Important information

Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc (ticker: GSF), London's first listed energy storage fund investing in income producing assets in the UK and internationally, today announces Half Year Unaudited results for the six-month period to 30 September 2020.

Financial Highlights for the period of 30 September 2020

• NAV increased substantially from £50.0 million in March 2020 to 75.0 million as at September 2020
• Share price increase to 105.0 pence as at 30 September 2020 (31 March 2020: 97.3 pence)
• Net income of £2.8 million (31 March 2020: £4.7million)
• NAV per ordinary share of 97.3 pence, an increase of 2.9% increase compared with the full-year period (31 March 2020: 94.6 pence)
• Dividend declared for the period of 2.0 pence per share. Committed to delivering annual dividend in line with target of 7% of NAV, or a minimum of 7.0 pence per share.
• Following the issuance of further shares in July 2020, Issued Share Capital (ISC) increased to 77.2 million shares (31 March 2020: 52.5 million)
  

Operational Highlights for the period of 30 September 2020

• Total portfolio increased substantially to 239 MW as at 30 September 2020 (31 March 2020: 189 MW)
• A successful fundraise of £23.7m was completed during period. An additional £15.5m in equity from ISIF remains available to the Company for projects in Ireland. Neither the fundraise nor drawdown facility are reflected in AUM of £75.0m
• Further significant strategic investment partner secured: Eneos Corporation (formerly known as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation), Japan's largest energy company, as part of its long-term strategy to diversify from oil and broaden its range of power sources and reduce its carbon footprint
• Four operational assets producing income in Great Britain (GB):
  • 4 MW project in Cenin, Swansea
  • 6 MW site in Boulby, North Yorkshire
  • 9 MW project at London's Port of Tilbury
  • 10 MW project in Lower Road, Essex
• 50 MW of capacity added with the acquisition in June of a construction-ready project at Ferrymuir, Scotland  
  
• All operational assets continued to perform within expectations, delivering our steady source revenue for the Company. Sites under construction remain on schedule.
  

Post Period-end Highlights

• Acquisition of 81 MW portfolio across 5 operational projects in Great Britain. Four of these companies comprise single sites - Larport, Lascar, Hulley and Breach - each with installed capacity ranging from 10 MW to 20 MW. One Company, Ancala, is comprised of ten smaller sites ranging between 1.0 MW - 1.2 MW, totalling 11.0 MW installed capacity.
• The 81 MW acquisition of operational assets increased operational assets from 29 MW to 110 MW
• Portfolio increased to 14 projects with a total capacity of 320 MW of which 110 MW is operational
• Number of ordinary shares in issue increased to 143.9 million following (i) new ordinary shares issued as part of the consideration in relation to the Anesco portfolio acquisition in October 2020 and (ii) the successful oversubscribed fundraise of £60 million completed in December 2020 as part of a 12-month placing programme, in place until 29 November 2021
• Pipeline of c.1.3 GW, located in GB, Ireland, Continental Europe and United States
  

Net Asset Value

As at 30 September 2020, the unaudited estimated NAV per Ordinary Share had increased to 97.3 pence representing a total return including dividends of 3.9% from March 2020. Compared to 30 September 2019, NAV per share increased by 1.8 pence from 95.5 pence, and total returns including dividends were 9.2%. 

Dividend Payment

The 2.0 pence per share declared dividend will be paid on or around 15 January 2021 to shareholders on the register on 4 January 2021. The ex-dividend date will be 31 December 2020.

CEO of Gore Street Capital, the investment adviser to the Company, Alex O'Cinneide commented:

"Gore Street has had another exceptional period of successful growth and we continue to deliver on the commitments we made to shareholders at IPO. We have grown substantially and the portfolio now has projects of 320 MW in aggregate of which 110 MW is operational, delivering strong cashflows for the company, underpinning dividends to our shareholders. In the half-year, we successfully raised £23.7m and post-period end, completed an oversubscribed placing of £60 million in December 2020. In addition, £7.1m of shares were issued as part of the consideration for the Anesco portfolio acquisition, showing our ability to use both cash and equity to enable transformational deals to take place. We would like to thank our shareholders for their continued support during the global pandemic crisis.

Gore Street is well set to continue to grow at the same pace with c.1.3 GW in our pipeline of which 80 MW is expected to be executed in the near term.

The global transition to clean and renewable energy generation remains a leading priority for governments in the UK and Ireland, as well as further afield, and our assets will enable that transition, whilst creating significant value for our shareholders. I look forward to updating Shareholders on our continued progress during 2021."

The Legal Entity Identifier of the Company is 213800GPUNVGG81G4O21.

The person responsible for releasing this announcement is Susan Fadil.

For further information:

Notes to Editors

About Gore Street Energy Storage Fund plc

Gore Street is London's first listed energy storage fund and seeks to provide Shareholders with a significant opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of utility scale energy storage projects. In addition to growth through exploiting its considerable pipeline, the Company aims to deliver consistent and robust dividend yield as income distributions to its Shareholders.

The Company targets an annual dividend of 7.0% of NAV per Ordinary Share in each financial year, subject to a minimum target of 7.0 pence per Ordinary Share. Dividends are paid quarterly.

https://www.gsenergystoragefund.com