Bluefield Partners Managing Partner James Armstrong takes Proactive's Stephen Gunnion through the latest interim results for the Bluefield Solar Income Fund.
Proactive: Hello, you're watching Proactive. Joining me today is James Armstrong, Managing Partner at Bluefield Partners. James, very good morning to you. You're out with your interim results for the Bluefield Solar Income Fund. You reported a solid operational performance and also raised your dividend targets. Could you take us through some of the highlights of the six months?
James Armstrong: Good morning, Stephen. Good to see you again. Yeah, it's been a good six months to the period ending December. In terms of the activities we can control, it's been a good period. The standout performance would be the strategic partnership with GLIL, which continues to flourish. It's been a really effective and innovative partnership for the company and for the shareholders. It has protected both long-term and short-term value and created significant liquidity. We've returned over £90 million already to the company and built a fantastic, long-term partnership with GLIL.
We've always been one of the highest payers of dividends on a share basis. We're targeting not less than 8.9 pence per share, which on the current share price is in excess of 10%. It's a very attractive dividend based on the defensive nature of the company and the stability of the revenues we've got. It's been a strong program.
Another pleasing development in the period is the addition of two new build assets. Yelvertoft, a Contract for Difference (CFD) asset, has been constructed over the past couple of years. Additionally, Mauxhall Farm has also joined the portfolio. Operational performance has been solid overall, making it a good and busy six months.
Proactive: James, you mentioned the GLIL partnership. You completed phase two of the partnership during the period. Take us through what's next with that partnership.
James Armstrong: Phase three is where we are working together with them on our development pipeline. There is a part of the development pipeline which is proprietary to Bluefield Solar, and we're working on developing that with them. It's an exciting phase of the partnership. Despite only being 12 months old, the partnership has assets worth circa half a billion, making it a very successful collaboration. Phase three, focusing on development assets, is just the next leg of this journey.
Proactive: Under ESG highlights, James, I noted that you won an Impact on Climate Award for the biodiversity work undertaken at the West Raynham Solar Park. Could you tell us more about that?
James Armstrong: Yes, it's great to raise that because we're incredibly proud of the ESG team's work. It's a multi-award-winning program for biodiversity and one of the leading examples of biodiversity net gain in the UK. It's been recognized with multiple awards, serving as a great reference point for the team and their ongoing activities.
Proactive: You also highlight the discounted NAV that you trade at, which I think is typical of the sector at the moment. What steps are you taking to narrow that discount?
James Armstrong: The main responsibility we have is to listen to the shareholders about what they would like. Over the past 12 months, we've implemented a share buyback program, which started in February last year, and lowered the revolving credit facility we have. It’s about prudent capital allocation in a closed market. The key is to maintain open communication with shareholders about what they would like to see. These discussions are ongoing and remain a big focus for us.
Proactive: What is the current period looking like, both for the sector and for Bluefield itself?
James Armstrong: The big challenge for the sector, and for Bluefield, is the discount to NAV. The share prices are all trading at material discounts. Our job as the investment advisor, working with the board, is to explore initiatives to address this. Over the past 12 months, and with examples like GLIL, Bluefield has been very effective at finding innovative and value-creative solutions for our shareholders. We expect that to continue.