Greencoat powers ahead with expanded energy portfolio

Irish listed energy investor Greencoat Renewables is eyeing possible expansion into Europe.

Since July of this year it has been open to Greencoat to expand its activities beyond the Republic to Europe.

Paul O'Donnell of the company's investment manager, Greencoat Capital, confirmed that it was considering investing in renewable energy businesses in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Greencoat generated €27.1 million in net cash in the first six months of this year after increasing its investment in Irish wind farms.

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Generating plants owned by Greencoat generated almost 556 gigawatt hours of electricity in the period ended June 30th, boosting pre-tax profit by 17 per cent to €13.7 million.

In March, Greencoat increased its share of the Cloosh Valley wind farm in Co Galway to 25 per cent, investing €72 million. In the same month it issued 140 million new shares, raising gross proceeds of €148 million.

The company described the Irish as a “very attractive jurisdiction for investment”. In the first half of this year, wind generation delivered about 32 per cent of the country’s electricity.

In total, Greencoat has full ownership of nine wind farms and stakes in a further four. Those assets generated revenue of €47.6 million during the period.

Greencoat is run by an investment management company, which charged fees of €2.4 million in the first six months of the year, up from €1.3 million the previous year. UK-based partnership Greencoat Capital acts as investment manager for the Dublin-quoted electricity company, receiving a fee of 1 per cent of its net asset value.

"I am pleased to announce strong six-month results for Greencoat Renewables which also saw the generating portfolio grow and diversify, continued robust dividend cover, and another oversubscribed equity placing," said Ronan Murphy, the company's non-executive chairman.

"The outlook for the business remains positive, with an attractive pipeline of growth opportunities in Ireland, and the ability to make opportunistic acquisitions elsewhere in Europe," he added.

Commenting on the results in a note to clients, Davy analyst Michael Mitchell said Greencoat appears to be finding its "operational stride".