Foresight Group Holdings Limited, a sustainability-led infrastructure and private equity investment manager, has announced its half-year results for the six months ended 30 September 2023. The company reported strong growth in Core EBITDA pre-Share Based Payments (SBP), which increased by 28% to £27.6 million compared to the prior year period. This growth was driven by successful fundraising, annualisation of acquisition activity, and cost discipline. Assets under Management (AUM) marginally increased to £12.2 billion, while Funds under Management (FUM) slightly decreased to £8.8 billion. The company raised £247 million into higher margin retail vehicles and achieved success in institutional fundraising through the Foresight North East Fund. However, FCM AUM decreased by £348 million due to the impact of rising interest rates on the valuation of long duration infrastructure assets. The company also announced an interim dividend of 6.7 pence per share, in line with its dividend policy. The interim dividend will be paid on 26 January 2024.
The company maintained high-quality revenue in the period, with recurring revenue accounting for 87% of total revenue. Investment opportunities in the company's key markets remained strong, with a total pipeline of future deployment rights in international infrastructure exceeding £5 billion. Foresight Group also expanded the international reach of its FCM strategies by signing a strategic agreement to support distribution across the Nordic region and creating a specialist OEIC UK sales team.
Post period end, the company saw further success within its Private Equity division, delivering performance fees of £1.9 million and expanding its regional strategy with the launch of two new institutional funds. The company expects the challenging environment for institutional fundraising in infrastructure to improve in the first half of 2024. Foresight Group's focus will be on fundraising for existing strategies and the launch of a first hydrogen strategy for the Group.
Bernard Fairman, Executive Chairman of Foresight Group Holdings Limited, commented on the results, stating, "Foresight's diversified business model has successfully delivered a strong and resilient performance, during one of the steepest increases in interest rates in living memory. We are well positioned to benefit from interest rate stabilisation and normalisation. The energy transition is the largest investment opportunity of our generation, and Foresight is ideally placed to realise this opportunity through our multiple international strategies and extensive track record of raising capital to invest in sustainable infrastructure."