Investment trust Pantheon Infrastructure delivered an “impressive” 10.4 per cent growth in net asset value, above the trust’s eight to 10 per cent yearly target
The £491m trust’s annual results, released today, revealed that assets grew by 11 per cent throughout the year. That figure included 4p per share in dividends, according to Investec calculations.
Across the infrastructure-focused trust sector, asset values grew by just 2.8 per cent.
The trust has raised £480m since its IPO in November 2021, with £487m deployed across 13 investments in sectors such as wireless towers, data centres, and renewable energy.
Three new investments were made during the year, totalling £96m: GD Towers, Globalconnect and Zenobē.
Despite the strong performance, the trust still sits on a 29.7 per cent discount and was trading at an all-time low until this week.
Pantheon Infrastructure’s share price is up 4.2 per cent today on its results, but is still down 10 per cent over the last year.
Investec analysts Ben Newell and Alan Brierley argued that the current share price was not “reflective of the fundamental attractions of the company, and at a time when these assets are proving their worth and maturing”.
Instead, it is worth noting that the entire infrastructure trust sector has been performing poorly recently, with average share price down seven per cent over the last year and six per cent over the last three.
“Whilst the company’s share price has fallen, this is more a reflection of negative market sentiment towards the broader infrastructure sector than any fundamental weakness,” said Quoteddata investment analyst Andrew Courtney last month.
Investec’s Newell and Brierley agreed, reiterating their Buy rating for the trust and stating that they were “encouraged” by Pantheon Infrastructure’s performance.
The duo added that they “strongly believe that the investment manager has constructed a portfolio of high-quality infrastructure assets with blue-chip sponsors that is diversified across sectors and geographies”.
Pantheon Infrastructure launched a share buyback programme in March last year, with 7.4m shares repurchased for £5.8m in 2023 and a further 3.1m shares repurchased in 2024 for £2.6m.
The trust’s revolving credit facility has also been doubled to £115m, allowing the trust to borrow £52.5m extra. It is also currently sitting on £29.4m of cash.