Keppel Infrastructure Trust (KIT) has reported a distributable income of $222.5 million for FY2022 ended December, 15.8% higher than the corresponding period the year before.
The higher y-o-y distributable income was due to new acquisitions, steady portfolio performance and another record year at Ixom.
In its business update, KIT reported ebitda of $402.0 million for FY2022, 26.6% higher y-o-y higher FY2021’s ebitda of $317.5 million.
Accordingly, KIT declared higher distribution per unit (DPU) of 3.82 cents for FY2022, a 1% increase y-o-y, translating to a distribution yield of 7.1% based on KIT’s closing price of $0.540 as at December 31 2022.
For the financial year, KIT saw “transformational growth” with five acquisitions in 2022, growing its total assets by 32% to $6.0 billion. As at Dec 31 2022, KIT’s first annual portfolio revaluation reflected assets under management (AUM) of $7.3 billion.
For example in energy transition, the group took part in one of the world's largest energy infrastructure deals with the investment in Aramco Gas Pipelines Company (AGPC) and received its maiden contributions from the investment in AGPC.
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KIT also made headway into the renewable energy market with investments into wind assets across Europe. KIT completed its investment in the initial portfolio of the European Onshore Wind Platform, comprising three wind farms sponsored by Fred. Olsen Renewables AS (FORAS) with 258 megawatts (MW) capacity across Sweden and Norway. Over in Germany, KIT completed its investment in Borkum Riffgrund 2 (BKR2), a 465MW operating offshore wind farm with a guaranteed price floor under the German Feed-In Tariff regime that enhances cash flow visibility.
Together, these wind farm assets mark KIT’s maiden investments in the renewable energy market, and its first acquisitions in Europe, providing a combined operating capacity of 723MW, and a pipeline of another 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of onshore wind energy assets in Sweden and the United Kingdom, contributing towards KIT’s 25% renewables target by 2030 based on its equity-adjusted AUM.
In Singapore, the Keppel Merlimau Cogen plant (KMC) achieved 97.8% contractual availability. City Energy’s customer base grew 2% y-o-y to approximately 886,000 as at end-December 2022, backed by a strong recovery of the F&B sector. It also continued to grow the electric vehicle (EV) charging business with new sites secured and expanded its suite of smart home solutions.
In environmental services, operations at the Senoko Waste-to-Energy (WTE), Keppel Seghers Tuas WTE, Keppel Seghers Ulu Pandan NEWater and SingSpring Desalination plants remained stable, achieving availability above their contractual obligations in FY2022. KIT also achieved enhanced operational continuity with the acquisition of the remaining 30% interest in the SingSpring Desalination Plant.
In South Korea, KIT also acquired Eco Management Korea (EMK), a leading waste management platform, which continued to benefit from the industry tailwinds, recording full utilisation rate for its incineration business, and continued demand in its oil refining and landfill businesses in 2022. Looking ahead, KIT looks to grow the EMK business by leveraging the Keppel development and operational track record.
Meanwhile, KIT’s net gearing stood at a healthy level of 39.8% as at end-2022. The group has also utilised $580 million of equity bridge loans (EBL) to fund the acquisitions of BKR2 and EMK in 4QFY2022.
Units in KIT closed 0.5 cents or 0.89% up at 57 cents on Jan 30.
