Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Ltd (LSE:CORD) chair Shonaid Jemmett-Page highlighted “a good overall performance”, notwithstanding the headwinds from adverse foreign exchange movements in the year ended March 31.
“The company made a total NAV return for the year of 9.3% (11.0% excluding foreign exchange movements) ahead of the 9% annual target and the aggregate EBITDA of the portfolio companies for the year grew 7.2% year on year to £139 million driven by contract wins or enhancements, cost control and the beneficial effects of inflation on revenues,” she said.
“During the year, significant achievements included; the refinancing of Emitel's loan facilities, new and extended long-term contracts at both companies and CRA's acquisitions of Cloud4com and DC Lužice.
"The portfolio we have constructed is high quality with strong potential for growth, with predominantly blue-chip customers, and it is generating robust cash flows through long-term, largely inflation-linked contracts. Our disciplined investment approach has resulted in a portfolio acquired for an EV/EBITDA multiple of approximately 10.2x.”
Cordiant announced a 5% increase to the total dividend for the year, to 4.2p per share, which was 4.4 times covered by earnings.
The company's NAV had risen to £920.7 million, supported by strong underlying EBITDA growth.
During the financial year, the company improved its portfolio diversification with the acquisition of Speed Fibre and the Norkring portfolio. Four more ‘bolt-on’ transactions were completed, including the acquisition of American Tower's Polish portfolio of telecom towers and the Czech cloud business Cloud4com.
Cordiant, meanwhile, invested over £33 million in capital expenditure for various projects, including the build-out of data centres and telecom towers.
It secured new contracts across its portfolio companies, further enhancing its revenue streams.
“The board remains deeply disappointed with the performance of the share price and its continuing discount to NAV and believes the causes are macroeconomic rather than specific to the company,” Jemmett-Page added.
“The underlying strengths of the company and our portfolio, the growth in the sector and the attractiveness of our core markets together lead the Board to look forward to the year ahead with confidence."