Sustainability and power storage investor Gresham House saw its assets under management surge 65% to £6.5 billion last year, with “exceptional” organic value growth accounting for around half that rise.
Full year unaudited operating profit of £19.7 showed matching growth, up on last year’s £12.1 million, the firm announced this morning in an trading update.
Alongside investments in forestry and housing, the firm owns Gresham House Energy Storage Fund, one of Britain’s biggest investors in utility-scale batteries. Deals last April took GHESF into Scottish batteries for the first time, and the co-funding of solar PV in partnership with Virgin Money.
In 2020 GHESF managing director Ben Guest and chairman John Leggate opined that Britain’s 1GW of batteries then in operation needed to be expanded tenfold as soon as 2024.
Last November the parent group revised its asset management target up 33% to £8 billion by 2025, while maintaining targets by the same deadline of a 40% EBITDA margin and 15% return on invested capital.
Today’s short update does not split out performance of the energy storage division. But group CEO Tony Dalwood’s note to investors identifies strong fundraising, targeted acquisitions and asset performance as reasons why 2021’s growth exceeded expectations. Investment fees earned from clients brought in £1.7 million, against 2020’s zero receipts.
By late morning Gresham House group’s shares were nearly 3% ahead on the AIM All-Share index, at £865.
