Renewable

March 4 (Renewables Now) - US wind power company Pattern Energy Group Inc (NASDAQ:PEGI) has managed to reduce by 16% its net loss for 2018 and achieved a CAFD that is above the midpoint of its annual guidance.

On Friday, Patter Energy reported a net loss of USD 69 million (EUR 61m) for 2018 compared to a loss of USD 82 million a year back. Cash available for distribution (CAFD) rose to USD 167 million from USD 146 million in 2017.

CEO Mike Garland noted that this happened despite lower than anticipated wind resource in the fourth quarter. “This result was due to effective capital management, cost improvements from our G&A and our self-perform O&M initiatives, as well as continued operational excellence as evidenced by our 97% turbine availability,” he said.

The CEO added that Pattern Energy has established a clear plan to grow CAFD per share by about 10% on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) basis through 2020, without the requirement of new common equity. More specifically, the company expects to report CAFD of USD 160 million-190 million for 2019 and USD 185 million-225 million for 2020.

The table below gives more details about the company’s financial performance in the fourth quarter and full 2018.

Throughout the year, Pattern Energy sold 7,988 GWh proportional GWh for a 2% year-on-year increase, completed 316 MW of new investments and added 400 MW of new wind projects to the identified right of first offer (iROFO) list.

The company declared a first-quarter 2019 dividend of USD 0.4220 per Class A common share that represents a USD-1.688 dividend on an annualised basis. The payment will be made on April 30, 2019, to holders of record on March 29, 2019. It is unchanged from the distribution for the fourth quarter of 2018.

Also on Friday, Pattern Energy announced that Mike Garland will continue to act as CEO, while Mike Lyon will be taking over his responsibilities of president. At the same time, Esben Pedersen will be appointed to the role of chief financial officer.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.882)