Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited
(“SEQI” or the “Company”)
Net Asset Value as at 31 October 2019 and Investment Update
The NAV for SEQI, the specialist investor in economic infrastructure debt, increased to 104.08p from the prior month's NAV of 103.74p per share (being the 30 September cum-income NAV of 105.30p less the dividend of 1.5625p per share declared in respect of the quarter ended 30 September 2019). The changes in NAV arose primarily through:
- Interest income net of expenses of 0.59p;
- A decrease of 0.30p in asset valuations; and
- Unhedged FX gains of 0.04p.
As at 31 October 2019, the Company had cash of GBP55.8m and outstanding drawings on its Revolving Credit Facility of GBP114.2m. The Company also had undrawn commitments, and four additional investments in settlement, collectively valued at GBP158.8m.
The Company's invested portfolio comprised of 65 private debt investments and 15 infrastructure bonds across 8 sectors and 30 sub-sectors. It had an annualised yield-to-maturity (or yield-to-worst in the case of callable bonds) of 8.3% and a weighted average life of approximately 4.0 years. Private debt investments represented 89% of the total portfolio and 73% of the portfolio comprised floating rate assets. The weighted average purchase price of the Company's investments was 94.2% of par. Investments which are pre-operational represented 15.3% of total assets.
The Company's invested portfolio remains geographically diverse with 46% located across the US, 19% in the UK, 28% in Europe, and 7% in Australia/New Zealand. Currently the Company is not investing in Portugal or Italy but has selectively invested in opportunities in Spain. The Company's pipeline of economic infrastructure debt investments remains strong and is diversified by sector, sub-sector, and jurisdiction.
At month end, approximately 100% of the Company's NAV consisted of either Sterling assets or was hedged into Sterling. The Company has adequate resources to cover the cash costs associated with its hedging activities.
The Company's settled investment activities during October include:
- A GBP28.0m primary loan to Base Student Housing, a student accommodation building in Glasgow, Scotland;
- A GBP25.0m primary loan to NewCold Wakefield, a cold storage facility in Wakefield, UK;
- A $25.0m primary participation in Raptor 2019-1C bonds backed by a portfolio of aircraft;
- An initial EUR13.5m primary loan to Project Swordfish, a company that operates waterbus passenger transport systems in Antwerp, Belgium;
- A $10.0m secondary acquisition of EIF Van Hook Midstream, a midstream oil & gas company that operates primarily in North Dakota, USA; and
- An additional $2.2m disbursement to Bourzou Equity LLC, a company created for the construction of a data center in Virgina, USA.
Market Summary
A total of 41 project finance transactions closed in October throughout the Company's eligible jurisdictions, worth $5.6bn in aggregate. Notable transactions outside of the Company's investment activities during the month include:
- EUR780m financing of the construction of the Fryslan Offshore Wind Farm in the Netherlands;
- A GBP450m refinancing of Ark Data Centres' senior debt in the UK; and
- A EUR580m refinancing of the Liefkenshoek Rail Tunnel in Belgium.
In October, the US economy added 128,000 new jobs, with the unemployment rate up to 3.6%, as 325,000 people started looking for work. At the end of the month, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a point, in line with expectations.
The Eurozone economy remains weak, with low expectations for growth and warnings from outgoing ECB president Draghi that further stimulus is needed.
The UK economy also remains weak, with continued Brexit uncertainty and challenging global conditions.