The Company’s objective is to provide long-term growth in income and capital, principally by investment in equities listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Board fully recognises the importance of dividend income to shareholders.
Earnings and Dividends
Earnings per share rose marginally compared with the same six-month period last year, from 8.79p to 8.80p. Special dividends, received and accounted as income, were down from £2.4 million to £0.9 million. The trend in ordinary dividends received was similar to City of London’s last financial year, with cuts from mining companies being offset by increases from banks and oil companies.
City of London has declared two interim dividends to date of 5.05p each in respect of this financial year. The Company’s diverse portfolio, strong cash flow and revenue reserve give the Board confidence that, in line with its objective to provide long-term income and capital growth, it will be able to increase the total annual dividend for the 58th consecutive year. The quarterly dividend rate will be reviewed by the Board before the third interim dividend is declared in April 202
NESF NextEnergy Solar Fund Ltd 10.22 RECI Real Estate Credit Investment PCC Ltd 9.92 TFIF TwentyFour Income Fund Ltd 8.79 BSIF Bluefield Solar Income Fund Ltd 8.43 SUPR Supermarket Income Reit PLC 7.84 AGR Assura PLC 7.42 PHP Primary Health Properties PLC 7.11 MRCH Merchants Trust (The) PLC 5.30 CTY City of London Investment Trust (The) PLC 5.14 IUKD iShares FTSE UK Div Plus (5.5)
If u need income to pay your bills an equally weighted portfolio of
Trusts above pays a blended yield of 7.5%, which should gently increase
over time.
Hopefully when the UK Plc stabilises there should be a capital gain
to be made but if income is your priority that matters little.
I will do some pen portraits, starting next week on the above Trusts.
100p going to be support or is it going to continue down ?
Don’t ask me. I know the yield is 8.8%.
Share Buyback Programme
The Board notes the recent weakness in the Company’s share price and the significant discount that the current share price represents to the value of the Company’s assets. Adjusting for the first interim dividend , the closing price of 99 pence per share (as at 14 February 2024) represents a discount of 26% to the 31 December 2023 NAV.
The Board of the Company keeps its capital allocation policy under regular review, evaluating the relative merits of further investment (into both new and existing assets), the management of debt and returning value to shareholders via dividends or through other methods such as share buybacks. As part of this review, and in the context of addressing what the Board views as the excessive discount at which the Company’s shares currently trade relative to the underlying NAV, the Board announces its intention to commence a share buyback programme. In the first instance it has allocated £20 million for the purchase of its own shares.
Share repurchases will be carried out under the existing shareholder authority granted at the last Annual General Meeting, held on 28 November 2023, which allows for purchases of Ordinary Shares by the Company in the market for up to 14.99% of the Company’s issued share capital. Any share repurchases will be funded from a combination of available liquidity, excess operating cash flows from the portfolio and the proceeds from any asset sales as already announced. It is expected that any share repurchases will be accretive to NAV per share.
The Company expects to announce its interim results for the half year ended 31 December 2023 on Wednesday, 28 February 2024. Until such announcement, the Company remains in a closed period in respect of those results and thus unable to buy its own shares, but the Board intends to commence share buybacks following the release of the interims and while the Company’s shares continue to trade at an excessive discount to NAV.
Dividend Guidance Reaffirmed
Shareholders will be aware that the Board of Bluefield Solar has recently declared a first interim dividend for the current financial year of 2.20 pps and has reiterated its target dividend for the full year of not less than 8.80 pps. This represents a dividend yield of 8.9% based on the closing share price of 99p per share on 14 February 2024. The Company’s operations remain robust, trading conditions are attractive, and the Board expects this year’s dividend to be approximately two times covered.
City of London achieved a 6.5% net asset value total return during the six months to 31 December 2023 against a backdrop of falling inflation and market expectations that interest rates have peaked.
The Markets
Although economic growth slowed, the main developed countries appear to have avoided a significant downturn, with employment remaining at high levels. Inflation fell by more than expected, especially towards the end of the period, with investors anticipating cuts to interest rates by central banks globally during 2024. The 10-year gilt yield, which was 4.4% at the beginning of July, ended 2023 at 3.5%.
The UK equity market returned 5.2%, as measured by the FTSE All-Share Index, with medium-sized and small companies slightly outperforming larger peers. The best performing sector was real estate investment trusts, reflecting the downward move in gilt yields, followed by technology, in line with trends overseas. Some more defensive sectors, such as food & beverage and health care, were notable underperformers.
Net Asset Value Total Return
City of London’s net asset value total return was 6.5% – higher than the FTSE All-Share Index (5.2%) and the AIC UK Equity Income sector average (5.0%), but behind the IA UK Equity Income OEIC sector average (6.9%). The negative impact of the fall in gilt yields on the fair value of the Company’s fixed interest debt detracted performance by 34 basis points. It should be noted, however, that the £30 million 2.67% 2046 and £50 million 2.94% 2049 secured notes, both issued in recent years, provide borrowings at fixed low interest rates for investment in equities by City of London over the next quarter of a century.
Stock and sector selection contributed by 171 bps. The underweight positions in pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca were respectively the biggest sector and stock contributors. The second biggest sector impact arose from being overweight in real estate investment trusts, with Land Securities a notable stock contributor. The biggest detracting sector was food producers, with Nestlé a detractor over the six months. The second biggest detracting sector was aerospace and defence, where the Company missed out on the rise in Rolls Royce (which was not held) but benefited from its position in BAE Systems. Other notable stock contributors were 3i, whose main asset is its shareholding in Action, a fast-growing discount retailer in Europe, and Round Hill Music Royalties Fund, which was taken over. The biggest detracting stock was St James’s Place, which announced changes in the structure of its customer fees.
Earnings and Dividends
Earnings per share rose marginally compared with the same six-month period last year, from 8.79p to 8.80p. Special dividends, received and accounted as income, were down from £2.4 million to £0.9 million. The trend in ordinary dividends received was similar to City of London’s last financial year, with cuts from mining companies being offset by increases from banks and oil companies.
City of London has declared two interim dividends to date of 5.05p each in respect of this financial year. The Company’s diverse portfolio, strong cash flow and revenue reserve give the Board confidence that, in line with its objective to provide long-term income and capital growth, it will be able to increase the total annual dividend for the 58th consecutive year. The quarterly dividend rate will be reviewed by the Board before the third interim dividend is declared in April 2024.
BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. (LSE ticker: BBGI), the global infrastructure investment company, is pleased to declare a second interim cash dividend of 3.965 pence per share for the period 1 July – 31 December 2023, to be paid on 5 April 2024. Payment of this second interim dividend is consistent with the Company’s target dividend payment of 7.93 pence per share in respect of the financial year ending 31 December 2023.
Details of the second interim dividend are as follows:
Dividend per share: 3.965 pence
Ex-Dividend date: 22 February 2024
Dividend Record date: 23 February 2024
Payment date: 5 April 2024
A scrip alternative will not be available with this dividend payment.
Distributions on the ordinary shares are planned to be paid twice a year, subject to market conditions and to conditions as prescribed by Luxembourg law. The Company has set a target dividend of 8.40 pence per share for 2024.
Note: The distribution guidance above is a target only and not a profit forecast. There can be no assurance that this target will be met or that the Company will make any distributions whatsoever. The times and dates in this announcement are expected times and dates only and are subject to change. Any such changes will be notified to shareholders through a Regulatory Information Service.
Dividend Guidance Reaffirmed with Earnings Cover for the Full Year of Approximately Two Times
Bluefield Solar (LON: BSIF), the London listed UK income fund focused primarily on acquiring and managing solar energy assets, has today announced the Unaudited Directors’ Valuation as at 31 December 2023, equivalent to a Net Asset Value (“NAV”) of £831.3 million, or 136.0 pps (September 2023 136.4 pps, June 2023 139.7 pps).
Unaudited Net Asset Value as of 31 December 2023
Key movements in the NAV since 30 September 2023 include recognition of value from the Company’s Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin certificates (“REGOs”) until 2030, which have been included in the valuation for the first time owing to sustained market prices over the last 12 months and expectations of future value from forecasters. In addition, the Company has recognised a slight uplift in expected power prices due to a small increase in long term power forecasts whilst short term hedging has predominantly offset reductions from near term power price weakness. There was additionally a minor negative adjustment due to operational cost updates and working capital movements.
The discount rate being applied remains unchanged at 8.0% (30 September 23: 8.00%) and inflation assumptions also remain unchanged from 30 September 23 (2024:3.5%, 2025-2029:3.0%, 2.25% thereafter). All other core assumptions also remain unchanged.
Pence per Ordinary Share
Unaudited NAV as at 30 September 2023
136.4
REGOs
0.9
Power prices
0.4
Operational cost update
-1.0
Other movements
-0.7
Unaudited NAV as at 31 December 2023
136.0
Full details on the movements for the 6 month period to 31 December 2023 will be outlined in the Company’s Interim Statement due for release on 28 February 2024.
Share Buyback Programme
The Board notes the recent weakness in the Company’s share price and the significant discount that the current share price represents to the value of the Company’s assets. Adjusting for the first interim dividend , the closing price of 99 pence per share (as at 14 February 2024) represents a discount of 26% to the 31 December 2023 NAV.
The Board of the Company keeps its capital allocation policy under regular review, evaluating the relative merits of further investment (into both new and existing assets), the management of debt and returning value to shareholders via dividends or through other methods such as share buybacks. As part of this review, and in the context of addressing what the Board views as the excessive discount at which the Company’s shares currently trade relative to the underlying NAV, the Board announces its intention to commence a share buyback programme. In the first instance it has allocated £20 million for the purchase of its own shares.
Share repurchases will be carried out under the existing shareholder authority granted at the last Annual General Meeting, held on 28 November 2023, which allows for purchases of Ordinary Shares by the Company in the market for up to 14.99% of the Company’s issued share capital. Any share repurchases will be funded from a combination of available liquidity, excess operating cash flows from the portfolio and the proceeds from any asset sales as already announced. It is expected that any share repurchases will be accretive to NAV per share.
The Company expects to announce its interim results for the half year ended 31 December 2023 on Wednesday, 28 February 2024. Until such announcement, the Company remains in a closed period in respect of those results and thus unable to buy its own shares, but the Board intends to commence share buybacks following the release of the interims and while the Company’s shares continue to trade at an excessive discount to NAV.
Dividend Guidance Reaffirmed
Shareholders will be aware that the Board of Bluefield Solar has recently declared a first interim dividend for the current financial year of 2.20 pps and has reiterated its target dividend for the full year of not less than 8.80 pps. This represents a dividend yield of 8.9% based on the closing share price of 99p per share on 14 February 2024. The Company’s operations remain robust, trading conditions are attractive, and the Board expects this year’s dividend to be approximately two times covered.
