News & media Cordiant Core+ Vehicle Provides Trading Update: Diversified Portfolio Performing Well

14 March 2024

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited (“CDIL” or the “Company”], a core+ vehicle managed by Cordiant Capital Inc (“Cordiant” or the “Investment Manager”) and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE ticker: CORD), today provided an interim update on operating performance, balance sheet, dividend coverage and market outlook.

Said Benn Mikula, CEO of Cordiant Capital and Co-Head of Cordiant Digital:

“The diversified portfolio of assets we have assembled at a comparatively low entry multiple to EBITDA continues to perform well operationally. Under our management, the portfolio has grown revenues and EBITDA from the existing asset base.”

Key highlights under the Buy, Build & Grow strategy include:

Emitel

• Emitel is the largest operator of digital terrestrial television (“DTT”) and provider of Internet Protocol Television (“IPTV”) platforms in Poland. The company performed well under its first full year under CDIL’s ownership. Revenue performance was driven by growth in TV broadcasting revenues over the prior period as a result of inflation indexation and an additional TV broadcast agreement on MUX1.
  
  
• Emitel also showed strong growth in telecom infrastructure revenues of 19% driven by indexation and growth in rental of telecom infrastructure to mobile network operators (“MNOs”), the addition of the AMT Poland tower portfolio, which has been integrated into the overall telecom infrastructure portfolio, and performance of the Smart City / Internet of Things business.
  
  
• In November 2023, Emitel announced that it had won a nationwide tender to extend Digital Audio Broadcasting (“DAB”) coverage to 17 regional radio stations for state broadcaster, Polskie Radio. As a result, Emitel expects to extend DAB coverage across the country, from 67% to 88% of households. DAB is far more energy efficient than FM or AM radio, and so as Emitel progressively decommissions AM radio sites, there is a consequential reduction in carbon footprint.
  
  
• Emitel recently signed a new ten-year DTT broadcast contract with Polstat, the most watched free-to-air TV channel in Poland.
  
  
• Emitel continues to work on the development and commercial implementation of new technology to deliver Dynamic Advertisement Insertion (DAI), which enables the delivery of targeted advertising that is adapted to the viewer. Proof of concept trials were completed in partnership with the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Commercial launch is planned in 2024.
  
  
• Emitel has partnered with IS-Wireless to create a 5G campus network at Bialystok University of Technology, the first of its kind in Poland. As part of this initiative, Emitel provided the Distributed Antenna System (“DAS”) to this innovative network.

CRA

• Operating in the Czech Republic, CRA is a diversified digital infrastructure company, operating mobile towers, a broadcast network, data cnetres, a fibre network and Internet of Things networks serving utilities. The company delivered a strong performance for the first three quarters of its financial year, driven by robust performance across all business units.
  
  
• CRA successfully bid for and won the spectrum tender that will enable one national commercial DAB network and seven regional networks, including Prague. The company will install DAB transmitters during 2024 and expects to conclude agreements with existing FM radio clients.
  
  
• In January 2024, CRA announced that it had completed the acquisition of Cloud4com (a leading cloud services provider in the Czech Republic) and DC Lužice (a Tier III data centre). The acquisition of these businesses, funded by organic cash flow at CRA, substantially increased the DC and cloud proportion of CRA’s revenue mix and marked an important step in CRA’s continued growth in the Czech data centre and cloud services markets.
  
  
• The acquisition of Prague Digital TV (a regional TV operator) by CRA at the beginning of 2024 has enabled the company to consolidate transmissions from its sites and cease transmission from Prague Digital’s three locations, thus reducing energy requirements and other expenses.

Speed Fibre

• Speed Fibre, acquired by CDIL in October 2023, is Ireland’s leading open access backbone fibre network provider. CDIL intends to support Speed Fibre as it continues to build world class, state of the art, customer-focused, national and metropolitan area fibre networks in Ireland, and maintain its status as a leading supplier of both wholesale and business retail connectivity to the Irish market, with a network that is mission-critical for major blue-chip customers and carriers.

Hudson InterXchange (HIX)

• Located in 60 Hudson Street in New York City, HIX is an interconnect data centre located in one of the most interconnected buildings in the world. Following a leadership change made in 2023, the company’s interim management is showing steady progress in growing revenues and managing costs and cash flow effectively. With access to 15MW of power and substantial growth capacity, the core and back-end infrastructure is now complete to support the full build-out of the floors.

Norkring Belgïe

• The acquisition of Norkring Belgïe was completed in January 2024. The company operates 25 communication and broadcast towers in Belgium. It holds two DAB radio licences and one DTT multiplex licence. It provides radio and TV broadcasting services to commercial stations and distributors, and offers colocation and site-hosting to broadcasters, niche communication operators and MNOs.
  
  
• The company is conducting 5G broadcast trials as part of a consortium, which is expected to provide it with the ability to offer additional services to broadcast and mobile operator customers. The trials support and supplement similar trials underway in the Czech Republic and Poland involving CDIL’s other portfolio companies, CRA and Emitel.

Cordiant continues to implement its Buy, Build and Grow strategy of increasing the cash flow-generating asset bases of CDIL’s diversified platform companies to drive the value of these businesses.

CDIL’s annual NAV total return target of 9% comprises capital growth and a progressive dividend fully supported by free cash flows generated by the portfolio.

For more information on CDIL’s trading update, please click here.

Media:

Brunswick Group
+44 (0) 20 7404 5959
CordiantCapital@Brunswickgroup.com   

About Cordiant Capital

Cordiant is a specialist global infrastructure and real assets manager with a sector-led approach to providing growth capital solutions to promising mid-sized companies in Europe, North America and selected global markets. Since the firm’s relaunch in 2016, Cordiant–a partner-owned and partner-run firm–has developed a track record of exceeding mandated investment targets for our clients.

Cordiant focuses on the next generation of infrastructure and real assets: sectors (digital infrastructure, energy transition infrastructure and the agriculture value chain) characterised by growth tailwinds and technological dynamism. In addition, Cordiant applies a strong sustainability and ESG overlay to its investment activities.

With a mix of managed funds offering both value-add and core strategies in equity and direct lending, our sector investment teams (combining seasoned industry executives with traditional private capital investors) work with investee companies to develop innovative, tailored financing solutions backed by a comprehensive understanding of the sector and demonstrated operating capabilities. In this way, Cordiant aims to provide value to LPs seeking to complement existing infrastructure equity and infrastructure debt allocations.

Cordiant has offices in Montreal, London, São Paulo and Luxembourg.

Press Release Disclaimer:

The risks associated with investing in Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited (the “Fund”) are outlined in the prospectus and in the Fund’s annual and interim reports, which may be viewed at www.cordiantdigitaltrust.com. These risks are based upon the Fund’s investment objectives and strategies and describe the material risks of investing in that fund under normal market conditions when considering the Fund’s portfolio as a whole, not each individual investment within the portfolio. The material and information provided therein does not constitute investment advice and is for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell any of the securities or fund(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into account any investor’s particular investment objectives, strategies or tax status. Professional advisors should be consulted before making any investment decision

Some of the statements in this press release may be forward-looking statements or statements of future expectations based on currently available information Factors such as the development of general economic conditions, future market conditions, unusual catastrophic loss events, changes in the capital markets and other circumstances may cause the actual events or results to be materially different from those anticipated by such statements. Cordiant Capital and its affiliates do not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or updated status of such statements. Therefore, in no case whatsoever will Cordiant Capital and its affiliate companies be liable to anyone for any decision made or action taken in conjunction with the information and/or statements in this press release or for any related damages. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect Cordiant’s current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Although when making a forward-looking statement, Cordiant, as the case may be, believe that the assumptions inherent in this statement are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.