Investment trust insider on Gore Street Energy Storage – James Carthew: High-yielding Gore Street shows the income appeal of batteries
Energy security is in the headlines. The UK government’s much-criticised energy security strategy – for its failure to embrace onshore wind, acceptance of new gas fields and reliance on new nuclear despite our dismal record on getting nuclear plants built – at least envisages considerable investment in offshore wind and solar. The plans will not achieve much without further investment in energy storage, however.
Gore Street Energy Storage (GSF) was a pioneer in the battery storage market, but, even though its managers had a couple of years’ experience under their belt before listing GSF, investors were still wary. Consequently, it floated four years ago with just £30m. I have seen many promising ideas fall by the wayside over the years for lack of initial enthusiasm, so it pleases me greatly that GSF persevered and flourished, largely with the support of individual investors, who dominate the share register.
Now the investment trust has a market value of £389m and is currently out fundraising, looking for an additional £75m in a share issue that closes tomorrow. It helped secure the backing of individual investors by ensuring that they had access to fundraises on equal terms with professional investors.
Another reason that investors like it is the yield: GSF offers one of the highest in the renewable energy sector. It is now targeting a 7% yield on the average of its net asset value over the proceeding financial year, subject to a minimum of 7p and increments of not less than 0.5p…. read more here