Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) has reported distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.86 cents for the 4QFY2020 ended December, unchanged from a year ago.
This brings total DPU for FY2020 to 3.72 cents, translating to an annualized distribution yield of 6.8% and total unitholder return of 7.8% for the same period, based on KIT’s closing price of 54.5 cents on Dec 31, 2020.
For the 2HFY2020, free cash flow to equity, or distributable cash flow, grew 18.9% y-o-y to $112.4 million. This was led by a 36.1% y-o-y surge in KIT’s Distribution & Network segment on the back of a strong performance from Ixom.
Revenue for the 2HFY2020 fell 8.4% y-o-y to $760.6 million, while FY2020 group revenue of $1.55 billion stood marginally lower at 0.9% compared to FY2019, largely due to the non-recoverable outstanding receivables from Hydro Tasmania following the arbitration in December 2020.
See: KIT's Basslink to fork out A$38.5 mil in damages; A$31 mil in unpaid fees not recoverable
Other income for 2HFY2020 stood 22.7% lower y-o-y at $4.4 million due to lower interest income, while other income for FY2020 came in 28.5% y-o-y up at $10.5 million. The higher income for the year was due to higher interest income received from fixed deposits and insurance proceeds from the Basslink 2015 outage.
KIT, for the 2HFY2020, saw losses attributable to unitholders of $79.5 million, and losses of $34.4 million in FY2020. This is compared to the earnings of $38.8 million and $38.6 million for the 2HFY2019 and FY2019 respectively.
The losses were mainly due to lower revenue, as well as losses for the period instead of gains compared to a year ago.
Losses/gain for 2HFY2020 and FY2020 were lower compared to the same period last year was due to the absence of gain on divestment of KIT’s 51% stake in Datacentre One in 2HFY2019.
Divestment loss of the Latin America and China Life Science businesses and unfavourable fair value movement of financial derivative instruments contributed to the loss booked in 2HFY2020.
KIT’s group EBITDA for FY2020 stood 16.9% y-o-y higher at $376.0 million.
On a fully diluted basis, earnings per unit (EPU) stood at -1.59 cents for 2HFY2020 and -0.69 cents in FY2020, compared to the 0.78 cents and 0.82 cents in 2HFY2019 and FY2019 respectively.
The lower EPU was due to the impact of the Ixom divestment of Latin America and China Life Science businesses, the arbitration related to Basslink, and transaction cost due to the Medora acquisition.
Excluding the one-off transactions, EPU would have been 0.27 cents and 1.19 cents for 2HFY2020 and FY2020 respectively.
After distribution payable to unitholders, adjusted net asset value (NAV) per unit for the group fell 18.0% to 21 cents from 25.6 cents a year ago.
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The group NAV per unit before hedging and translation reserves was 28.8 cents as at Dec 31, 2020 and 32.2 cents as at Dec 31, 2019.
As at Dec 31, 2020, cash and cash equivalents stood at $555.9 million.
“The strategic addition of Ixom and the proposed acquisition of PCSPC in the last two years have demonstrated the trustee-manager’s ability to identify, execute and close value-accretive acquisitions that have augmented KIT’s long-term growth profile, as well as strengthen the diversity, resiliency and defensive nature of the trust’s portfolio,” says KIT in a Jan 27 statement.
“Looking ahead, the trustee-manager will continue to capture growth opportunities that will further strengthen KIT’s value proposition and deliver long-term returns to unitholders,” it adds.
Units in KIT closed flat at 54.5 cents on Jan 27.
