TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 1, 2015) - Transeastern Power Trust ("Transeastern" or the "Trust") (TSX VENTURE:TEP.UN) has released its audited financial results for the period ended December 31, 2014. All amounts in this release are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.
2014 Highlights
- The Trust completed its IPO in May, issuing 11,045,800 Trust units at a price of $1.00 per unit and issuing $11,763,000 principal amount of 7.5% convertible unsecured subordinate debentures. The units and debentures are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange.
- The Trust completed the acquisition of three Romanian hydro projects (Rott, Zagra and Suha), hired key operations and management personnel in Romania, opened a management office in Bucharest, Romania and opened an operations and maintenance office in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- Subsequent to the IPO and acquisitions, the Trust completed its 2014 capital improvement plan to increase electricity production by bringing all six hydroelectric plants into production at Suha and completed the commissioning of two of three Zagra plants. All of the Romanian hydro projects are now producing and selling electricity.
- Declared and paid unit distributions based on an annualized basis of $0.0875 per unit or an 8.75% yield based on a $1.00 initial issuance price.
- Rott, Zagra and Suha generated an aggregate of 5,373MWh of energy, resulting in revenues of $398,340 during the year.
- Net loss of $3,178,997 or $0.43 per unit.
Subsequent Events
On March 2, 2015, the Trust entered into two non-binding term sheets for a minimum $18 million financing, comprised of a non-brokered private placement for a minimum of $13 million of subscription receipts and a $5 million secured debt facility. Proceeds from the Financing will be used to acquire two photovoltaic solar power production plants in Romania (the "Solar Assets") and for general working capital purposes. The Solar Assets are fully operational and have a total production capacity of over 16 kWp. The Solar Assets have been in production for over two years and have performed consistently over that timeframe. The Trust is currently in the process of finalizing the transaction documentation for the Solar Assets and anticipates closing the financing and acquisitions in May 2015.
J. Colter Eadie, Chief Executive Officer of Transeastern commented, "During 2014 we consolidated our operational and management team as we have transitioned from the closing of the successful initial public offering to our roles as operators and managers. The team has worked hard to commence operations in Romania, complete the necessary maintenance and commission all of the operating projects by year end. We will strive to continue to optimize, improve performance and expand the capacity of our existing Romanian portfolio in the coming quarters to generate distributable income. We have sourced a large and growing pipeline of operating projects in Europe and we are pursuing new acquisitions that are accretive to the Trust and add income generating assets to increase and diversify the base of distributable income.
We anticipate closing by the end of May the previously announced $18 million financing, comprised of a non-brokered private placement for a minimum of $13 million of subscription receipts and the related acquisition of over 16 kWp of photovoltaic solar power production plants in Romania. This transaction would materially increase our scale and improve the Trust along all key metrics. We believe that this transaction would greatly increase the profile of the Trust and a key objective post transaction is to broaden our investor base."
Mr. Eadie concluded, "Nearing the end of the first year since inception we have achieved many of the milestones that we have presented to the market. We closed our IPO and three separate simultaneous transactions and with it created a multi-jurisdictional, tax optimized organization capable of growing globally. We also have generated income and distributions for our unitholders. Management's focus continues to be developing the Trust into an integrated energy player in Europe and beyond while creating long-term value for unitholders."
About Transeastern
The Trust, through its direct and indirect subsidiaries in Canada, the Netherlands and Romania, has been formed to acquire interests in renewable energy assets in Romania, other countries in Europe and abroad that can provide stable cash flow to the Trust and a suitable risk-adjusted return on investment. The Trust seeks to provide investors with long-term, stable distributions, while preserving the capital value of its investment portfolio through investment, principally in a range of operational assets, which generate electricity from renewable energy sources, with a particular focus on hydroelectric power. The Trust intends to qualify as a "mutual fund trust" under the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act"). The Trust will not be a "SIFT trust" (as defined in the Tax Act), provided that the Trust complies at all times with its investment restriction which precludes the Trust from holding any "non-portfolio property" (as defined in the Tax Act). All material information about the Trust may be found under Transeastern's issuer profile at www.sedar.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "anticipates", "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may" and "will". There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others: risks related to foreign operations (including various political, economic and other risks and uncertainties), the interpretation and implementation of the energy law, expropriation of property rights, political instability and bureaucracy, limited operating history, lack of profitability, high inflation rates, failure to obtain bank financing, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, competition from other businesses, reliance on various factors (including local labour, importation of machinery and other key items and business relationships), risks related to seasonality (including adverse weather conditions, shifting weather patterns, and global warming), a shift in energy trends and demands, a shift in energy generation in the European Union, vulnerability to fluctuations in the world market, the lack of availability of qualified management personnel and stock market volatility. Details of the risk factors relating to Transeastern and its business are discussed under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in Transeastern's annual management discussion and analysis dated April 30, 2015, a copy of which is available on Transeastern's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Trust. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, Transeastern expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.