. As at 31 March 2024, gearing in the investment portfolio represented 64.3% (31 December 2023: 56.9%) of the Group's adjusted GAV. On a pro forma basis, gearing would increase to 66.3% once the full project finance facility of the RUMS project is drawn down based on the NAV as at 31 March 2024.

Q1 2024 FACTSHEET

The Company's factsheet for the quarter ended 31 March 2024 will be available shortly on its website, www.asianenergyimpact.com.

Enquiries

About Asian Energy Impact Trust plc

Asian Energy Impact Trust plc listed on the premium segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2021 and was awarded the Green Economy Mark upon admission. The Company is an Article 9 fund under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

With effect from 1 November 2023, the Company appointed Octopus Energy Generation as its transitional investment manager.

Further information on the Company can be found on its website at www.asianenergyimpact.com.

About Octopus Energy Generation 

Octopus Energy Generation ("OEGEN") is driving the renewable energy agenda by building green power for the future. Its London-based, leading specialist renewable energy fund management team invests in renewable energy assets and broader projects helping the energy transition, across operational, construction and development stages. The team was set up in 2010 based on the belief that investors can play a vital role in accelerating the shift to a future powered by renewable energy. It has a 13-year track record with approximately £6.7 billion of assets under management (AUM) (as of December 2023) across 19 countries and total 3.7GW. These renewable projects generate enough green energy to power 2.4 million homes every year, the equivalent of taking over 1.4 million petrol cars off the road. Octopus Energy Generation is the trading name of Octopus Renewables Limited.  

Further details can be found at  www.octopusenergygeneration.com.