Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD) Trading Update summary

Operating and financial performance

• Aggregate portfolio company EBITDA rose 13.6% to £115.6m and revenue increased 9.6% to £241.9m for the nine months to 31 Dec 2024, driven by contract wins, acquisitions, and cost control.

• Dividend target of 4.2p for FY25 is 4.8x covered by EBITDA and 1.8x by free cash flow after all costs and capex.

• Portfolio revenue mix is now more diversified, with backbone fibre as the largest segment (37%) and Poland as the largest country exposure (33%).

• No material debt maturities before June 2029; total available liquidity at 31 Dec 2024 was £211.7m, with net debt of £576.8m and leverage at 4.0x LTM EBITDA.

• 76% of drawn debt is fixed rate, with a weighted average margin of 2.86%.

Portfolio developments and acquisitions

• Completed acquisition of 47.5% economic interest in DCU Invest NV and Datacenter United Brussels, creating a leading Belgian data centre platform with 13MW capacity.

• Speed Fibre agreed to acquire BT Communications Ireland Limited for €22m, expanding its Irish market presence.

• Emitel completed a bolt-on acquisition of 48 sites in Poland, enhancing MNO hosting and radio services.

• CRA expanded its data centre and cloud business, signed a major edge data centre customer, and began monetising surplus land.

• Both CRA and Emitel secured significant contract extensions for FM radio and are expanding DAB+ networks.

Company and management actions

• Executive Chairman Steven Marshall increased his direct shareholding to 11.7m shares; total director and manager ownership now at 2.0%.

• Investment manager fees remain based on market cap, aligning interests with shareholders.

• Capital allocation prioritises bolt-on acquisitions and growth capex with above-target IRRs, given limited dry powder.

• Dividend policy remains progressive and covered by free cash flow; FY24 dividend cover is 1.8x by AFFO.