Hydrogenone Capital Growth, the investment trust focused on cash into clean hydrogen, has reported a strong performance of its underlying holdings, even though its share price has struggled.
The trust’s net asset value (NAV) has grown 0.6 per cent since the start of the year, and 3.6 per cent since March 2023, it reported in a quarterly portfolio update today.
Hydrogen companies in the portfolio Elcogen (19.4 per cent of NAV), HiiROC (15.3 per cent of NAV) and Sunfire (20.9 per cent of NAV) all gained new strategic investments in the period. The latter competed for a Series E financing round worth over €500m.
In April, Elcogen received a new round of funding from American oil company Baker Hughes. Hydrogenone anchored Elcogen’s first equity round in 2022, investing 24m euros (£20.6m), with South Korean manufacturer HD Hyundai adding 45m euros (£38.6m) last year.
This pushed the trust’s portfolio of private investments up, contributing 2.1p or 2.1 per cent per share to the NAV.
The trust’s private portfolio companies delivered a total of £81m in revenue over the last year, an increase of 103 per cent compared to the year prior.
During the first three months of the year, the trust made £1.4m in new investments itself, comprising a number of follow-ons in existing portfolio companies.
The trust’s stock price is up 5.9 per cent since the start of 2024, but is still down 48 per cent since it floated in July 2021
The trust sits on a wide 52.6 per cent discount, compared to a renewable energy infrastructure trust average of 23 per cent.
The only other renewable energy infrastructure trusts with a wider discount are the embattled Asian Energy Impact trust and two battery storage trusts, which have suffered from significant regulatory headwinds.