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LONDON (Alliance News) - BBGI SICAV SA said Thursday its net asset value increased in 2018 due largely to a number of portfolio enhancements, including a valuation uplift as projects progressed.
Shares in BBGI SICAV were down 0.7% at 153.50 pence on Thursday.
The infrastructure investor's net asset value per share stood at 133.5p on December 31, up 2.8% from 129.9p the year before.
Of its 2.8% increase, 1.9% was attributed to "the net effect of value accretive enhancements across the portfolio". These enhancements included a net valuation uplift as assets reached completion or moved toward a stable operational phase, and actual costs proving lower than forecasted for some assets. The remaining increase was due to the unwinding of discounts.
The company has declared a final dividend of 3.38p per share, resulting in a 3.8% annual dividend increase to 6.75p per share from 6.5p paid in 2017. In 2019, the company is targeting a dividend of 7.00p per share, up 3.7% year-on-year.
BBGI SICAV Chair Colin Maltby said: "Given our exposure to public sector procurement, the company cannot be immune to political risk. The UK Labour Party has increased its political scrutiny of the private finance initiative, through which the company has invested. Despite our view that wholesale nationalisation of all PFI contracts would be difficult for any government to achieve in practice, we continue to monitor the political situation and policy debate."
"In his budget speech on October 29, 2018, the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that the UK government will end the use of PFI and its successor, PF2, and will not enter into further PFI projects. However, the chancellor also confirmed that the UK government will honour all existing commitments to PFI contracts."
Outside of the UK, Maltby said the company's transactions in continental Europe, North America, and Australia are providing "promising" opportunities and BBGI SICAV intends to "maintain its selective acquisition strategy and pricing discipline".
"I remain confident in the company's ability to continue generating stable, predictable returns to shareholders," the Chair added.
