“How many millions are we going?” asked the then president of joint ventureGonzalo Casaravilla, in the Montevideo Stock Exchange shortly before ringing the closing bell. On March 19, 2015, some 6,000 retail savers offered US$ 100 million –six times more than offered- to acquire certificates of participation (similar to a share) in the Pampa wind farm
This was the first time that a retail investor was able to be a partner of a public company in a project, in this case a joint venture. And he showed the great avidity of the Uruguayan retail investor to place their money in assets, when the instrument has the attraction of a good combination between performance and security. This operation was later followed by other similar undertakings such as the Valentines and Arias wind farms.
recalculating
The Pampa wind farm that works in the department of Tacuarembó sells electricity to the grid since 2017. In its first four years production was lower to what had originally been planned, and with it the income was also below what was expected.
With those results on the table, UTE had to adjust the projections and financial models. In February 2021 the Spanish consulting firm Barlovento Recursos Naturales corrected the annual projection of energy production to 474,919 MWh (in 50% of cases it would be at that level or more), 13.7% less than what was initially estimated by the consultant Mott MacDonald.
The numbers
The latest report from the risk rating company Care, published in March, shows that in the last 6 years the park produced 477,821 MWh on average per year, with which, once the expected production has been adjusted, “The billing performance of the wind farm fits almost perfectly with the theoretical (+0.6%).
Source: Care
On the other hand, and also considering the latest projections from the consulting firm Barlovento, the accumulated data between April 2017 and December 2022 shows that real revenues were 1.6% higher than expected.
Source: Care
What about profitability
In the original issuance prospectus, the return offered to the investor was 11.6% per year in dollars.
On this point, Care explains that based on the flows of funds executed until June 2022, and the financial projections prepared considering the new estimate of annual energy production, the operator estimates that the expected profitability of the project decreases by around 2% in absolute terms going to 9.4%
For its part, using the original financial model and adjusting production to the new expected values, “Care calculated an IRR of 7.94%, slightly lower than that estimated with the new flow, but equally reasonable”, says the work. “It is a business which in the opinion of Care scontinues to offer a reasonable return for investors benefiting from the Participation Certificates”add the report.
Distribution of dividends
The last annual distribution of funds from the Pampa trust to holders of participation certificates was in April of last year, and for an amount of US$ 5.5 million, which entirely corresponded to results.
Until 2022, a total of US$51.5 million had been distributed among shareholders (US$27 million for capital reimbursement and US$24.5 million for distribution of results).
Source: Pampa Financial Trust
