INPP ALLOCATES FURTHER £10
MILLION TO SHARE BUYBACK PROGRAMME
£14 million of proceeds
raised from the sale of Three Shires portfolio
08 August
2024
International Public Partnerships
Limited, the listed infrastructure investment company ('INPP' or
'the Company'), is pleased to announce the divestment of its 50%
interest in the Three Shires portfolio ('Three Shires' or 'the
Portfolio') realising c.£14 million, with the sale price being in
line with the Company's 31 December 2023 valuation.
The Company intends to use £10
million of the divestment proceeds to increase the size of its
existing share buyback programme from £30 million to £40 million.
The remaining proceeds from the divestment of Three Shires
portfolio will be allocated to support long-standing investment
commitments.
To date c.£18 million has been used
to buyback the Company's shares under the 12-month buyback
programme which commenced in January 2024. Shares will continue to
be bought under the programme whilst they trade at a significant
discount to their net asset value ('NAV').
Both initiatives support the Board
of Directors' confidence in the Company's portfolio valuation and
belief that optimising the portfolio and reallocating capital will
have a positive impact on the discount at which the Company's
shares are trading relative to their NAV.
Mike Gerrard, Chair of INPP, said: "In the last 12 months, the
Company has successfully realised
over £235 million from asset disposals and has recycled this cash
to support shareholder value. These divestments are in line with,
or modestly above, previously published valuations. These
realisations' proceeds have been used to fully repay the CDF,
commence a share buyback programme, increase dividend growth and
fund accretive acquisitions. Both the Board and the Investment
Adviser remain committed to realising further
proceeds through divestments and
ensuring that the Company remains well positioned for the
long-term."
Three Shires divestment
The Three Shires portfolio comprises
the design, build, financing and maintenance of four community
healthcare facilities, including two in Derbyshire and one in each
of, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The facilities support the
delivery of various community health and social services, including
dentistry, diagnostics, and mental health rehabilitation, which
offer significant social benefits to the local
community.
The Company's interest in the
Portfolio will be acquired by funds managed by Equitix, an existing
shareholder in the project. This realisation is consistent with the
Company's previously stated intention to actively pursue further
divestments.
The Company's investment portfolio
remains well-diversified and responsibly invested across sectors
delivering value and reliable services to local communities. The
investment portfolio generates strongly inflation-linked cash
flows, and has delivered robust performance since INPP's IPO such
that the Company has been able to increase its dividend payments
for 16 consecutive years.
The projected cash receipts from the
existing portfolio are such that even if no further investments are
made, INPP would be able to continue to meet its existing
progressive dividend policy for at least the next 20
years[i].
Approach to capital allocation and discount
management
The Company has previously stated
that it will continue to maintain a disciplined approach to capital
allocation to ensure it is taking proactive steps to reduce the
discount to NAV at which the Company's shares are trading. The
Board intends for the following actions to guide its
decision-making process while the discount to NAV persists,
including:
i) Continued
limited use of the Company's CDF;
ii) Continuation
of a programme of divestments to both demonstrate value and
reallocate capital;
iii) The utilisation of
any divestment proceeds towards both, (i) increasing the share
buyback programme, and (ii) subject to the economics being more
attractive over the medium to long-term relative to the opportunity
to engage in a share buyback, making new, accretive
investments.
Cash drawings under the Company's
CDF remain at nil with c.£18 million utilised via letters of
credit.
In addition, the Company has
remaining long-standing commitments totalling c.£18 million across
the transport (Gold Coast Light Rail - Stage 3), education
(Flinders University Health and Medical Research Building) and
digital (toob); and it is currently expectated that this amount
will be funded from portfolio activity, including c.£4 million
arising from the Three Shires divestment, as well as surplus
operating cash.
ENDS.
For further information:
Erica Sibree/Amy
Edwards
+44 (0) 7557 676 499 /
(0) 7827 238 355
Amber Fund Management
Limited
Hugh
Jonathan
+44 (0)20 7260 1263
Numis Securities
Ed Berry/Mitch Barltrop
+44 (0)
7703 330 199 / (0) 7807 296 032
FTI Consulting
About International Public Partnerships:
INPP is a listed infrastructure
investment company that invests in global public infrastructure
projects and businesses, which meets societal and environmental
needs, both now, and into the future.
INPP is a responsible, long-term
investor in over 140 infrastructure projects and businesses. The
portfolio consists of utility and transmission, transport,
education, health, justice and digital infrastructure projects and
businesses, in the UK, Europe, Australia and North America. INPP
seeks to provide its shareholders with both a long-term yield and
capital growth.
Amber Infrastructure Group ('Amber')
is the Investment Adviser to INPP and consists of over 180 staff
who are responsible for the management of, advice on and
origination of infrastructure investments.