Ecofin Global Utilities ... Share Discussion Threads

[speedsgh] 15/10/2018 20:58

jonwig - Thanks for the QuotedData link. EGL emerged out of ECWO in 2016...

[jonwig] 15/10/2018 16:51

Quoted Data have produced a report:



Is this the old EM trust in a new incarnation?

[speedsgh] 09/8/2018 11:32

Portfolio Update (July 2018) -

Manager’s comments:
Political turmoil and ongoing Brexit-related uncertainties curbed the UK equity market’s progress during an otherwise strong month for equity markets. Global equity markets wavered when Trump raised the stakes in his trade war but, notwithstanding, the MSCI World Index rose 3.7% during July (total return in £). In the UK, expectations were scaled back for a near-term interest rate rise, helping sterling to a 10 month low against a US dollar which has been strengthening since April. The US economy registered robust growth in Q2, chivvied along by fiscal stimulus put in place earlier this year, and the 10 year benchmark government bond yield rose about 10 bps to 2.96% (reversing June’s decline); UK and German 10 year yields also increased (to 1.35% and 0.45%, respectively) with central banks generally reiterating a measured pull-back from easy money policies.

Utilities in Continental Europe outperformed strong local markets but the opposite was true in the UK and the US where the sector lagged behind the broad averages by some margin in July. The MSCI World Utilities Index rose by 2.6% in sterling terms (2.1% in local currency (USD) terms). UK utilities declined by 3.2%, pressured by chaos in the Tory party and despite the £1.45bn bid for John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) at a 24% premium to the last share price before the announcement, while US and Continental names rose by 1.9% and 4.4%, respectively (all total returns in local currency).

The Company’s NAV increased by 2.6% in July driven primarilyby gains in the Continental European portfolio. Power generators EDF, RWE and Draxperformed particularly well (+9-15%) as analysts revised their expectations for the impending first half results season in view of the strength this year to date in commodity prices (coal +3.5%; UK gas +44%; CO2+83%) and forward power prices (Germany +14%; France +7%; UK +36%). EDF’s results announced at month-end were indeed better than consensus forecasts; pricing conditions had improved, cash flow generation was strong, and guidance has been gently increased.

UK utilities, apart from Drax, were weaker across the board further to the recent and unpopular increases in electricity and gas tariffs which reflect the companies’ higher energy supply costs. A flare-up of turmoil in the ConservativeParty was unhelpful too.

In the North American portfolio, Williams Companies performed well given the commodity price backdrop, and so did Covanta, the sustainable waste management company which reported a very solid quarter, higher volumes and a jump in free cash flow. Yieldcos were the only weak link: Terraform Power surrendered the last few months’ share price gains and Pattern Energy’s share price dropped when the new Ontario government cancelled some new green energy projects mid-month. As it became clear that existing projects should not be affected by the new policy, Pattern Energy’s shares recovered fully by month-end. Notwithstanding, the position was sold and replaced with Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG). We appreciate the combination of PEG’s cash flow rich power generation segments with its regulated businesses which are growing faster than average.

Although the portfolio does not have a formal benchmark, the performance of the Company’s NAV is naturally compared with the MSCI World Utilities Index. Although EGL’s NAV and the MSCI World Utilities Index both gained 2.6% last month (total returns), it is worth highlighting that the Company’s portfolio has a lower volatility profile than the MSCI World Utilities Index –the beta is 0.85 –so the Manager generated 40 basis points of beta-adjusted alpha in July.

[speedsgh] 25/7/2018 19:21

Dividend Declaration -

The Company announces that the Directors have today declared an Interim Dividend for the year ended 30 September, 2018 in an amount of 1.6p per Ordinary Share.

The Interim Dividend will be payable on Friday, 31 August, 2018 to holders of Ordinary Shares on the Register at the close of business on Friday, 3 August, 2018 (ex-dividend Thursday, 2 August, 2018).

[neilyb675] 30/5/2018 07:46

Good spot. I like it.

[speedsgh] 29/5/2018 22:16

Half-year Report -

from the Chairman's Statement:

Dividends
The Company paid dividends totalling 3.2p per share to shareholders during the half-year to 31 March, 2018. At an annualised rate, this represented a dividend yield of 4.9% based on the NAV at 31 March, 2018 and 5.6% based on the share price at the same date. The Board continues to monitor the income generated by the portfolio and the net income available for distribution with a view to a progressive dividend policy.

from the Investment Manager's Report:

Outlook
The global utilities sector has underperformed the broader equity markets for the past year and relative valuations of many companies in the global sector are very low by historical standards. These low valuations are, we believe, largely attributable to investors favouring cyclical companies, which benefit from strong economic growth, over companies they perceive as defensive, such as utilities.

The current low valuations in the sector prevail at a time when the fundamentals of the sector are improving and corporate activity is on the increase. We forecast that earnings will increase by 8% per annum in our sectors in Europe over the next 3 years, higher than the market average; that rate will be closer to 6% per annum in the US which will, in all likelihood, be lower than the market's tax reform fuelled growth in the near-term. Based on our analysis of free cash flows, we have recently increased the expected dividend growth profile of the Company's portfolio to 6.8% per annum (from 6.1% per annum) through 2020. Many diversified multi-utilities - particularly in Europe - are restructuring their businesses to focus on core activities. Companies are also showing more financial discipline and free cash flows are increasing across the sector. As a result, we believe that many utility and infrastructure companies will increase their dividends faster than the market expects. With uncertainty about the outlook for economic growth and markets likely to increase over the coming months, we believe that the utility and infrastructure sectors should provide investors with good returns on a total return basis over the longer-term.

[spectoacc] 02/5/2018 14:49

Aye I sold a load at 122p, regretting that now :)

[speedsgh] 02/5/2018 13:08

Can someone please beat the share price back down to the 115p area. Need to add to my holding but I want a wider discount than is currently being offered.

[spectoacc] 29/4/2018 07:18

Took that opportunity to make a rare sell, tho £ weakness on UK GDP figs should have boosted NAV a touch.

[robow] 28/4/2018 16:47

Recommended in Moneyweek as an addition to David Stevenson's income portfolio of IT's

[speedsgh] 20/4/2018 13:50

Dividend Declaration -

The Company announces that the Directors have today declared an Interim Dividend for the year ended 30 September, 2018 in an amount of 1.6p per Ordinary Share.

The Interim Dividend will be payable on Thursday, 31 May, 2018 to holders of Ordinary Shares on the Register at the close of business on Friday, 4 May, 2018 (ex-dividend Thursday, 3 May, 2018).

[speedsgh] 11/4/2018 12:08

Portfolio Update -

The Company announces that its review for the month of March 2018 is now available to view and download on the Company's web-pages at:

[neilyb675] 06/4/2018 17:18

The Company announces the unaudited Net Asset Value per ordinary share (inclusive of accumulated income) as at the close of business on 5 April, 2018:-

Net Asset 132.34 pence
Value:

The Net Asset Value has been calculated based on 91,872,247 ordinary shares in issue as at the above date.

[nimbo1] 06/4/2018 07:01

i used the opportunity to put some in the isa on this dip. L2 firming so hopefully shouldn't move down too much more and bounce from here.

[tiswas] 03/4/2018 17:57

Hmm, did not expect this to sell off quite so much, thought it was one of my steady as she goes.

But good note from speedsgh goes some way to explaining this, thanks.

[speedsgh] 02/4/2018 17:28

Update research from QuotedData -

QuotedData pdf research note -

[speedsgh] 14/3/2018 18:49

Martin Nѐgre appears to be the only director with a decent size holding. He now holds £1.425m worth.



From the 2017 AR:
"The Board currently comprises five non-executive Directors, four of whom are deemed to be independent. Martin Nègre is not considered to be independent as he is chairman of the Ecofin Vista Long-Short Fund, the Ecofin Global Renewables Infrastructure Fund and EF Realisation Company Limited, which are also managed by Ecofin."

[spectoacc] 14/3/2018 17:56

Good spot - NAV £1.31 last I looked fwiw.

[speedsgh] 14/3/2018 12:54

A bit of buying from Directors/PDMRs...

7/3 David Simpson (NED) bought 21,739 shares at 116p = £25,217
9/3 Linda Nѐgre (PCA of Martin Nѐgre, Director) bought 25,000 shares at 116p = £29,000
9/3 Martin Nѐgre (Director) bought 77,611 shares at 115p = £89,252
13/3 Martin Nѐgre (Director) bought 72,389 shares at 116p = £83,971

[asmodeus] 07/3/2018 14:57

Did anyone else from here attend yesterday's AGM?

[speedsgh] 07/3/2018 13:23

David Simpson (NED) has bought 21,739 shares at 116p = £25,217

Director/PDMR Shareholding -

[asmodeus] 01/3/2018 12:08

According to the KID I've seen - "other ongoing costs" are 1.92%. This plus 0.6% = 2.52.

[spectoacc] 01/3/2018 07:24

Not sure how they get to 2.52% - knew it was an overly-high 1.25% basic, so with (ridiculous) 0.6% transaction costs that would only be 1.85%.

Anything over 1% these days is too high, when there's trackers available at 0.1% and even many Unit Trusts now below 1%.

[asmodeus] 28/2/2018 15:02

Don't seem excessive to me - see Post 214 on the RGL thred.