Greencoat to finance deals with share issue

DUBLIN-LISTED Greencoat Renewables is looking to raise more than €100m to finance acquisitions in Ireland.

The company plans to issue 100 million new shares to investors at a price of 105.5c each, a 3.2pc discount on Friday’s closing price.

Greencoat, which yesterday released its first set of full year results since its IPO in 2017, is already in talks to buy as much as 250 megawatts (MW) of renewable projects.

This includes the potential acquisition of a “high-quality” asset which is already generating power, which Greencoat is in exclusive talks to buy.

The deal is expected to close at the end of this month.

Elsewhere, Greencoat reported a profit of €43.5m for 2018, a swing from a loss of €2.5m reported in 2017.

Income at the group rose to €58.4m last year, from €14.5m the previous year, according to

Powering ahead:

Bertand Gautier (left) and Paul O’Donnell manage Greencoat Renewables annual results.

The company’s net cash generation stood at €23.1m for the year. Meanwhile, the group increased its generating capacity to 384MW in 2018 from 137MW.

“The past 12 months have been transformational for the company, delivering on all of our strategic goals and diversifying the portfolio, whilst continuing to achieve operational excellence,” said Greencoat Renewables chairman Ronan Murphy.

Greencoat has increased its 2019 target dividend to 6.03 cent per share. It said the Irish wind market remains “very attractive” with a supportive regulatory regime.