Gresham House plc business update

Business update

Gresham House is pleased to announce continued positive fundraising momentum into Q1 2022 with a strong pipeline for the remainder of the year.

Fundraises

The Group has held successful fundraises for its underlying funds totalling over £300mn across institutional, wholesale, and private client distribution channels so far this year.

Strategic Equity generated net inflows of c.£140mn with £70mn raised across the VCT business as both Baronsmead and Mobeus VCT fundraises reached their maximum fundraising targets in the first quarter and our open-ended equity funds had net inflows of c.£70mn.

Real Assets held a number of fundraising closes in the quarter, increasing commitments to funds of over £160mn. Notable fundraises include Gresham House Forestry Fund VI LP, which held a first close with commitments of £75mn from institutional clients, and £80mn raised in our affordable housing funds comprising commitments to Gresham House Residential Secure Income LP and an equity capital raise by Residential Secure Income plc.

Other notable updates

 Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (LSE: GRID), the UK’s largest utility-scale battery energy storage fund, announced its third set of annual results since its IPO in November 2018. The results showed another year of growth focused on value creation with highlights including:

• Net Asset Value (NAV) up 42.6% to £511.7mn (FY20: £358.9mn)
• NAV per share up 13.5% to 116.86p (FY20: 102.96p) and NAV total return of 20.3%
• Share price total return of 23.0% versus FTSE All-Share Index total return of 18.3% over the 12 month period
• Dividends of 7.0p per share paid for the year, with Operational Dividend Cover¹ at 1.32x

GRID announced it has secured a 180MW pipeline in the Republic of Ireland, which is expected to commission in 2024, and hopes to continue to invest internationally.

LF Gresham House UK Multi Cap Income Fund has demonstrated substantial growth, against a challenging backdrop for equity markets more recently, and now stands at more than £260mn, a notable increase over the past 12 months from the £87.6mn recorded at 31 March 2021.

Tony Dalwood, Chief Executive of Gresham House, said:

“I am pleased to see the continuing progress being made across the Group’s divisions which have cumulatively raised over £300mn in Q1 2022. This is testament to the strength of alternative assets which have not been subject to the same volatility seen by other asset classes in what has been a turbulent start to 2022 for capital markets.

The strong 2021 annual results for Gresham House plc highlight the quality of our people and our investments. Alongside the recent progress in our UK market-leading battery energy storage fund, GRID, we believe there is substantial growth potential within the Group. Our performance so far in 2022 is further evidence of our focus on the upgraded GH25 strategic objectives and our commitment to delivering value to all our stakeholders.”

1. Operational Dividend Cover is the ratio between net earnings of the underlying investment portfolio in the year less costs in GRID and “MidCo” and dividends paid in respect of the same period. (“MidCo” is Gresham House Energy Storage Holdings plc and is wholly owned by GRID.)