Falck Renewables not to change dividend policy after wind assets sale in UK

Dec 10, 2013 – Italian Falck Renewables (BIT:FKR) does not plan significant changes in its dividend policy with an average 30% payout target set in its five-year industrial plan, CEO Piero Manzoni told financial analysts on Monday presenting the recent deal with PensionDanmark, which has acquired wind power assets in the UK from Falck.

The PensionDanmark fund has purchased from Falck minority stakes of 49% in the companies that own six operating wind farms in the UK with a capacity of 272.8 MW, for a total EUR 185.2 million (USD 254.6m). The accord, which will enter in force in 2014, entails a commitment on the part of the Danish fund to invest EUR 100 million in onshore wind projects in Falck's portfolio within six months and further EUR 125 million in other plants of the Italian group, which operates also in the waste-to-energy and biomass sectors.

We will make our evaluations; we want to strengthen the company from a financial point of view with the partnership in the UK, Manzoni told the analysts.

According to the international accounting standards, the capital gain from the sale of the minority stakes is added to the net worth, therefore the transaction generates a capital increase, Falck's CFO Paolo Rundeddu commented. The capital gain is estimated at over EUR 130 million, a larger amount compared with the latest capital hike completed by the group, the CFO added.

In order to strike the accord with the Copenhagen Infrastructure I fund, financed by PensionDanmark and managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the management of Falck Renewables had carried out a complete scouting on the market of structural, insurance and pension funds, Manzoni explained. Such research lasted for almost two years and paved the way to the accord announced on December 3, the CEO added. Falck's new partner is one of the major pension funds with assets for some EUR 20 billion which will invest almost 20% of its resources in renewable sources, the CEO said.

The deal with PensionDanmark valued Falck’s wind power assets at almost EUR 2 million per MW, compared with a market price of EUR 1.6 million-1.7 million per MW, Rundeddu pointed out.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.375)

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