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☒   Form 20-F

□   Form 40-F

Atlantica Yield Reports Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

 

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Net profit attributable to the Company for the first half of 2018 was $67.4 million, compared to a net profit of $12.6 million in the first half of 2017

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Revenues for the first half increased to $513.1 million (+6.2% year-over-year)

 

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Cash available for distribution (“CAFD”) was $89.7 million in the first half of 2018, on track to meet the 2018 guidance

 

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Operating cash flow for the first half of 2018 was $163.2 million, a 57% increase with respect to the first half of 2017

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Further Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated affiliates 1 grew by 12.8% to $443.3 million in the first half of 2018, compared with $392.9 million in the same period of 2017

 

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Quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share declared by the Board of Directors, representing a 31% increase compared to the same quarter of 2017

August 6, 2018 – Atlantica Yield plc (NASDAQ: AY) (“Atlantica”), the sustainable total return company that owns a diversified portfolio of contracted assets in the energy and environment sectors, reported today   financial results for the six-month period ended June 30, 2018.

Revenues for the second quarter of 2018 were $287.8 million, representing a 1.0% increase compared to the second quarter of 2017. For the first half of 2018, revenues increased by 6.2% to $513.1 million compared to the same period of 2017. Further Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated affiliates ¹ was $263.5 million for the second quarter and $443.3 million for the first half of 2018, representing an increase of 15.6% and 12.8% as compared to the respective periods of 2017.

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¹ Further Adjusted EBITDA includes our share in EBITDA of unconsolidated affiliates and the dividend from our preferred equity investment in Brazil or its compensation (see reconciliation on page 15).

 

CAFD generation in the first half of the year reached $89.7 million (of which $46.7 million was generated in the second quarter of 2018), compared to $95.5 million in the same period of 2017.

²  Further Adjusted EBITDA includes our share in EBITDA of unconsolidated affiliates and the dividend from our preferred equity investment in Brazil or its compensation in the six-month period ended June 30, 2017 (see reconciliation on page 15).

³  CAFD for the six-month period ended June 30, 2017 includes $10.4 million of ACBH dividend compensation (see reconciliation on page 16).

⁴  Represents total installed capacity in assets owned at the end of the period, regardless of our percentage of ownership in each of the assets.

⁵  Includes curtailment production in wind assets for which we receive compensation.

⁶  Electric availability refers to operational MW over contracted MW with PEMEX.

⁷  Availability refers to actual availability divided by contracted availability.

 

 

Production in the U.S. solar assets remained stable period-over-period, with the annual maintenance work in Mojave taking place as expected in the second quarter of 2018. Production in Spain was lower mainly due to lower solar radiation, especially during the second quarter of 2018 when compared to the comparable quarter of 2017. However, impact on revenues was limited, since most of the revenues are based on the availability of assets and not their actual production. Operating performance in Kaxu (South Africa) continued to be solid during the second quarter of 2018, with a capacity factor of 32.3% during the first half of 2018. Finally, production in wind was slightly higher than in the same period a year ago.

Regarding Atlantica’s availability-based assets, they continue to deliver solid performance with high availability levels in ACT, in transmission lines and in water assets.

Liquidity and Debt

As of June 30, 2018, cash available at the Atlantica Yield corporate level was $152.3 million.

As of June 30, 2018, net project debt was $4,713.9 million ($4,954.3 million as of December 31, 2017) and net corporate debt was $486.7 million ($494.6 million as of December 31, 2017).  The net corporate debt / CAFD pre-corporate debt service ratio ⁸ stood at 2.2x as of June 30, 2018.

 

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⁸  Net corporate leverage calculated as corporate net debt divided by midpoint guidance for Cash Available For Distribution for the year 2018 before corporate debt service .

 

Net project debt is calculated as long-term project debt plus short-term project debt minus cash and cash equivalents at the consolidated project level. Net corporate debt is calculated as long-term corporate debt plus short-term corporate debt minus cash and cash equivalents at Atlantica Yield corporate level.

CAFD pre-corporate debt service is calculated as Cash Available For Distribution plus interest paid by Atlantica Yield.

Executing on Refinancing Opportunities

During the second quarter of 2018, Atlantica Yield refinanced its Helios 1&2 and Helioenergy 1&2 solar assets in Spain, with an average improvement in spreads of approximately 100 basis points, in line with Atlantica’s plan and guidance.

Helios 1&2 have been refinanced with a €292 million miniperm structure with a syndicate of eight banks. The new financing  agreement eliminates the cash sweep mechanism, included in the previous agreement.

Helioenergy 1 & 2 have been refinanced with a syndicate of seven banks and the investment management firm Rivage Investment. The notional amount of the debt of $263.5 million has been maintained and the average tenor has been extended.

The new total aggregate project debt has been used to repay the previous debt agreements and to terminate certain interest rate derivative agreements, among others.

Dividend

On July 31, 2018, the Board of Directors of Atlantica Yield approved a dividend of $0.34 per share which represents a 31% increase with respect to the second quarter of 2017.  This dividend is expected to be paid on or about September 15, 2018 to shareholders of record as of August 31, 2018.

 

Details of the Results Presentation Conference

Atlantica Yield’s CEO, Santiago Seage, and its CFO, Francisco Martinez-Davis, will hold a conference call today, August 6, at 8:30 am EST.

In order to access the conference call participants should dial: +1 646-828-8193 (US), +44 (0) 330 336 9127 (UK) or +1 647-484-0475 (Canada), followed by the confirmation code 1313595.  A live webcast of the conference call will be available on Atlantica Yield's website. Please visit the website at least 15 minutes earlier in order to register for the live webcast and download any necessary audio software.

Additionally, Atlantica Yield’s management will meet with investors in New York at the 2018 Global Industrials Conference organized by Jefferies on August 8 and at the Power, Utilities, MLPs and Pipelines Conference organized by Goldman Sachs on August 9, 2018.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, all statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding our future financial position and results of operations, our strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, future developments in the markets in which we operate or are seeking to operate or anticipated regulatory changes in the markets in which we operate or intend to operate. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "guidance," "intend," "is likely to," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projected," "should" or "will" or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions or terminology.

 

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are not guarantees of future performance and are based on numerous assumptions. Our actual results of operations, financial condition and the development of events may differ materially from (and be more negative than) those made in, or suggested by, the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances.

Investors should read the section entitled "Item 3D. Key Information—Risk Factors" and the description of our segments and business sectors in the section entitled "Item 4B. Information on the Company—Business Overview", each in our annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 filed on Form 20-F, for a more complete discussion of the factors that could affect us.

 

Important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: Difficult conditions in the global economy and in the global market and uncertainties in emerging markets where we have international operations; changes in government regulations providing incentives and subsidies for renewable energy, decreases in government expenditure budgets, reductions in government subsidies or other adverse changes in laws and regulations affecting our businesses and growth plan, including reduction of our revenues in Spain, which are mainly defined by regulation through parameters that could be reviewed at the end of each regulatory period; our ability to acquire solar projects due to the potential increase of the cost of solar panels; political, social and macroeconomic risks relating to the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union; changes in general economic, political, governmental and business conditions globally and in the countries in which we do business; challenges in achieving growth and making acquisitions due to our dividend policy; inability to identify and/or consummate future acquisitions, under the AAGES ROFO Agreement, the Abengoa ROFO Agreement or otherwise from third parties or from potential new partners, including as a result of not being able to find acquisition opportunities on favorable terms or at all; our ability to close acquisitions under our ROFO agreements with AAGES, Algonquin, Abengoa and others due to, among other things, not being offered assets that fit our portfolio, not reaching agreements on prices or, in the case of the Abengoa ROFO Agreement, the risk of Abengoa selling assets before they reach COD; our ability to identify and reach an agreement with new sponsors or partners similar to the ROFO agreements with AAGES, Algonquin or Abengoa; legal challenges to regulations, subsidies and incentives that support renewable energy sources; extensive governmental regulation in a number of different jurisdictions, including stringent environmental regulation; increases in the cost of energy and gas, which could increase our operating costs; counterparty credit risk and failure of counterparties to our offtake agreements to fulfill their obligations; inability to enter into new offtaker agreements or replace expiring or terminated offtake agreements with similar agreements; new technology or changes in industry standards; inability to manage exposure to credit, interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, supply and commodity price risks; reliance on third-party contractors and suppliers; risks associated with acquisitions and investments; deviations from our investment criteria for future acquisitions and investments; failure to maintain safe work environments; effects of catastrophes, natural disasters, adverse weather conditions, climate change, unexpected geological or other physical conditions, criminal or terrorist acts or cyber-attacks at one or more of our plants; insufficient insurance coverage and increases in insurance cost; litigation and other legal proceedings, including claims due to Abengoa's restructuring process; reputational risk, including potential damage caused to us by Abengoa's reputation; the loss of one or more of our executive officers; failure of information technology on which we rely to run our business; revocation or termination of our concession agreements or power purchase agreements; lowering of revenues in Spain that are mainly defined by regulation; risk that the 16.5% Share Sale will not be completed; inability to adjust regulated tariffs or fixed-rate arrangements as a result of fluctuations in prices of raw materials, exchange rates, labor and subcontractor costs; exposure to electricity market conditions which can impact revenue from our renewable energy; changes to national and international law and policies that support renewable energy resources; lack of electric transmission capacity and potential upgrade costs to the electric transmission grid; disruptions in our operations as a result of our not owning the land on which our assets are located; risks associated with maintenance, expansion and refurbishment of electric generation facilities; failure of our assets to perform as expected, including Solana and Kaxu; failure to receive dividends from all project and investments, including Solana and Kaxu; failure or delay to reach the "flip-date" by Liberty Interactive Corporation in its tax equity investment in Solana; variations in meteorological conditions; disruption of the fuel supplies necessary to generate power at our efficient natural gas power generation facilities; deterioration in Abengoa's financial condition; Abengoa's ability to meet its obligations under our agreements with Abengoa, to comply with past representations, commitments and potential liabilities linked to the time when Abengoa owned the assets, potential clawback of transactions with Abengoa, and other risks related to Abengoa; failure to meet certain covenants or payment obligations under our financing arrangements; failure to obtain pending waivers in relation to the minimum ownership by Abengoa and the cross-default provisions contained in some of our project financing agreements; failure of Abengoa to maintain existing guarantees and letters of credit under the Financial Support Agreement or failure by us to maintain guarantees; failure of Abengoa to maintain its obligations and production guarantees, pursuant to EPC contracts; changes in our tax position and greater than expected tax liability, including in Spain; conflicts of interest which may be resolved in a manner that is not in our best interests or the best interests of our minority shareholders, potentially caused by our ownership structure and certain service agreements in place with our current largest shareholder; the divergence of interest between us and Abengoa, due to Abengoa's sale of our shares; potential negative tax implications from being deemed to undergo an "ownership change" under section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code, including limitations on our ability to use U.S. NOLs to offset future income tax liability; negative implications from a potential change of control; negative implications of U.S. federal income tax reform; technical failure, design errors or faulty operation of our assets not covered by guarantees or insurance; failure to collect insurance proceeds in the expected amounts; and various other factors, including those factors discussed under “Item 3D. Key Information—Risk Factors” and “Item 5.A—Operating Results" in our annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 filed on Form 20-F.

 

Furthermore, any dividends are subject to available capital, market conditions, and compliance with associated laws and regulations. These factors should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results included in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected or targeted.

The CAFD and other guidance included in this press release are estimates as of March 7, 2018. These estimates are based on assumptions believed to be reasonable as of that date, when Atlantica Yield published its FY 2017 Financial Results. Atlantica Yield plc. disclaims any current intention to update such guidance, except as required by law.

 

Non - GAAP Financial Measures

We present non-GAAP financial measures because we believe that they and other similar measures are widely used by certain investors, securities analysts and other interested parties as supplemental measures of performance and liquidity. The non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies and have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported under IFRS as issued by the IASB. Non-GAAP financial measures and ratios are not measurements of our performance or liquidity under IFRS as issued by the IASB and should not be considered as alternatives to operating profit or profit for the year or any other performance measures derived in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB or any other generally accepted accounting principles or as alternatives to cash flow from operating, investing or financing activities.

We define Further Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated affiliates as profit/(loss) for the period attributable to the Company, after adding back loss/(profit) attributable to non-controlling interest from continued operations, income tax, share of profit/(loss) of associates carried under the equity method, finance expense net, depreciation, amortization and impairment charges, and dividends received from the preferred equity investment in ACBH.

Our management believes Further Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated affiliates is useful to investors and other users of our financial statements in evaluating our operating performance because it provides them with an additional tool to compare business performance across companies and across periods. This measure is widely used by investors to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items such as interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods and book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired. Further Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated affiliates is also used by management as a measure of liquidity.

Our management uses Further Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated affiliates as a measure of operating performance to assist in comparing performance from period to period on a consistent basis and to readily view operating trends, as a measure for planning and forecasting overall expectations and for evaluating actual results against such expectations, and in communications with our Board of Directors, shareholders, creditors, analysts and investors concerning our financial performance.

 

We define Cash Available For Distribution as cash distributions received by the Company from its subsidiaries minus all cash expenses of the Company, including debt service and general and administrative expenses. Management believes cash available for distribution is a relevant supplemental measure of the Company’s ability to earn and distribute cash returns to investors.

We believe cash available for distribution is useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance because securities analysts and other interested parties use such calculations as a measure of our ability to make quarterly distributions. In addition, cash available for distribution is used by our management team for determining future acquisitions and managing our growth.

 

 

⁹  Includes proceeds of $60.8 million received at Solana from Abengoa in relation to the consent with the DOE.

 

Reconciliation of Further Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated affiliates to Profit/(loss) for the period attributable to the company

Reconciliation of Further Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated affiliates to net cash provided by operating activities

 

 

Reconciliation of Cash Available For Distribution to Profit/(loss) for the period attributable to the Company

¹⁰   CAFD for the six-month period ended June 30, 2017 includes $10.4 million of ACBH dividend compensation.

 

About Atlantica Yield

Atlantica Yield plc is a total return company that owns a diversified portfolio of contracted renewable energy, power generation, electric transmission and water assets in North & South America, and certain markets in EMEA ( www.atlanticayield.com ).

 

Chief Financial Officer Francisco Martinez-Davis E ir@atlanticayield.com	Investor Relations & Communication Leire Perez E ir@atlanticayield.com T   +44 20 3499 0465