Harmony Energy Income Trust (HEIT) has canceled its first-quarter dividend and appointed JLL to sell all or part of its BESS portfolio, in part to demonstrate that the fund is undervalued by the markets.
Despite a 48% quarter-on-quarter increase in sales in the three months to April 30, the company has now engaged JLL to “seek offers for some or all of the company’s assets, to maximize value and continue demonstrate disconnection from the company. the share price,” it said yesterday (May 30). The share price is down 57% compared to a year ago.
The fund, which is managed by developer Harmony Energy and trades as HEIT, has five operational battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the UK. Three more will be commissioned this year, totaling 395.4 MW/790 MWh. This includes the two largest operational systems in Britain and Europe, Pillwood And Bumpers of 198MWh each.
This latest financial pessimism may or may not come as a surprise. Despite previous financial reports noting a decline in BESS revenues in 2023, HEIT stated in February 2024 that it could generate “attractive returns” this year, adding that “independent market experts expect trading conditions to improve in 2024 ”. Meanwhile, HEIT has scrapped plans to pay dividends for the first quarter and does not expect to be able to pay a dividend for the remainder of the current fiscal year.
The news comes just months after Harmony Energy secured a £10m credit facility from sustainable bank Triodos to accelerate the developer’s 11GW pipeline across Europe.
HEIT’s three ongoing BESS projects – Rusholme, Wormald Green and Hawthorn Pit – have also had their commercial operation dates (COD) pushed back to the third quarter of 2024, the former due to minor delays in a distribution network operator’s (DNO) connection programme, and the other two due to delays with the Balance of Plant (BOP) contractor.
This article first appeared on our sister site Energy Storage News.
