IFT - Infratil

[X-men]

that can be forgiven as they just sold Tilt and got cash almost 2B!

[Felonius]

But have the management company not done well from the 'attempted takeover'?

$223m incentive fee even when the company reported an operating loss!

We can count ourselves lucky to have Infratil management working for the benefit of us all.

The ongoing growth & success of "private equity" which can only be accessed by institutions and wealthy people means that the opportunities provided by many of the businesses which Infratil invests in are not available to the average investor.

Yes the incentives seem way too high to me and the average person, but Wow !! what enormous wins they have enabled with Tilt and Canberra Data Centres.

I am delighted to be a shareholder.

[peat]

I'm not sure that I agree that proportionate (or underlying for that matter) EBITDAF is that useful when it is not correlated to Net Profit.

[LaserEyeKiwi]

I watched the earnings stream today. Seems pretty clear to me that they will be issuing a profit upgrade as soon as the Pacific Radiology deal closes (due to close by end of month).

[peat]

I watched the earnings stream today. Seems pretty clear to me that they will be issuing a profit upgrade as soon as the Pacific Radiology deal closes (due to close by end of month).

but they didnt give profit guidance - only Proportionate and Underlying EBITDAF

[winner69]

I’m surprised they still have Retire Australia

Was on the blocks a year or so ago

[peat]

At least I am not the only one confuzzled.

Infratil’s ‘bit of a beast’ result | BusinessDesk paywalled

Infratil today delivered what may prove to be the most confusing set of accounts in the current mini-earnings season...

you gotta wonder who this is all for eh shareholders?

[BlackPeter]

At least I am not the only one confuzzled.

Infratil’s ‘bit of a beast’ result | BusinessDesk paywalled

Infratil today delivered what may prove to be the most confusing set of accounts in the current mini-earnings season...

you gotta wonder who this is all for eh shareholders?

Well, sort of wondering whether they jumped a bit too early onto the green bubble. Always safer to wait for the deflation first : Anyway - huge management incentives don't seem to make the books prettier - they clearly need for the future some more creative accountants.

Edit / amendment: should have read the presentation before commenting. I thought the Tilt deal does not go ahead, but apparently it is still in the wings. If it does, than they might well sell their green investment at the right time (which would not be the first time for them) - which would be good for shareholders :

Crossing fingers ...

[LaserEyeKiwi]

Well, sort of wondering whether they jumped a bit too early onto the green bubble. Always safer to wait for the deflation first : Anyway - huge management incentives don't seem to make the books prettier - they clearly need for the future some more creative accountants.

Edit / amendment: should have read the presentation before commenting. I thought the Tilt deal does not go ahead, but apparently it is still in the wings. If it does, than they might well sell their green investment at the right time (which would not be the first time for them) - which would be good for shareholders :

Crossing fingers ...

I was actually very impressed with the performance of Long Road Energy that they described during the earnings call - its been a very successful investment and their pipeline of projects is growing rapidly. its an excellent business model that particular business has, with so much hunger for Green Energy generation that many of the projects can be sold off (either fully or partly) to other entities at large premiums even before construction is finished.

[BlackPeter]

I was actually very impressed with the performance of Long Road Energy that they described during the earnings call - its been a very successful investment and their pipeline of projects is growing rapidly. its an excellent business model that particular business has, with so much hunger for Green Energy generation that many of the projects can be sold off (either fully or partly) to other entities at large premiums even before construction is finished.

I guess its fair to say that Infratil used to own infrastructure with a reliable income stream. Sure - they bought from time to time as well a dud (like some European airports, NZ bus), but overall they owned assets which just made money come rain or sunshine - and they still used to appreciate.

These days it feels more they gamble and ride on market hype. Sure - their assets are all rather essential and they do have a value, but that's often little earnings and plenty of market hype. Buy them early and try to flog them off before the bubble bursts. Admittedly - it often worked for Infratil, Z energy springs to mind - and if Tilt works out as well, than this will be in my view another master piece in speculation.

Good for shareholders as long as the gamble works out, but clearly - while management always benefits from the huge speculation gains, shareholders will need to carry as well the risk if things turn at some stage pear shaped. Imagine market paying for Tilt only something like a PE of 15 or 20 instead of the more than 40 it offers now. At the end they just resemble a bunch of windmills, which are easy to replicate and hard to scale. There is no guarantee that radiology, data centers, telecommunication, age care and renewables are all on a one way street to endless wealth ... in the long term they will not be more worth than a sensible multiple of their earnings potential.

I do see Infratil's current asset's at current market prices as a financial gamble - Sure - SP might go up driven by market sentiment, or it might crash down as soon as the market notices the low earnings potential of many of the assets. Earnings of the individual assets as well as of the company as a whole clearly need to improve instead of paying dividends out of share holders capital and even force share holders to pay taxes on the share holder capital they return (partially imputed dividends - lol).

Not really what conservative infrastructure investment is normally all about.