John Laing Environmental Assets Group (JLEN) has added to the growing list of solar asset holders to have seen the tumbling wholesale energy price impact on asset values.
An update released to the market this morning revealed that JLEN’s net asset value (NAV) stood at £216.9 million as of 31 March 2016, an increase of less than 1% of its NAV at the turn of the year.
That modest increase comes despite the group paying more than £6 million for the Pylle Southern solar park in mid March and the successful refinancing of its wind portfolio. Its portfolio value as of 31 March had reached £264.5 million.
JLEN said those deals had helped to offset a “further downward revision” of the company’s electricity price forecasts. It now expects market forward prices for the next two years to average at £37/MWh during the winter and £32/MWh during the summer.
JLEN’s downward revisions follow various other asset holders enacting similar changes. Last week Bluefield confirmed that its NAV had contracted in a similar fashion after it was forced into revising its wholesale price forecasts for a sixth time in two years.
Meanwhile the group also confirmed that its price per new share for its latest placing, which is set to conclude in a fortnight, will be 97.75p. JLEN hopes to raise as much as £65 million from the placing to pursue a solar asset pipeline.