International PPL continues to make portfolio progress

The FTSE 250 company said an additional £38.4m was invested into three projects in the period, with £45m of investment commitment made to digital infrastructure.

Its portfolio currently had 12.9% of assets in physical construction, providing opportunities for capital growth as those assets progressed to full operation.

International PPL said it was also maintaining an “attractive” pipeline of investment opportunities across the UK, Northern Europe, Australia and North America, and would continue to deploy capital to meet its existing investment commitments to the landmark Thames Tideway Tunnel project.

On the financial front, the company reported a 1.8% increase in net asset value per share to 144.7p for the six months to 30 June.

It said its portfolio maintained a “leading” level of inflation-linkage such that a 1.00% increase in inflation would lead to a 0.83% increase in return.

A first half year 2017 dividend of 3.41p per share was declared on 7 September, and was paid on 9 November.

International PPL said a minimum target dividend for the 2017 and 2018 financial years was set at 6.82p and 7p pence per share, respectively, which was in line with an average increase of around 2.5% or greater each year.

The company said it had delivered a total shareholder return - comprising share price growth and aggregate dividends - since IPO in November 2006 of 165.6%, or 9.3% on an annualised basis.

“The market outlook for the company remains positive,” the board said in its statement, adding that “infrastructure ranks highly on many government agendas and this asset class continues to be a key driver for economic growth and positive social impact”.

“Overall the company remains positive about its prospects regarding both the performance of its existing investments and the opportunity to add high-quality investments to the portfolio in the short-to-medium term.”