Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD) Trading Update summary

Operating performance and financial highlights

• Aggregate portfolio company EBITDA rose 14.2% to £38.5m and revenue increased 8.9% to £80.0m for Q1 2024, driven by bolt-on acquisitions, contract wins, cost control, and inflation-linked revenues.

• Dividend of 4.2p per share is covered 4.5x by EBITDA and 1.6x by free cash flow after all costs, with a 5% annual increase approved in June 2024.

• Total available liquidity stood at £335.4m, with gross drawn debt of £691.2m and net debt of £573.0m, resulting in leverage of 4.3x net debt/EBITDA and 38.4% net debt/GAV.

• No debt maturities before June 2029 following successful refinancing of Emitel, CRA, and fund-level facilities, eliminating medium-term refinancing risk.

• Share buy-back programme continued, with 7.8m shares repurchased for £5.9m, adding 0.4p to NAV per share.

Portfolio company updates

• Emitel (Poland) saw Q1 revenue up 8.9% to PLN158.5m and EBITDA up 14.1% to PLN107.6m, driven by new broadcast contracts, inflation-linked revenues, and mobile tower growth.

• CRA (Czech Republic) Q1 revenue rose 14.3% to CZK692.5m and EBITDA 17.7% to CZK352.5m, with strong contributions from recent acquisitions and organic growth.

• Speed Fibre (Ireland) Q1 revenue increased 5.1% to €21.6m and EBITDA 8.1% to €6.2m, supported by higher connection and recurring service revenues.

• Hudson Interxchange (USA) reduced EBITDA loss by 5% to $(1.1)m, with marginal revenue growth and a focus on cost control; expansion of data hall capacity underway.

• Norkring België (Belgium) completed acquisition and is conducting 5G broadcast trials, supporting additional service offerings.

Capital allocation and growth initiatives

• Five bolt-on acquisitions completed, including cloud, data centre, broadcast, and tower assets in Czech Republic and Poland, funded from existing resources.

• Growth capital deployed into new data centre construction in Prague, DAB radio network buildouts in Poland and Czech Republic, and fibre expansion in Ireland.

• Board and management maintain a multi-pronged capital allocation approach, balancing dividends, buy-backs, and reinvestment for accretive returns.