19 May 2022

Infratil delivers record annual profit

11:06 am on 19 May 2022

Infratil has delivered a record annual profit reflecting strong earnings growth from its stake in Vodafone and increased earnings from its new healthcare platform.

Jason Boyes.

Jason Boyes. Photo: Supplied

Key numbers for the 12 months ended March compared to a year ago:

  • Net profit $1.23b vs ($16.0m)
  • Revenue $1.13b vs $590.8m
  • Underlying profit $474.9m vs $371.2m
  • Interim/final dividend 18 cents per share vs 17.25 cps

"The Tilt Renewables sale had delivered a significant gain of over $1b to shareholders, but the year was most notable for the significant investment activity across the portfolio, with proportionate capital expenditure and investment of over $1.4b," Infratil chief executive Jason Boyes said.

"This investment was spread across our key sectors - renewable energy, digital infrastructure and healthcare - and also saw us enter new geographies, expanding our global footprint with new investments in the United Kingdom (Kao Data) and Asia (Gurīn Energy)."

Boyes said the company saw significant future potential in the sectors it operated in.

"Our investments in the healthcare sector are a great example, where during the year we grew with the acquisition of three diagnostic imaging groups in New Zealand."

He said the company had made considerable investment its global renewables platform.

"Alongside our United States, European and New Zealand platforms, we committed $US233m to establish Gurīn Energy, a renewable energy development platform headquartered in Singapore."

Infratil also invested nearly $300m to develop renewable energy projects, with most by Longroad Energy.

It also expanded its digital infrastructure portfolio with the purchase of a 40 percent stake in London-based data centre business Kao Data for $217.9m.

"CDC Data Centres has made significant progress during the year on construction of four new data centres, Auckland 1 & 2, Eastern Creek 4 and Hume 5," Boyes said, adding they would be completed in the first half of the current financial year.

He said Infratil's balance sheet remained strong, with total available liquidity at 31 March of $1.67b, including $773m of cash.

"There is a significant pipeline of opportunities, both across our existing platforms and also as we evaluate additional opportunities in key sectors and new geographies," he said.

Guidance for the year ended 31 March 2023 is for an 11.5 percent increase in underlying profit, between $510m to $550m.

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